Costa Rica 2013

Monday18November

A day of driving to reach San José with beautiful landscapes along the way.

Tuesday19November

Here we are in the capital, and more precisely in front of the statue "la chola" by Manuel Vargas.

A little tour in the covered market where the very dignified Christ stands alongside the butcher shop, which is also very dignified...  

The statues "Los presentes" by Fernando Calvo

The Plaza de la Cultura and its pigeons

Return to Hotel Las Flores where we spend two nights. It is located in Heredia next to San José.

Small discovery of the surroundings with the Inmaculada Concepcion church

Heredia's Central Park

Christmas decorations are already installed

Wednesday20November

La Paz Waterfall Gardens is located about an hour north of Heredia. It's a zoo, a kind of heresy in this country of wild nature and queen! But it remains interesting to get up close to the animals, especially toucans and the red-eyed tree frog if you haven't been able to see them elsewhere.

Keel-billed toucans (ramphastos sulfuratus)

A red-lored amazon (amazona autumnalis) and a scarlet macaw, undoubtedly the most beautiful bird I've ever seen in the wild, along with the toucan! But it's true that here, confined in its aviary, its colors and large size (almost 1 meter) don't have all the majesty it has in nature.  

A butterfly aviary

The blue morpho, one of Costa Rica's symbols

A vivarium with, among others, the fer-de-lance snake and the spilotes pullatus that we encountered in our wanderings... And the signs that confirm the danger of the first and the harmlessness of the second.

The wild cat ocelot (leopardus pardalis)

The puma concolor or cougar

The panther onca or jaguar

And then it's back to wonder! Again, like at the Jaguar Rescue Center at the beginning of the trip, we find ourselves in front of the red-eyed tree frog (agalychnis callidryas). Here it is, asleep, camouflaged under its leaf.

Then it's placed on another leaf. There, it opens its magnificent eyes, and one by one unfolds its slender blue and orange legs. One word: wow!!! Above all, don't leave Costa Rica without having seen it!!!!  

Its other friends are there too. The green and black poison dart frog (Dendrobates auratus) and the strawberry poison-dart frog (Oophaga pumilio).

And yet another one trying to go unnoticed.

Outside, another symbol of Costa Rica awaits us. It's the traditional ox cart (or carreta) with its very recognizable solid, decorated wooden wheels! This craft was even inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2005!

The visit ends with the waterfalls that gave the site its name.

For the last lunch of the trip, we return to this small Soda restaurant "Las ardillas" on route 120, which we had loved two weeks earlier.

And of course, I treat myself to fajitas!

Last evening of the trip. We have returned to the starting point in Alajuela. We walk around the city and the shop windows are having a field day for Christmas!

The night market

Alajuela Cathedral

A little nod to our last day in India last year. The actors from the Bollywood movie we went to see are advertising here in Costa Rica!!!  

Our last Soda.

And finally, a small photo of Costa Rican showers, at least the ones we had in our small hotels! The showerhead is electric with all the necessary tape and wires sticking out! The country doesn't own the process because we also encountered it in India in the Himalayas!

Well, this is the end of the trip. Tomorrow we leave Central America and its wild Costa Rica to join the much less colorful animals of the Nantes region! See you soon for new adventures!