Costa Rica~May, 2003

Thu., May 12, 2003

Jerry and Jake and I drove north and met Jamie, Dawson and Meagan just off Route 80. We drove down to Paige’s and had a wonderful dinner at Lucia’s. Then to bed.

Fri., May 13

Rose at 3:30 am and got to the airport about 4:45. The flight to Miami, the transfer and flight to San Jose were uneventful. Our driver, Senor Chinchilla, met us and brought us ($15) to the Grand Hotel Costa Rica right in the heart of town. Traffic is terrible and we were glad to have arranged for him. The room is fine, but un-air-conditioned and opening onto a major pedestrian plaza that will probably prove to be very noisy.

We walked to a restaurant “tipico” the driver had recommended. We had a huge “casada”, a set, filling meal consisting of rice, black beans, mashed potatoes (no Atkins here), vegetables in a mayonnaise sauce, fried plantains and pieces of pork. Included a very sweet dessert ($11.75). Then we set out to see the sights of the capital. A pretty church (Merced) was in the process of reconstruction. Went through the cathedral—a stone church with salomonic (spiral) columns. All were painted, even the floor tiles. Visited the National Theatre, right next to our hotel, and paid the admission of $3 to see a rather typical baroque décor. It was built at the end of the 19th c with a strong tax on coffee production. Just as the skies were about to open up, we reached the National Museum of CR in the ancient Bellavista Fort ($2 student and $4 adult). Exhibits trace the history of Cr from prehistoric to modern times. Very informative if a bit dark. It also had two temporary exhibits—one about women and the other about legends—very modern, abstract and nothing compared to the Dali exhibit I had just seen in Phila. A final treat was a special “Secret Garden” full of butterflies (mariposas) in a garden full of beautiful tropical plants. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped at a street souvenir market but didn’t buy anything and passed the Legislative Assembly buildings.

Senor C. picked us up at 6:30 and drove us to El Monesterio, a beautiful restaurant high above the city. Built in an actual monastery, it has a chapel and a mysterious mechanical monk at a player piano. We ate on the terrace with the sparkling lights of San Jose all around us. We started with an assortment of pates and a Caesar salad for tow mixed almost tableside. Meagan had salmon and scallops and I had sea bass. Both delicious. Then we split a chocolate mousse with pistachio ice cream. Then the waiter brought us two coffees with whipped cream and chocolate syrup ($67 plus $30 for the cab).

Sat., May 14

Eggs, bacon, fruit and café at the hotel. Then we were picked up at 6 am by a minibus for our tour of the Carara National Park. There were seven others on the tour with our guide, Augusto. The ride was through very beautiful country with bright orange flamboyant trees as well as guanocosta trees (CR’s national tree). We stopped for a (second) breakfast of the same ingredients we had just had plus fresh mango juice. We saw a hummingbird and a couple of blue-grey tanagers. The coffee is so good here I might become re-addicted. I bought a couple of pounds to take home.

We stopped to walk on a bridge over the Tarcoles River and watch the many crocodiles resting comfortably there. The Carara Biological Reserve is set in two types of forest: dry forest to the north and rain forest to the south. We were in the rain forest part. There was a wealth of flora and fauna gracing the plains and hills of the area. Rivers and marshes in the park are home to a diverse population of reptiles and amphibians. The diversity of life here can be attributed to the variety of ecosystems found in the park, including marshlands, a lake, primary secondary and gallery forests. Our walk began in the gallery forest (a secondary forest growing on land formerly used for agriculture), located on the banks of the river, are tall and densely packed, but are home to only a small population of wildlife. Then we moved to the primary forests, occupying most of the reserve, which are species-rich, multi-layered, and thick with an abundance of creeping vines and epiphytes. Agusto did a wonderful job. He found a Fer de Lance snake, highly venomous and chased it off after we had all seen it (we were down to just four people, as the other ladies had gone on a boat trip). Then he found and caught a black and green poison dart frog, which was beautiful (its underneath was black and blue). We saw a black-hooded antshrike, a great curassow (very unusual) and best—a chestnut mandible toucan. Also several clay-colored robins (CR’s national bird).

