FunAndWildII

The night after my water-slide adventure I stayed at a hotel (Arenal Paraiso) with acres of thermal pools. I wandered around looking for a good pool by myself, to soothe my aching knees (from scrambling over lava during the day). Found a good hot one at the very top. No one else there. Lowered myself in. Felt really good. Started to relax. Started to almost fall asleep.

Suddenly whoa! A snake. In the water. What the hell is it doing here? Then it started swimming toward me! Up I erupted, like a boulder flying out of a crater. Jesus. It was little, but isn’t it the little ones that eat you?

So that’s what I would call a “natural” hot springs, one that has an ecosystem. What if there were white sharks, and part of the fun was your participation in the food web? I went to a lower pool, but somehow I just couldn’t relax much. Here’s a movie peek at two of the well-hidden hotprings. Can you find a snake in the movies? Don’t tell me if you can.



So, would YOU ever expect to find anything alive in a 100-degree pool? No. Never. But that’s California. Here, anything is possible. I can really see how Michael Crichton started his novel Jurassic Park in Costa Rica. If a snake goes hunting for its meal in 100 degrees, anything, including T. rex, is possible.