Day 17 - February 13, 2011

We awoke to a partly cloudy day in San Jose.  We headed off to the airport.  The security process was no problem and we were early for our flight.  As we were boarding, I was pulled out of line for a random search of my backpack, which meant everything had to be opened in front of all people in line to board.  So much for a perfectly packed bag.  We saw beautiful views of San Jose from the window of the plane, and then saw the Caribbean coast which the plane followed north.

Miami was a zoo.  Construction caused us to have a long haul between gates.  We had to go to security again and this time, Bill got a pat down, not just the wand.  I won't go into the detail, but it is intrusive and also done in front of everyone, at least in Miami.

We got home to really cold weather and piles of snow - but we missed the blizzard! The walk was so icy I felt like I was ice-skating backwards.

Home Sweet Home. Now to rest up from our vacation and plan the next one!

Day 16 - February 12, 2011

Our last day in San Jose started with a trip to the Museo de Arte Costarricense (Museum of Costa Rican Art).  This museum was built in 1940 as an international airport terminal and turned into a museum in 1978. The collection contains more than 6,400 works of art from the end of the 19th century to today, of course not all are exhibited.

The first area we viewed was the beautiful sculpture garden which opened in 2003, with views of the Parque La Sabana.

We then viewed the permanent collection and special exhibits.

Lastly we went to the Gold Room. This room used to be the diplomatic lounge in the airport. Luis Féron Parizot (1901-1998), French sculptor and silversmith based in Costa Rica, was responsible for the creation of the mural that adorns the walls of the Golden Hall. The work of 1940, is a bas-relief in stucco (plaster-based formula), carved and painted bronze. In an area of 150 square meters, the mural summarizes the history of Costa Rica from pre-Columbian times to the 1940. It is very interesting and certainly difficult to capture in photographs.

We walked back through the Parque La Sabana with its beautiful trees, trails, soccer fields and the new soccer stadium built by the Chinese government. We admired the "Barkless Trees".

We had a wonderful home cooked dinner with Rosa and her friends and looked at pictures of the boys when they were young.

Day 15 - February 11, 2011

Today we met up with Rosa, our son-in-law Bob's mother, and her friend Patricia. We went to the Centro Nacional de Arte y Cultura (National Center of Art & Culture).  This was a fascinating place made all the better by having people who know the culture with us. The center includes a butterfly garden, an old army area, mysterious perfect spheres, Pre-Columbian art and gardens.

The museum was built on the Bellavista Fort.  The building incorporates some of the walls and buildings of the fort.  Costa Rica abolished its army in 1948, after a short civil war, and therefor no longer needed a fort, military prison nor the commanders' quarters. We saw these plus the barracks, kitchen, prisoners' writings, latrines and historical photographs.





The Pre-Columbian art is fantastic. There is pottery, gold jewelry, jade carvings, grinding stones and statues. There are lots of photos at the Costa Rica photo link, but here are some as well.

grater

Musical Instruments

 

The mysterious spheres from Diquis are believed to have been carved between 200 BC and 1500 AD. The spheres range from a few centimeters to over 2 meters (6.6 ft) in diameter, and weigh up to 15 tons. Most were sculpted from gabbro. A few were made from limestone and sandstone. They have been found in Isla del Caño and a few miles off shore. Virtually all were removed from their original locations to create pineapple plantations.

It is unknown how these were carved "near perfectly" and what their purpose was.  You can find out more on the "Mystery Spheres" website.

The Landmarks Foundation and Museo Nacional de Costa Rica managed to truck over 80 tons of the spheres from San Jose over the high mountain range and return them to their original location where they are currently being stored and protected until a Cultural Center is built.

Patricia & Rosa

After an engaging trip to the museum, we went to a supermarket and the to Rosa's home for something to eat.  We went for a ride with another friend of Rosa's towards the Caribbean (Limon) side of Costa Rica.  The ride was beautiful and we went thru the Heredia canton and saw the city of San Isidro with a beautiful white cathedral. We drove on the Guápiles Highway thru the Zurqui tunnel into the rainforest and cloud forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park.  We then ate at a typical Costa Rican restaurant.