We had a buffet lunch at a resort then went to a nice breezy beach (the weather is very hot and humid), where we saw a coati mundi. Then we went on another hike where we saw and heard many scarlet macaws. This is one of only two areas in Costa Rica where scarlet macaws can be seen. Very beautiful. We also saw white-faced monkeys and agouti (large squirrel-like rodent) and some ctenosaur lizards. Got back to the bus just as the skies opened up. Dinner was at the hotel and was quite good and inexpensive. (tripe and beef tips for tapas, tenderloin w/ jalapenos and see bass w/ garlic for entrees) ($40)

Sun., May 15

Fresh fruit and café for breakfast. Then we were picked up at 6:10 am. It took over an hour to go from hotel to hotel to pick up the other 17 people. Our guide today, Donald, spoke first in English and then in Spanish so we had lots of opportunity to practice our language skills. We began our journey driving by the monument "El Agricultor" and the Juan Santamaria International Airport. We entered the City of Alajuela, with the second largest population in the country. We continued our drive north and observed the vast difference between the congestion of homes in the city and the ones in the green countryside. These homes are surrounded by strawberry farms, huge ferns, and flower plantations, which compliment the massive coffee fields. We stopped at one of the latter and bought some souvenirs, then had breakfast, this time with strawberry juice. We began our ascent to the national park where we felt a change in temperature and in the lush vegetation of the exuberant cloud forest of the Poás Volcano. We were very luck to see the main crater and its fumaroles, with one of the widest diameters in the world. We looked for about five minutes and then the skies opened up (can you sense a pattern here). We wanted to cut down a “poor man’s umbrella”, but didn’t. We hustled down to the museum. After leaving the National Park we saw many dairy farms which have become the pride of Costa Ricans, due to the quality and the rich tasting products that are currently being exported to several other Latin American countries. As we continued towards the Caribbean zone, we stopped to visit La Paz Waterfall Gardens where we had lunch. We passed through the Butterfly Gardens (rained out) to the Hummingbird Gardens where we saw very many beautiful birds.

After lunch, we walked on truly spectacular trails that led us to Magia Blanca Falls (the largest and the most spectacular of the falls in the area. We continued to Sarapiquí passing the La Paz Waterfall. We viewed the unique characteristics of the Atlantic area, coming across quaint towns and farmhouses encompassed by beautiful pineapple, yuca, coco, and heart of palm plantations. We were ready to enjoy a relaxing boat ride on the Sarapiquí River, unfortunately it was pouring. But the boat was covered and we spent about an hour trying to see things. We saw some birds (anhingas, green heron), Howler monkeys (very interesting and really howling), and iguanas. On the way back to San Jose we drove through the rain forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park, one of the most important rainforest reserves for Costa Rica. A tree fell on a truck and we were delayed about half an hour. We opted for dinner at the hotel again and enjoyed it. ($44)

Mon., May 16

Good breakfast. Our waiter was on the trip yesterday with his wife and young son (the boy called the howler monkeys “gatos”). Pick up was a half-hour late (9am) and the bus was full. Our guide spoke very fast, but we had had two days of practice so we could keep up. It rained hard all day. We stopped at Sarchi, the souvenir town, then at Zarcero, a small town with a pretty church. Down the steps from the church is an unusual, Dr. Seuss-like garden of carved, aromatic cypress trees. Then to another tipico lunch where the rain started in earnest. As we boarded the bus, an ambulance passed, an ominous portent. We were stuck for over an hour and a half, stopped by one small, wrecked car. No one, including officials, could get through to move it, although one American and a least a dozen teenagers tried. By the time we got on the way, it was too late for the National Park walk at Arenal—a major disappointment. However, we were able to see the volcano and the smoke and gasses from the top before the clouds closed in.

We were driven to the Tasbacon Resort, near the base of the active Arenal. It is a world-class resort with lush tropical gardens and natural hot springs and thermo mineral water pools. Meagan and I had a wonderful two hours in the pools and under the waterfalls, ending at the hotel pool with a very fun sliding board. As we were finishing dinner, our guide came running in, saying that if we left immediately, we could see the volcano erupting. We did, and it was spectacular. We saw lava flowing down the slope and heard rocks exploding. It was a very long ride back and we ended up smack in the middle of the end of a semi-final soccer match in which San Jose lost to Alajera. Lots of noise in the plaza.

