Volcan Poas National Park, Costa Rica

It's really been an exceptionally good mail day today - I also received this beautiful postcard from Costa Rica today!



Volcan Poas National Park is a National Park that covers an area of approximately 65 km²; the summit is 2,708 m. One of the attractive features about Poás is that you can get all the way to the edge of the crater. The volcano is located in the Central Volcanic Conservation Area located in the Alajuela Province near the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, which encompasses the area around the Poás Volcano. The main crater is 289 m deep and is quite active with frequent small geyser and lava eruptions, however the last major eruptions were during 1952-54. Two more craters make up parts of the park, the extinct Von Frantzuis crater and the Botos crater. Botos is a beautiful cold, green water crater lake with a diameter of 365 m. The Botos crater has not erupted for about 7,500 years. Well-marked trails will take you to see the two inactive craters. The park is frequently closed to visitors because of sulphuric gas emissions. There are a number of indications that the volcano is slowly building towards a new eruption over the last decade.

The park maintains a variety of wild plant and animal species, such as the Poas Magnolia tree, and Bangs's Mountain Squirrel. It is home to many bird species, including the Clay-colored Robin and the Resplendent Quetzal and varieties of hummingbirds, tanagers, flycatchers and toucans.



The stamp is an automated sticker. It's very nice, though - why is it that most countries don't have any pictures on these labels? Having said that, though, I quite like the new UK "faststamps". The only problem is, they are not available in all post offices, and I don't think you can get them anywhere in Wolverhampton. I might try to get some next time I go to Birmingham...