I arrived in San Jose, the capital city, Monday afternoon. The immigration line took at least as long as the flight from Miami, but I’m putting my Type A away and going with the flow.
We met our guide, Andres, and got acquainted before dinner. There are only 9 of us. Would you believe there are two Jane’s? You can never have too many, I guess. One couple is from York, PA. Others are from Oklahoma, Washington State, Maryland and elsewhere.
After a good night’s rest, we enjoyed a full breakfast in the Hotel Balmoral (which I discovered doesn’t use the Scottish pronunciation. It Bal-mor-AL) It’s a beautiful, open restaurant festooned with tropical greenery. I got brave and ordered the traditional Costa Rican breakfast: rice and beans, eggs, plantains, cheese and bread. I wasn’t too keen on the very salty cheese, and I think it’s going to be a challenging food week. I kept wondering why the rice tasted like soap until it dawned on me it had a lot of cilantro in it. I’m one of the people who has that taste gene, I’m afraid, and so far everything we’ve eaten has been loaded with it.
After a talk about the history of Costa Rica, we headed off down the Central avenue, closed to vehicles, to the Museo de Oro - the Gold Museum. Most of Costa Rica’s gold comes from the southern portion of the country, and the metallurgical skills didn’t reach Costa Rica until they traveled up the west coast of South America into Central America. The museum houses beautiful collections of pre-Colombian artifacts in gold, stone and ceramics. Here are some of my favorites.
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This one makes me feel better about my thighs.
Of course, I was particularly interested in the musical pieces. For my recorder friends, there were several stone and ceramic flutes and ocarinas, all adorned with marvelous animals and human figures.
Along the way, we stopped at the National Theater, built with the proceeds from coffee and banana exports. I couldn’t resist snapping a photo of some high school girls heading down the street. Andres told me this is the first week of the new term, so they likely had a half day. Snappy uniforms… well, the navy blue ones, anyway.
Back to the hotel for a last pack-up, then we boarded our tour bus. Enrique, our driver, expertly nudged the big bus through very windy and narrow roads toward our day’s destination, Sarapiqui, where we will explore the rain forest and take a river boat ride to view the animals and birds.
Andres, our guide
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Along the way, we stopped at the home of a former Road Scholar guide, who serves her home-made cuisine for Road Scholar tourists. Wendy prepared a lovely meal of soup, her version of arroz con pollo, beans, and an interesting sweet potato dessert. I tried to pretend I liked it, but the soup was so full of cilantro and other spices I could hardly eat it. It was very pretty, though. I had to ask her if Wendy was a Costra Rican name. She said, “Of course not. My mother loved Peter Pan, and decided to give me the name Wendy.” I was thinking of a student I had named Tigerlilly, but I digress.
The bus ride to Sarapiqui was fabulous. We went up in elevation, though the moisture-laden clouds and mist, then down again toward our destination.
The houses reminded me a little of South Africa. All of them used barbed wire and gates to make them little fortresses. Andres said this custom dated back to the time of the Spanish occupation. It didn’t seem to strike him as anything very ominous. We passed by homes with lovely bougainvillea and other brightly colored flowers. Oh…did I mention it’s 76 degrees here? I did notice you are all suffering in 30 degree weather. What a pity.
After the two hour drive, we arrived at our hotel for the next two nights, the Ara Ambigua Lodge. It’s fabulous. The rooms are all nestled into the side of a hill. Each one has a lovely little veranda where you can sit and listen to the cacophony of birds in the trees.
Oh, birds! I really wanted to see the beautiful birds of Costa Rica, and we got our first taste here at the hotel. Just off the open air restaurant is a bird feeding area. The employees put out fruit and other feed and within minutes a spectacular collection of birds paid a visit. My birding friends will correct me, I’m sure, but the pretty black and red ones are Scarlett rump tanagers. Andres told me the names of the others, but I’ve forgotten them now and it’s almost time for dinner, so I’ll fill you in later. More birds to come!
Since we got here, it’s been sunny and muggy-hot, then a sudden downpour, then sunny again, and now dark and rainy again. I love looking out from my veranda. It’s exactly what I pictured the rain forest to be.
Well, with any luck I can find a menu item that doesn’t have cilantro. Cross your fingers.
Jane
P.S. You know I have MANY more photos. If you’d like to see them, here they are!
