Costa Rica's Arenal Volcano

Today's photo features Amy & Gene looking up in awe at Costa Rica's very active Arenal Volcano during their recent Costa Rica vacation.

Arenal's typical cone-shaped volcanic mountain rises approximately 5,000 feet above sea level, but it's impossible to assign a definitive height to the peak because volcanic activity changes it fairly often.

At some 4,000 years old, Arenal Volcano is relatively young as volcanoes go. The last major eruption shook the Costa Rican countryside on July 29, 1968, after having lay dormant for 400 years. On that day almost 90 people perished along with lots of wildlife and tons of crops. Since then Arenal has been active constantly, occasionally belching sulphuric smoke, rocks and volcanic ash high into the air and onto the surrounding area.

In short, unlike Costa Rica's Poas Volcano, Arenal is a living, breathing, very active volcano... and a site not to be missed when you take your own Costa Rica vacation!

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