Tues., May 17

Senor C picked us up at 7:30 and drove us through very different countryside to the Irazu volcano. This was farming country and we saw farmers plowing with horses and Nicaraguans planting vegetables in the fertile lands of this mountain. The area is one of the most fertile soils in Costa Rica. As we ascended to the volcano, we passed through huge masses of clouds. Above them the view is awesome. At the breathtaking summit of the Irazu Volcano we viewed the massive crater. The sky was blue and we walked around the crater and saw the moon-like scenery around the crater. The temperature was a little cold and I was glad to have my jacket. The Irazu volcano erupted on March 19, 1963. The volcano had the nerve to erupt on the same day that President John F. Kennedy visited Costa Rica. For the next two years after the eruption, the volcano spewed showers of ash that went as far as San Jose, and that damaged many crops and homes. The volcano’s first recorded eruption had occurred in 1723, during colonial times, but the 1963 eruption seems to have been much worse.

On the return trip to San Jose, we stopped at the sanctuary of Costa Rica's Patron Virgin " La Virgen de Los Angeles " in the picturesque City of Cartago. Many Catholics here consider the Black Virgin, La Negrita, to be the Costa Rican manifestation of the Mexican Virgin of Guadalupe. A youngster in 1635 found a dark stone statue said to be of the Virgin Mary. The statue mysteriously kept returning by unknown means to the site where the Basilica de la Virgen de Los Angeles stands now in the city some 23 kms. (about 14 miles) east of San José. The actions of the statue were interpreted by church leaders as a desire of the Virgin Mary to have a church built on the Cartago site, and one was. The Cartago basilica today is an elaborate complex with an extensive courtyard for pilgrims. The Black Virgin is encased in gold and fine clothing at her place high above the main altar. A nearby room holds the many valuable gifts and elaborate changes of clothes donated for the statue. A spring, said to be the one near where the statue originally was found, has been converted into a complex area below ground level where water flows and is bottled for pilgrims. Our Lady of the AngelsAlso known as La Negrita; The Little Black One; Virgin de los Angeles Memorial 2 August Profile The image of Our Lady of the Angels is only about three inches high, and is carved in a simple fashion on dark stone. She has a round, sweet face, slanted eyes and a delicate mouth. Her coloring is leaden, with scattered golden sparkles. She carries the Christ Child on her left arm. Only the faces of Mary and the Child are visible; the rest is covered by a cloak that is gathered in pleats. The statuette is displayed in a large gold monstrance that surrounds it and enlarges its appearance. While searching for firewood on 2 August 1635, the feast of the Holy Angels, a poor mestizo woman called Juana Pereira discovered this small image of the Virgin sitting beside the footpath near Cartago, Costa Rica. Juana took it home with her, but it soon disappeared only to be re-discovered at the same place beside the same path. The statue repeated this behavior five more times - taken to homes and then the parish church - and returning on its own to the site where Juana found it. The locals finally took this to mean that Our Lady wanted a shrine built there, and so it was.The shrine soon became a point of pilgrimage, especially for the poor and outcast. The image was solemnly crowned in 1926. In 1935 Pope Pius XI declared the shrine of the Queen of Angels a basilica. The stone on which the statue was originally sitting is in the basilica, and is being slowly worn away by the touch of the hands of the pilgrims. A spring of water appeared from beneath the stone, and its waters carried away to heal the sick.

Senor Chinchilla took us to the airport ($90 for the trip—I should have negotiated beforehand) and we boarded a half hour ahead of schedule. That’s the end of the good news. We were delayed on the tarmac for two hours. Our flight from Miami was two hours after we were supposed to land. We managed to get through immigration and customs but didn’t think we had enough time to make the flight. There is a lot of construction in Miami and we ran a madcap course through most of the terminals before arriving at our gate. They were holding the plane for us so we did make it. Jerry was waiting for us and we had a quick trip home, arriving about 12:30—very long day. Wednesday we drove Meagan back home and our adventure ended.