Day 14 - February 10, 2011

Today was our chance to take a Float Trip on the Penas Blancas River. The river was fairly shallow because this is the dry season.  We had to walk down steps and some slippery sandbags. There was one guide and two other passengers.  We saw so much lush vegetation and wildlife!



















We stopped at a farm where they live without many modern conveniences.  They shared coffee and natural snacks with us.  The most freaky thing happened - I ran into a friend from a Chicago metro organization I volunteer with - on the farm!



The wildlife on the float trip was abundant, tho they were moving and we were moving...

Howler Monkey

Iguana

We stopped by a restaurant which happens to have several iguana who eat their food garbage!

We left the area to return to San Jose and caught our last view of Arenal Volcano.

Arenal Volcano

We also saw beautiful farmland and the fences that the farmers make with trees.  We arrived in San Jose for the last portion of our vacation.

Day 13 - February 9, 2011

Non-native beautiful Macaw at the Hanging Bridges

This morning I woke up before sun up and heard lots of animals, then we ate breakfast being entertained by the birds.The volcano had some cloud cover and never completely cleared all day.



















Our event for today was a Hanging Bridges naturalist guided hike. The trail through the rainforest includes 8 fixed bridges between 8 and 22 meters of length, as well as 6 hanging bridges, built with the latest technology that have 48 and 98 meters of trail between the towers.  The length of the hike is 3.1 KM and took over 2.5 hours.














Our guide was able to really sway the tree below from one of the hanging bridges.  The tree was so tall, that one small push made a huge difference in the position of the tree.

We have to go up there? View of the highest bridge.

From the Arenal Hanging Bridges website: "Our Bridges were designed by structural engineers, fulfilling the more demanding and constructed requirements of security with aluminum, galvanized and structural steel concrete. During the construction of this magnificent work the forest was preserved intact and the bridges provide the maximum security and comfort for our visitors."

The hanging bridges were fine, but better with fewer people on them.

We learned a lot about the forest, trees and plant life. Our guide, Diego, was very knowledgeable. We also saw several mammals, birds and snakes.  Getting a good picture was a challenge due to the dense leaves and trees, and the movement of the animals.

Walking tree

Eyelash Viper

Spider monkey

Spider Monkey

After our trip to the hanging bridges, we walked around the Lost Iguana Resort and generally relaxed.

Day 12 - February 8, 2011

Today we headed out on our own with arrangements made by CostaRica Expeditions. Our driver, Luis met us at 8 AM to drive us to the area around Arenal Volcano.  We had an enjoyable 3 hour drive stopping a few times, viewing wildlife (including a two toed sloth and a three toed sloth).  We also passed thru San Ramon, Place of Poetry, with its beautiful cathedral.

We arrived at the Lost Iguana Resort and were pleasantly surprised with the area and our room.  We have a great view of Arenal Volcano from our balcony!  Of course it has clouds at the top but the grounds and birds are fantastic.  There are a lot of hills and you can get a ride too your rooms from staff on golf carts. The restaurant is an open air facility with a great view and good bird watching. The volcano is not erupting at this time, just sending up some smoke, but seismologists think that by the current observed activity it may be getting ready to really erupt soon.

White Throated Magpie Jay

In the evening we went to the Hidalgo Family Hot Springs.  The springs are heated by the volcano. They have 5 hot pools, and some cool ones.  You go from the coolest of the 5, actually very warm, and gradually go to the hottest.  While in the pools, three Howler Monkeys were howling and playing in the tops of the trees, very cool.  Afterward we were treated to a wonderful Costa Rican dinner.  A security guard brought around a Red-Eyed Leaf frog! We were drained from the water and went to sleep early.