![\"\"](\"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/1-10-1024x680.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIt\u2019s no secret that Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. But if you only think of tropical beaches when you picture Costa Rica, it might surprise you to learn that Costa Rica has over 200 identifiable volcanic features with approximately 100 showing some sign of volcanic activity, and five legitimately active volcanoes today. If you\u2019ve ever wondered what it\u2019s like to tour one of Costa Rica\u2019s massive volcanoes, keep reading for some inspiration to buy your next plane ticket to CR!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Volc\u00e1n Iraz\u00fa sits outside the capital city of San Jos\u00e9, near the town of Cartago. Volc\u00e1n Iraz\u00fa is an active volcano but has not erupted since the 1960\u2019s. In the sixties, however, Volc\u00e1n Iraz\u00fa showered the residents of Cartago and San Jos\u00e9 with ash, smoke, and small rock slides for four years. Today, the slopes of Iraz\u00fa are full of potato, onion, cabbage, and dairy farms. The only volcanic activity on Iraz\u00fa occurs inside the actual crater, where fumaroles release toxic steam.<\/p>\n
As you drive up the winding mountain road to Iraz\u00fa, you might be alarmed by how high you\u2019re climbing. Iraz\u00fa sits at an impressive elevation of 11,260 feet. As you continue upward, sugar cane fields will give way to potato and cabbage farms in the hills. Then once the road gets steeper, lush dairy farms appear. You begin to notice the clouds hugging the hillside, refusing to leave the land.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/2-10-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Once you reach the top of the mountain, where the crater lies, you\u2019ll notice the landscape has changed drastically. This doesn\u2019t look like the Costa Rica you know, more like a lunar landscape, something otherworldly, you would only see on the cover of Nat Geo. In fact, if you didn\u2019t know any better, you would say this landscape more likely belongs in Iceland, not Costa Rica.<\/p>\n
At the top, you\u2019ll walk around the perimeter trail, admiring the mountain vegetation and marveling at the difference in temperature and climate. You\u2019re actually cold. Above the tree line, and above the clouds, you strut until you come to the wooden fence, you stop and look out and spot the crater. The color of the pool in the center reminds you of the warm Pacific Ocean, and you\u2019re amazed that this beautiful landscape could exist in the same country with such beautiful beaches and flawless surf.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/08\/3-9-1024x682.jpg\")
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It\u2019s no secret that Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. But if you only think of tropical beaches when you picture Costa Rica, it might surprise you to learn that Costa Rica has over 200 identifiable volcanic features with approximately 100 showing some sign of volcanic activity, and five […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":36369,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ocean_front_end_style_editor":"no","ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36366","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","entry","has-media"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36366","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36366"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36366\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36366"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36366"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/164.68.121.224\/wrsc\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36366"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}