THEY CALL THIS VOLCANO IRAZUPOWDERKEG OF NATUREThe volcano Irazu lies above the pretty town of Cartago and is one of several active volcanoes in Costa Rica.
Because it’s only a few miles from San Jose and has a paved road to its rim, it’s one of the most popular volcanoes for visitors, Ticos or tourists. When you take your Costa Rica vacation, plan to make a day-trip to this monster, the country's tallest active volcano. If you want to do it on the cheap, catch a bus in downtown San Jose. There are also a zillion tour operators who’ll take you just to the volcano or as part of a larger tour. Or, of course, you can drive. The highway is excellent and the scenery breathtaking.
A few miles from Irazu you'll find her sister, Turrialba Volcano. Though the road to its summit is not paved (you may need four wheel drive), it is less traveled and offers something found nowhere else: a crater you can walk down into. If you're adventurous, and for a road less traveled, consider Turrialba volcano, click. When I think of a Costa Rica volcano Irazu and Arenal each spring to mind. They are very different and each is worth a visit when you travel Costa Rica. Click here to check out spectacular
Arenal Volcano.
    Though Arenal is a must-see destination filled with wonderful activities and places to visit, if you have time to see only one volcano Irazu is my recommendation. I imagine John F. Kennedy was pretty impressed. You see, the day he visited San Jose in 1963, just months before his death, Irazu erupted. Not a teeny, weeny thing, but a major eruption that lasted four years. The real deal. The most powerful man in the world and the tribute afforded him by nature’s most powerful force. Awesome! Stand on a Lunar Landscape and See Two Oceans
No question about it, when you approach the summit of this volcano Irazu you'll wonder if the moon looks like this. As you travel up its slopes, you'll first be surrounded by extraordinarily lush and verdant valleys. There are lovely vegetable farms and, higher up the slopes, dairy pastures but as you climb higher, you'll you move into another world where the vegetation is stunted and the chill wind blowing. The best time to visit is early morning from December through April because the weather is likely to be better then. And, if you visit on a cloudless day, you’ll be able to see both the Pacific and Caribbean---at the same time. Nowhere else in the world can you drive to the top of a volcano and do this. Only in Costa Rica. But, bring a jacket AND sunscreen. It’s going to be chilly and maybe very windy on this part of your Costa Rica adventure. An Area Steeped in History and Shaped by Volcanoes and EarthquakesAs you drive through Cartago to see the volcano Irazu will tower over you.But Cartago's history is interesting in itself. In 1563, Spanish conquistador Vasquez de Coronado founded Cartago (Costa Rica’s oldest city) and just a few days later built its first church near the Reventazon River. When it had to be abandoned due to frequent floods and pestilence, work began on another church in Cartago in 1564. Unfortunately, between its construction and 1910 there were five catastrophic earthquakes that kept destroying the church. Today, you can still see the ruins, now the centerpiece of the park in central Cartago.
What Are You Waiting For? Come Visit!Whether you want to see the ruins or not, come visit Irazu.In 1492, most of the world thought the earth was flat. In 1963, most of the world thought we'd never get to the moon. So, when you travel to Costa Rica, go to Irazu, stand on the lunar landscape and (hopefully) look at two oceans encircling the earth. The world isn't flat and we reached the moon! Pura Vida!
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