San Jose - The city with two faces

No, San Jose hasn't stabbed us in the back, like a bad friend, but it does give visitors (at least us) mixed feelings. Whether you like the city, or not, will greatly depend on where you land in it and how you embrace the concept of Pura Vida. (Pure Life.) This is a unique Costa Rican sentiment that somehow embraces all facets of life, be they good, bad or otherwise. It seems that the feeling is somewhere between joy and embracing the chaos and pain that life has to offer. San Jose is a perfect reflection of this: it's got both lovely and run down neighbourhoods. Some places are impeccable and others rubbish laden. We can't quite pin down a sense of it.

La Sabana park in the sunshine

Can't have a city without a football stadium

Las Escalantes district

Art Deco building with crazy paint job

Having spoken with a local man, he seems to feel the exact same way. Warner both loves and hates the city at the same time. I'm starting to guess that no one really knows what San Jose is or where it's going. I'll say this, the city seems to be getting better. There are a lot of improvements going on; street repaving, houses being cleaned up and renovated, cranes are sprinkled across the skyline etc. There are thriving neighbourhoods with heaps of cute cafes and restaurants: San Pedro, Las Escalantes, Rohrmoser, Escazu and Amon.

Train station built in 1902!

Flowers in a park dedicated to the
French Uprising

Street art installation

Doggy Road (ha!)

Then there are the middle of the road neighbourhoods that could use a little love, but seem to have their fair share of those that love it there. I mean, the tax base can't be that large, what with just of 5 million people in the entire country, so things like road maintenance and the upkeep of public spaces must be challenging. I go back to the concept of Pura Vida, no matter what the mess is it could always be worse, so let's not worry about it. For me, it creates a bit of apathy. Pile of garbage on the corner? Pura vida! Someone threw more trash on it? Pura vida! It's a great way to let go of the concept of control (especially in situations where you really don't have any), but it seems to encourage the "not my problem" mentality as well. This is strictly my opinion and could well be misguided. I can only go by what I've experienced.

Cute little houses

More little house with crazy wires above

Ron checking out the sculptures in Parque Sabana

They're carved out of dead trees

There's a general bird theme

This one has an extra creepy face, too.

I confess to struggling with editing out the "ugly" of San Jose. You don't see pictures of the broken statues, decrepit and neglected park benches and heaps of litter in certain areas, but I don't think it's fair, to do to San Jose, what we don't do anywhere else we go. (Every place has its secret embarrassments, don't they?) While San Jose may not be for everyone, we've found it interesting so far and are enjoying the great (if expensive) food options.

If you're planning to visit bring lots of sunscreen, bug spray and a sense of pura vida.

Marvel at Manuel Antonio National Park

We originally had no intention of going so far south and visiting one of the largest attractions in the country, but the lure of what it had to offer was irresistible.

An unexpected lunch guest

A toucan also dropped by

The bad news was that it was almost a 5 hour drive from where we were staying and the best time to see the animals was gate-opening at 8am. We abandoned our Air B&B a day early and made the drive. It was slightly overcast, but warm, and we managed to avoid the Transito (traffic police). On a recommendation, we stopped (via a misguided route offered by Google Maps - sometimes she's such a cow!) at a hotel called Villa Caletas, a beautifully situated edifice, perched high on a cliff overlooking the ocean. We had lunch at their restaurant (Restaurante Anfiteatro) which, unsurprisingly, had an amphitheatre carved into the cliffside. Sadly, there was no musical performance for lunch, but we enjoyed sweeping views of the water, made more enjoyable by the lush tropical plants, excellent service and very fine meal.

Pathway to the restaurant

Overcast, but warm, with big views

After passing a couple of pleasant hours surveying the sea, we hopped back in the putt-putt (really, there's no other name for it, completely serviceable, but not terribly peppy) and continued on through Quepos to our hotel. It was a lovely little find called The Falls at Manuel Antonio. It doesn't look like much on the outside, but was a sweet little oasis after a long drive.

Flowers of the rain forest

We rose early to eat breakfast at 7am and met our transport at 7:45. We were whisked off to the park, picking up the rest of our group and were ready to head in a little after the 8am opening. Ron and I boldly opted to take the tour in Spanish. (Yay, us!) It proved to be an excellent experience and we understood nearly everything our guide, Jason, said.

Fawn hiding in the underbrush

Three-toed Sloth, making his way through the trees

White faced monkey (in silhouette)

Two-toed sloth (vaguely reminiscent of Chewbacca)

Just hangin' around

Sweet little hummingbird taking a rest

Squirrel monkey (too fast for a good pic)

Yup, we found the world's cutest monkey

M. Antonio is the smallest national park in Costa Rica (at least, I believe it is), but it offers a lot. There are three varieties of monkeys and both types of sloths, plus an excellent selection of lizards, birds and is also home to White-tailed deer. Not only that, but there is an excellent white sand beach in the park that is safe for children to swim. (Costa Rica is notorious for rip tides.) 

We had a great time, got to joke with some Spaniards and a mom and daughter from San Diego; all in Spanish.

Crocodiles on the way back to San Jose

Sharing a joke? Laughing behind the other's back?

These guys are big - 2 metres long or so

I have to say that it was the busiest park we visited and seeing the crowds, we were worried that all the animals would be scared away. Our fears were unfounded and we got to enjoy all the wildlife the park had to offer. It's well worth paying for a guide, as Jason (Jade Tours) pointed out things that we'd never have spotted on our own, including a confused little fruit bat hanging out on a tree in the middle of the morning.

Not the best photo, but that's the bat looking addlepated

I think it's safe to say that we've avoided the most touristy of traps (I'm talking about you, ziplines) and wrung the most out of our time in the wilds of Costa Rica. I'm sure, all told, we drove well over 3,000 kms on all our adventures.

The putt-putt before (Daihatsu Terios) - shiny!

The putt-putt after... (not shiny)

Next up, San Jose, the capital city. We might regret it, based on the faces of those folks that heard we were staying 2 weeks there, but we'll let the city speak for itself. 

The Beaches of Costa Rica

Canada may have the world's longest shore line and some truly stunning beaches, (I'm sure we all have a laundry list of favourites) but Costa Rica's bread and butter is made off of a variety of sandy stretches in various colours...oh, and zip lines. (We have yet to bother with gimmicks such as wires strung over the canopy of the jungle, but there's still time.)

Regular Sand

White Sand

Black Sand

This is definitely the place to come for beach bums, surfers, snorkelers and SCUBA-ers. There are empty beaches, hard to reach beaches, popular beaches, beaches with time shares (consider yourself warned), beaches lined with restaurants, crab filled beaches, rocky beaches...well, you get the drift.

Palm shaded beach

Boating beach

Pacific Northwest styled beach

You could plan a whole month's holiday just visiting beaches every day, I'm pretty sure. That doesn't make the sound of the waves any less soothing, or the long stretches of pulverized rock and shell any less stunning. So bring your SCUBA gear, your snorkel or your surf board. (You can rent gear, too, if you want.) Be prepared to sweat, watch for rip tides and enjoy the sun and sand.