Jungles and Volcanoes of Costa Rica

Reasons for Going and Getting There- August

When Southwest started flying from BWI to San Jose Costa Rica, I thought maybe I could go to see the turtle nesting - 19 years before, it wasn't the turtle nesting season. We saw the rainforest ecosystem and many of the animals, and we could do that again. The round trip Southwest tickets for two old people cost $1186.66.

Baby spider monkeys 1996

But unfortunately, my health has deteriorated to the point where this was physically impossible for me to walk through the mud and sand out to the beach where the turtles come ashore. I now have two things on my bucket list which I will probably never do - scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef and see the turtle nesting in Costa Rica.

We again booked the land portion through Pat Hewitt at Costa Rica Travel Exchange (www.LoveCostaRica.com) but it was little more difficult for him because of my limited mobility and the fact that I am using a scooter to get around. So while his trip that he booked for us in 1996 was great, there were some problems with this one. This time I did not take any guidebooks - I did all my research on the internet. I did get the Costa Rica maps downloaded into my GPS. We both had digital cameras and between the two of us we took almost 1600 photos - three or four times the number we took on our first trip.

There were certain places that we had visited before that I wanted to revisit. The Jade Museum (which had moved from where it was before and now charged a fee), the National Theatre

Ground floor seating 2015 which can be removed to make a dance floor

(which was being repaired from the earthquake when we were there in 1996). I didn't take many photos because everything was shrouded with dust cloths and the Serpentarium, which had moved from where it was in 1996. I also wanted to see the Gold Museum

When we were in San Jose in 1996, the Gold Museum was closed on Monday when we were in San Jose So this time, I made sure we were in San Jose during the week when it would be open. Now it is open every day. I was successful with everything except the Serpentarium

Beginnings Early August
Yesterday I printed out the Travel directions (about tipping, the fee for leaving the country, where to get money and other important matters), and also printed out the information on the hotels. Then last night my internet stopped working. I cycled the modem twice with no luck, so I went to bed. This morning the same. Called Verizon and they wanted my account number (which was in a distant folder) and wanted me to look at the connection to the wall jack. The wall jack is behind the computer desk in the study. No can do. So they said they would get back to me - maybe today - maybe tomorrow. Lindy came and got me packed. Bob was mostly packed already. I convinced him to use a smaller, soft side bag as the big brown bag when packed weighs about 40 lbs. (18 kg). That way he can take a smaller amount to Tortuguero.

I tried using my phone for the internet, and I can do that if I have to. I tried to get the GPS to locate Costa Rica, but it resisted. I was editing photos (deleting duplicates) and the internet came back about 3. They called us about 6 to tell us. (A robocall)

I checked the GPS and decided it did not have Costa Rica maps, so I bought those maps. I was finishing printing out things and found that I needed dark or black clothes for the turtles and I normally do not take dark clothes to hot sunny climates. But I put in a navy shirt and I did have navy pants. I also started looking at the cemeteries in Costa Rica. There are a couple of interesting ones.

August 6th
Bob changed his mind about taking a smaller suitcase. But he put a smaller bag in the bigger bag.

I was mostly packed except that I thought we should have binoculars. I know we have some but Bob could not find them. I guess we will use the telephoto camera lenses as binoculars. I was moving some files around to make more room on my hard drive when I got one of those pop-up pages which said I had a virus and should call for a certified Microsoft technician. But since I couldn't close the page I thought it was probably a scam, so I called the Geek squad and they confirmed. I had to forcibly shut down the computer.

August 7th,
This morning Channel 5 was in Leonardtown. I watched some of it. I also tried to print out a boarding pass, but could not because it is an international flight. The airline (SW) wants us there three hours in advance which means 5:30 in the morning

I took a shower, after which I put my hairbrush in my suitcase. I turned the computer off while I got the shower and it was not off when I was done. So I had to forcibly shut it off. So I de-installed Crash Plan which seemed to create problems, and now the computer seems to work better.

main street of town in the rain

We left about two - in the rain. It was quite cool. I had the hotel on the GPS but of course she wanted us to go a different way than what we usually go. And I thought I could get to the hotel (the Wingate Inn by Wyndham, which is now a Holiday Inn Express and Suites.) by going around Aviation Boulevard as usual. Not. I did not know that the hotel was behind the Hilton Garden Inn - we saw that but did not see the Wyndham. So we went around in circles before I finally got out my phone and saw where it was. I booked this hotel because I wanted to stay someplace where I could park near the airport for free. Previously I stayed at the Hampton Inn, but they started to charge for parking. At the Windham, we could leave our car for free for 10 days with no charge. Check in worked OK. But they had trouble coding the keys, and Bob's got demagnetized. The room had a

small fridge and microwave

me in the mirror at the hotel

We could walk to Bob Evans for dinner as it is in the same area as this hotel and the Hilton Garden Inn When we checked in, The room was 56 deg F - freezing. I do not have warm clothes to deal with this. Maybe I will take down the curtains and wrap myself in them!! Bob turned on the heat. The lights sputtered, and when I logged on to the wi-fi the computer said it was a bad network There was no list of TV stations. The shuttle goes on the hour and half hour so to be there at 5:30 we take the 5:00 shuttle. Breakfast starts at 7 but there is continental breakfast at 4 am.

crepes at Bob Evans

Saturday August 8th
Last night, I shut down the computer about 9 and went to bed. Bob had turned on the heat so it wasn't quite as cold and I did not have to resort to taking down the curtains for warmth. Bob refused to ask for a wake-up call (which to be fair sometimes does not come) and insisted on trying to set the clock radio for 4 am instead of getting the wind-up alarm clock out of the suitcase. The clock-radio often doesn't work either as either the wrong 12 hours is selected or something else goes wrong. I was nervous about it and woke up and looked the clock at 1:30 and again at 3:30. I turned over at 4:15. And that waked up Bob - the clock radio alarm didn't go off. We got out to the lobby at the required 10 minutes before the 5 am shuttle. I snatched a mini-blueberry muffin from the buffet and we all (the van was completely full - all seats taken and two people standing) piled into the van. The majority of them were Southwest pilots and one was a flight attendant. The only civilians (other than ourselves) were a family of five and a lady who was apparently the wife of a pilot who was carrying a large picture.

