Affordable Costa Rica Day 2
Affordable Costa Rica
DAY 2 - March 15, 2005
San José City Tour/Arrive in Sarapiquis
We woke up to an early sun and showered and packed well before our 7 AM deadline. We checked the internet and had a few messages, one from Eduardo that the new web site and the journal plus pictures looked very good. We had a great buffet breakfast with lots of typical Costa Rica fresh fruit, the staple food of rice cooked with black bean, and other hot breakfast items. We tried to pick out other OAT travelers.
As Mario, our bus driver, packed all of our luggage on top of the bus, we walked around the hotel, took a few pictures, and met several members of our group. We have 16 Americans but only 4 couples so the 4 men will have an interesting 2 weeks.
At 8:30 we got into our mini bus for our first great adventure, which was a private tour of the city. San José was founded in 1737 and is now one of the most cosmopolitan Central American capitals, rich in culture and history. Our first stop was the ornately decorated National Theater (Teatro Nacional), proudly regarded as "the jewel of the nation." The families of the wealthy coffee growers built this beautiful building in 1897. It was all imported from Italy except for the wood that was native to CR. We spent about an hour looking at the extraordinary art work which was totally restored after 1991 when it was damaged in the earthquake.
We were back on the bus at 10:30 on our way to the National Museum (Museo Nacional), where we got an overview of 10,000 years of Costa Rica's history, including the many centuries before the arrival of Columbus when this was a meeting-place for Meso-American and Andean cultures. While we were there we were able to talk to and photograph a group of 1st graders on a field trip. We learned that in 1948 the CR military was abolished with the high priority now given to the education of its young people. The literacy rate is 97%, not just who can read but who have successfully complete the 12 mandatory grades of free education.
At 12:30 we headed out of the city on our way to the Sarapiquis region, stopping just outside of San Jose for lunch at a local restaurant. We had a typical lunch of chicken or beef, in a sweet salsa sauce served with a corn meal mixture, white rice, black beans, and fried bananas. It was very tasty! We were back on the road by 2.
Eddie gave us a brief introduction to the Spanish language and the geological history of Costa Rica. We headed over the mountains and through the longest tunnel in CR as we passed the protected wilds of Braulio Carrillo National Park. When we crossed the Cordillera Central, we learned that over 25% of the country has been set aside as national parks. Eco-tourism is the most lucrative cash industry today, followed by bananas, pineapple, coffee and now tropical plants.
At 4 PM we arrived at our comfortable but primitive lodge outside the town of La Virgen, beside the Tirimbina Biological Reserve. In addition to being lush with native fauna, this habitat is used by migrating birds from the northern U.S. and Canada. At 5:30 Eddie gave us an orientation briefing before dinner at our lodge. He explained to us the optional opportunities and went into more detail about our daily schedules. Dinner was buffet style with a great salad, couple of entrees and then dessert.
We were greeted by a gecko on our screen door when we returned to our room to do this journal. The room has a fan but no air, and with the temperature about 85 degrees and the humidity about the same, it will be a different night's sleep. We have gone from the 5000+ feet of altitude in San Jose to about 300 here in the eastern tropical lowlands.
Accommodations: Sarapiquis Centro Neotropico
Meals: B, L, D
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