Volcán Irazú and Cartago

On Sunday we had another 7 AM start and rode the bus into San José to take another bus to Volcán Irazú. We had another beautiful bus ride, and this time felt lucky to have seats because the bus was INCREDIBLY full. I even took a little nap on the way up! But I didn't miss the small livestock farms and villages on the way.

We got to the park at about 10 AM.

The overlooks were amazing, and again we had the luck to see it all on a clear day!

Not to say there weren't any clouds, they were just below us!

The main crater is less active at Irazú and doesn't smoke, which made its green color stand out even more!

We took had our fill of looking and picture taking,

and got a little wind-blown!

We had lunch away from the edge of the crater in a sunny spot on the volcanic rocks! They didn't make the best seats but they looked cool and absorbed the sun well. I collected some small ones for souvenirs.

At 12:30 the bus headed back down to Cartago, the closest town to the volcano, and then back to San José. We got off at Cartago to see some sights there - it was the original capital of Costa Rica and has some great cultural gems.

We saw La Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles, a church built in 1635. As you can see, it's been renovated, first after an earthquake in 1910 and again in 2004.

It is a remarkable building with a formal Byzantine grace, high ceilings, stained-glass windows, and a polished-wood interior.

We got to see people walking on their knees into the church to make alms to La Virgen Negra, a small statue that survived the church's near destruction.

Then we headed over to the side of the church, where we collected some holy water from the virgin, which is believed to have powerful healing powers. It's a really common tradition here, and many people keep the virgen´s water in their houses to keep the family safe. People also bring their sick family members here to heal them. As you can see, it was a bit crowded.

Next we went to the Parque Central, where Las Ruinas de la Parroquia stand. This church was built in 1575 as a shrine to St. James the Apostle and was destroyed by an earthquake in 1841, rebuilt, and destroyed again by another earthquake in 1910. I guess they gave up on rebuilding after that, but you can go inside the ruins where they have created a beautiful park and garden.

We sat outside the ruins in the town square to take them in. On a Sunday afternoon this was another popular spot, and also serves as the center of the town of Cartago. There is a shopping center and a few stone sculptures there as well.

We took the bus back from Cartago to San José, returning around 4. We were happy about out exciting and adventurous weekend, but also exhausted and ready to be home for a rest and some dinner! What a great time we had!

Volcán Poás

This weekend my roommate Jessica and I had a volcano-filled weekend. There are several in the San José area or relatively close, so we figured we should see them before we go. It's weird to be thinking about things like that, but we only have three weekends left now, so it's time to start checking off the must-do's before it's too late.

We left the house at 7 on Saturday to buy tickets downtown for the 8:30 bus to Volcán Poás. It was a pleasant bus ride through some towns, including Alajuela where the airport is, and up into the mountains. We stopped in Poasito, a gorgeous mini-town whose main form of income is tourists coming to see the volcano.

We got into the park and walked up to the top around 11 AM, and incredibly the sky was still clear enough to see the crater! Check it out...

The crater is surrounded by rock and is filled with green stuff, presumably some acidic brew. It smokes almost all the time! We got to witness it with blue skies and enough clarity that you could see the greenage of the nearby mountains that surround it.

After we got our fill of looking we went for a hike to the lake that used to be an active crater and now is filled up with rain water. The water still has an acidic pH due to its origins, so it's a really bright color and hardly anything lives in it. What a beautiful sight!

In addition to the view of the lake, we enjoyed some nature on the way there and back. The trail there was very cool and filled with all kinds of interesting plants.

We took our time to enjoy it and be silly!

We returned to the crater about an hour later to eat our sack-lunches, only to find that it was completely obscured by the clouds that had rolled in. All you could see was a think white fog, not even the rock surrounding it was visible, let alone the crater itself. Apparently this is very common, although you wouldn't know it listening to the tourists who had been planning to see it... We felt very lucky for the clear and beautiful view we had!

We bummed a ride back down to the town where we did some shopping and had some very healthy snacks: fruit juice, chocolate covered marshmallows and fried cheese! They were delicious though.

Instead of paying the $8 to take the direct bus back to San José we opted for the indirect option, which meant stops in Poás and Alajuela. We saved about $5 and got to see some more beautiful scenery, like this pond in Poás!

We returned to San José around 6 or 7 and had a few cervesas and a home-cooked dinner to renew our energy reserve before another early morning and another volcano!

Un Cumpleaños en Costa Rica

We got back from Puerto Viejo on Sunday evening and Monday was Kerry's 21st birthday!! Not to mention one of his last days in Costa Rica, so we had a lot of fun to fit in!

After breakfast and a few small gifts we went to Parque de la Paz to fly kites

And then opened some more presents there!

 

We had a fantastic lunch downtown at Café Mundo where he had a delicious chicken sandwhich and I got pasta with shrimp.

Then we went for a walk downtown and stopped at some cool places.

 

He opened some more presents in Parque España.

