The name Poás comes from the name, that the settlers gave the
area Pús (barbs or thorns) because of the thorns of many blackberry
bushes, found growing there. The first village established, was San
Pedro de la Calabaza, which is now the canton seat.


  This Village area is surrounded by the Rio Grande de Tárcoles
and Sarapiqui Rivers. The principal agricultural crop is sugar cane, but
coffee, strawberries, beans, corn, tapioca, and ornamental plants, along
with Brahma cattle, thrive in this area.


  The most popular tourist attractions of the area are: the Poás
Volcano and the Grecia Forest Reserve and the La Paz Waterfall
Gardens.
 

  On the road to the village of Poas, is Hotel Las FRESAS,
Sabana Redonda De Poás San Pedro Poás - Alajuela in Costa Rica.
Tel: (506) 482-2620  Fax: (506) 482-2587


  The “Las FRESAS” (The Strawberry) village, features a luxurious
hotel, a renowned restaurant, independent bungalows, built of fine wood
and volcanic stone, (in an original hexagonal layout, that blends and
harmonizes with the surrounding bio-system), with the additional option
of units, with hydro-massage and fireplaces. They have incredible Italian
food!  They offer Horseback riding on trails, or motorcycles or in jeeps,
with overnight stays in the jungle.


  The Village of Poas, is fairly close to the Poas Volcano, it rises
above Alajuela and Grecia, in the mountains. It is a quant and charming,
little agricultural town.  The areas surrounding the pueblos of San Rafael
de Poas and San Pedro de Poas, are some of the most beautiful in the
country.... high mountains that are lush and green all year round.
 

  The area is almost totally coffee country, until the slopes of the
Poas Volcano, begin to increase in altitude and fruits such as
strawberries and export crops, such as ferns (covered with huge
black nets which shield the plants, from the sun's rays) become
more abundant. The area is gorgeous and quite affluent and almost
reminds one, of areas in Switzerland... with its forests, mountains,
rivers and green valleys.

  A public bus to Poás (Tuasa, tel. 233-7477) leaves on Sundays only,
from 12 Calle, Avenidas 2/4, San José.  Be there by 8 a.m. Fare is less
than $5. This is an all-day excursion—bring a snack.


  The ride up takes two hours, with a twenty-minute rest stop, at a café
high on the volcano, near Poasito.  Three hours are allowed on top before
departure, more than ample time, to see both accessible craters and the
cloud forest.  On other days, buses are available from Alajuela to Poasito,
(lately at 5 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.).  This still leaves you ten kilometers from
the peak. You'll have to walk, hitch, or hire a taxi, to finish the ascent.


Tours operate to Poás, most days from San José, or you can
hire a taxi to take you all the way at a reasonable cost.
 

  Poás Volcano National Park, which extends over 5,600 hectares,
is located on the continental divide of the volcanic Central Mountain
Range from 1,500 meters above sea level on  the Caribbean side to
2,300 meters above sea level on the Pacific side.  Located at the
Cordillera Volcánica Central, 37 km north from Alajuela province.


  This is one of the most  spectacular  volcanoes of  the country
and of extraordinary scenic beauty. It has many types of habitats like
very long forests with short  trees, areas with very little flora and some
with little smelly plants and also the cloudy forest.  In this last type of 
forest it is very common to find  plants that grow attached to the
trees, like orchids, ferns etc.

  Three routes are available, through Alajuela or Heredia. These
converge at the little village of Poasito, high on the volcano's slopes.
Either way, the visitor ascends through coffee, cattle and horse country.
Poas is considered also, as the largest geyser in the world… the vents
and the boiling sulfur lagoon in the center of the crater, have been known
to spew steam and sulfur water, more than 600 feet into the air.


  If you're driving, take the Cañas expressway to Alajuela, then follow
the clearly marked road via San Pedro de Poás and Poasito. The peak
is 37 kilometers from Alajuela, 59 kilometers from San José. An
alternative route from San José, goes through Heredia and Barva, and
up to Los Cartagos and Poasito, through equally dramatic and windy
landscapes as those along the Poasito road. Try both routes.


  Another third route, is to go to Barrios Alajuela, like you are
going to Grecia, you will go past The Orchidea Hotel and some sugar
cane crops and a small winding road, then make a sharp right turn, on
Carillos de Poas, and follow the road up to the village of Poas and the
Poas Volcano.

  Be sure to wear  warm clothes and a warm jacket. It is very cold
and breezy!  And it's best to go early  in the morning, on a clear sunny 
day...  because by noon the fog and clouds move in fast, creating
an ethereal atmosphere, but also making it very difficult  to  see the
turquoise acid crater and Botos Lake Lagoon... which is a cold water
lake.


  Visitors are not allowed to descend into the fuming main crater,
but the views from its rim are impressive. At the bottom is a sulfur crater,
its shade of green changing according to the amount of sulfur it contains,
at any given time. Water level varies according to the whims and fury
and fractures of the earth underneath.

Intermittent geyser activity, results from water seeping into fissures,
along the bottom of the crater, then boiling and exploding upward.
More likely, you'll see gas and steam escaping from fumaroles, along
the crater’s edge.  The rim of the crater, is burned and strewn with rock
and ash, and only a few shrubs, struggle for survival in the toxic sulfur
winds.

After a visit to the active crater, climb to Laguna Botos, the water-filled
extinct crater, near the highest point on the volcano. The lake is named
after a Indian tribe, that once inhabited the area.

 

Poás...  is a compound basaltic volcano, that towers 2,708 meters 
above sea level.  It has a slow, effusive  activity of the lake kind.  Since
1989, it  has greatly increased its emission of gases, causing acid
rain...  that  has caused damage to the strawberry and coffee
plantations, higher up in the Central  Western Valley, around the village
of Poas.

Depending on the direction and velocity of the wind, unpleasant odors 
can be detected sometimes, at places as far away as Alajuela, Grecia,
San Ramón, Sarchí and Naranjo.
 

At the rim, there are two craters.  The main crater measures 1.5 kms.
in diameter and is 300 meters deep. It has a circular hot-water lake at
the bottom, 350 meters in diameter, and a cinder cone 40 meters 
high... with very active fumaroles.

The second crater... is  the seat of a cold-water lake, Botos,  which 
clearly  originates from rainfall and drains into the Caribbean, by
means of the River Angel, a tributary of the River  Sarapiquí.
 

On the slopes of the Caribbean sector, the forests are taller and more
humid, with a wealth of palms, tree ferns and epiphytes.  
Identification has been made in both forest masses of  79 species
of birds, including the sooty robin, resplendent quetzal, black iguana 
and emerald toucanet.

There are not many mammals in the highlands of the park,
although coyotes, long-tailed  weasels, Amazon skunks and some
felines, live on the Caribbean slopes.  Some birds can survive the harsh
environment.

Poás Volcano... has a long history of eruptions, that range from emissions
of hot  vapors and muddy water to blowouts of ash and incandescent rocks.
On 25th January, 1910, an enormous column of ash, that was over  8,000 
meters high...  was visible from several different places around the country.

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