So today we decided to go for a walk in PN Volcan Arenal. On the garden path we came across a strange centipede like animal with a weird shell.

Unlike Chile, all the attractions are closeby. Getting to the National Park of Volcano Arenal was a short drive mainly along paved road. There was some dirt road but it was easy driving.

It costs $15 US per person to visit the park and then there was a short drive to a mirador of the volcano. Most of this holiday it has been shrouded in cloud and today was no different. The guide book reckons only one in two visitors ever get to see the famous cone.

There is a well marked trail in the park that leads to a view of the lava fields. Arenal started erupting in 1968 and stopped in 2010. There used to be night walks to see the lava flowing down.

Our walk took nearly three hours - mainly because we were looking for sloths - but we didn't see any. However, a sudden movement in the undergrowth revealed a coati - a local scavenging mammal that was completely unfazed by our presence. Kevin even managed to get a couple of videos which we posted on Facebook. Later on we saw a black squirrel.

In the car park, there were a couple of blue crested birds, looking out for tourists' tit bits. These were white throated magpie jays.

It came on to rain as we finished our walk. We decided to go and look at the other part of the National Park - a peninsular that stretches out in to Lago Arenal. It was tipping it down but the leafcutter ants were carrying their foliage in lines. The walk was about 1.2 km to the end. There's a viewing tower which is meant to offer great views of the lake and the volcano - but today everything was cloudy and damp.

On the way home we collected some provisions and remarked how quickly night falls.