 

For dinner we went to a nice Italian restaurant called Il Ritorno where Kerry had an Italian beer (and more presents).

The food was delicious!!

We had ice cream for dessert and then hung out together before heading out to a bar with some friends. Most of them were Americans from my program, so although ironically Kerry turned 21 in a country where you can drink at 18, they kept up with the American tradition and bought him lots of free drinks. We had a great time!

Since I was the only one giving him presents I tried to stretch them out all day. When all was said and done he got a full Costa Rica farewell package: coffee, local foods and sweets to take home, jewlery made here from local beads and shells, some national activities, and a frame that I made from shells I collected in Montezuma. Something to drink, eat, wear, do, and remember.

Unfortunately he had to leave on Wednesday, and saying goodbye was really hard. But we had an amazing time and made some truly once-in-a-lifetime memories!

Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

On Wednesday afternoon we left for Puerto Viejo de Talamanca. After previous travels which had included two busses and a ferry, the direct, under-five-hour bus ride to the Carribean coast was a breeze. Not to mention that it was through the mountains and jungle and thus was also fascinating and enjoyable. We arrived after dark and checked into our hotel before getting dinner. Cabinas Jacaranda featured uniquely painted rooms, a communal kitchen, a jungle garden and mosaiced EVERYTHING! This was the front entrance:

And here's the path from the entrance to our room.

Between the two was a garden with an amazing variety of flowers, orchids, and other tropical plants. These, in turn, attract all kinds of lizards and birds. We ate breakfast here every day!

After breakfast we usually went to the closest beach, which was about a five minute walk through town from the hotel. Here we swam, played, read, and ate papaya. There was an old sunken dock with trees growing out of it! And in some places there was black sand, which is made out of magnetic particles.

We had plenty of opportunities to sample the local food, and the following two sodas featured the best casados (a house plate of chicken, fish or meat accompanied by rice, beans, salad, and sometimes fried green plantain called patacones).

Evenings gave us time to expore the nightlife, and Kerry tried local favorites like the national beers: Imperial and Pilson,

 

and a local favorite, Cuba Libre (rum and coke in a can).

Because it was his last weekend in Costa Rica, Kerry wanted to really take advantage of it. This time instead of bikes we rented a motorized scooter. I was a bit of a timid driver but Kerry had no problem - trasportation became way faster!

Thus we had the opportunity to cover a lot more ground, and we rode to Cahuita, Cocles, Playa Chiquita, Punta Uva, and Manzanillo.

All of these are part of the 'Refugio Nacional de vida silvestre Grandoca-Manzanillo' a valuable and protected stretch of land that has suffered from the side effects of tourism since before the 1950's. During that time there was a lot of debate about permitting tourism and what types of 'eco-tourism' could exist in the reserve. There was (and in some cases still is) a lot of corruption in the land-use approval process and much exploitation from international companies.

It is a historically important place for Costa Rica and it was cool to see so much of it. What's more, I was assigned a novel for one of my classes about the fight against exploitation of the reserve and I got to read it WHILE I WAS THERE!

Although the biodiversity in the area has been impacted by exposure to humans and tourists and environmental degredation, there are many forces working to combat the negative effects. One is the Jaguar Reserve in Cocles, where they rescue animals who have been injured or who's habitats have been ruined and rehabilitate them. Once they're in good health they're kept in open cages and encouraged to adventure out into the jungle in hopes they will stay there. But the reserve is open to them as long as they feel they need it.

It's a nonprofit organization, but you can pay a small fee (for a good cause) to go on a tour there and interact with the animals. On Friday we did, and what fun we had! We got to play with monkeys

and two-toes sloths

and saw three-toed sloths,

toucans,

 

wild cats,

owls, frogs, snakes, spiders, a hawk, and an iguana, to name a few. WOW, right!?!?

We also rode the scooter to a few secluded beaches. This is Punta Uva, where the jungle begins literally as soon as the sand ends!

Our next stop was Manzanillo, where there is a big coral reef really close to shore. So close that you have to stay really close to the surface of the water or you'll scratch up your knees because the water's so shallow (Kerry learned that the hard way :(...) We rented snorkel gear there to check it out

We saw TONS of fish and coral and weird plants and creatures. One fish was about two feet by two feet! The rest were small but very colorful, and sometimes in big schools. I brought my underwater camera but it had a hard time capturing the bright colors through salt water. Here's a good shot though!

What a day!

On Saturday we went to the national park in Cahuita for a hike that included many real-life natural monkey encounters

as well as walks along the beach

 

and through the (sometimes swampy) jungle.

It was another day full of wild-life: we also saw all sorts of lizards and some really big spiders in addition to the breathtaking and sometimes bizarre greenery.

On Sunday we woke up to rain, and said an extra-wet goodbye to the ocean. We made breakfast, packed up, and returned the scooter before taking the 11 AM bus back to San José.

After such a great weekend not even the bad weather could dampen our spirits!