The van parked and Bob got our five bags unloaded. I walked over to the curb check (which I did not think we could use because of the scooter) and asked for a wheelchair. The lady said she would call for one, and I sat in the chair that was there. Bob consolidated the bags and we went inside. I told the wheelchair lady that I could not curb check and we would need help with checking the scooter. There were very long lines at the counter to check in, even though it was only 5:15 am.

Lines at SW

She came back and said she found someone to help. I think she went into the back and got a supervisor who had to open a station up. He did not really appear to know what he was doing. The station next to him processed three people while he did just us. But he did get the bags checked. The scooter bag weighed 76 lbs and my bag was 36 lbs.

The wheelchair lady next went to security (she jumped all the lines). I was again nearly strangled taking off my hat, camera, passport case, pocketbook and camera vest. Bob had to take off his belt. And even though I went through the scanner they still had to pat down my arms and legs. Apparently my arms and legs make a hot spot on the scanner. I told the scanner lady that it was just fat.

Our gate was to be B5. We were at the gate by 5:45. Bob tipped the wheelchair lady $10.00. The whole check-in had only taken half an hour. And there was NO ONE THERE BUT US. Bob went and got me a banana and a bagel and filled the water bottles. He bought himself some fruit flavored candy. Our flight was not even on the departures board.

Were we in the wrong place? A long time went by before anyone else was there. Finally other people started to show up. There was another lady in a wheelchair with her daughter - I think they were originally from Costa Rica, and the old lady was coming home. There were families with a lot of kids. There were many announcements about how we could not board unless we had the red "Doc OK" on our boarding pass and that we also had to have a boarding priority

The gate agent was in training and he started to get us lined up and then he asked his trainer a question and she took off running down the gangway and after bit he followed. We were to have started boarding at 7:45 but he didn't get us lined up until about 8:05 and both gate agents were gone (with everyone standing in line) for 5 minutes. They took the other lady first and then took us. I was not seated until about 8:10. There was a whole group of people in kryptonite color T shirts from the Severna Park United Methodist Church who apparently were going down on a Mission. The back of their shirts said Costa Rica VIM 2015

We did not push back from the gate until 20 minutes after our supposed departure time of 8:30 and we did not actually take off until 9:15. We went right over

U. S. Naval Academy after take-off

and then we were above the clouds for a good bit of the time. We went over some land that was neatly laid out in squares (with an occasional triangle).

I thought it was Cuba, but Bob didn't think Cuba would be that organized. We went over some islands which looked almost like the Bahamas.

They handed out the immigration and customs forms and said to wait until we could all go over them together and Bob didn't wait (neither did I). I made a mistake on my form by putting my occupation in the place for residence. Bob did OK on immigration, but on customs he got his name backward (in the wrong place) and he also answered some of the questions wrong. We got corrected forms. I did notice when we were at Customs that some people were sent back to fill in their forms again.

Costa Rica

I went to the bathroom just before they shut the forward bathroom down so the pilots could all use it. We didn't talk to the lady in the aisle seat until about the end of the trip - she turned out to be a German who had lived in Costa Rica for a time and was coming down to visit family


We landed almost on time (11:30 central non-daylight time). We waited for the second wheelchair. We jumped the immigration line, and then went to get our bags. We got mine and then Bobs and then he walked off to another carousel to see if the scooter was oversized luggage. In the meantime the scooter came on the original carousel and some nice airport baggage handler got it off the line for me and packed all the rest of the bags on a cart. The wheelchair guy had gone off with Bob, but he was paying attention and came back. We were able to wave at Bob that we had all the bags and then to go through customs. The SW flight attendant said the fruit flavored candy could not come in and indeed the package looked like it was dried fruit, but Bob left it in his pocket, and no one said anything.

Pat made arrangements with Coach Costa Rica to pick us up at the airport and take us to the hotel, so after we cleared customs, the two guys (one pushing the wheelchair and one pushing the luggage) went out past all kinds of people holding signs until I saw one that said Beasley and he seemed to be expecting me in a wheelchair. He said something to the other guys and so we walked quickly out of the airport and into the garage where the guy with the van ( Mario Fernandez) stopped on the way to pay the parking. All five of us arrived at the van by 12:15.

Loading the Luggie

Bob tipped the luggage guy $3, the wheelchair guy $5.00. As we drove into the city I talked to Mario and he gave me his card. He said he has been doing guided tours since 1991 and he worked for a transport service when he didn't have tours. We discussed having him drive us around on the 11th. The hotel that we stayed in this time was the Holiday Inn Aurola in the center of San Jose which cost $111.50 per night and included breakfast.

Hotel exterior

We stored our luggage there while we were on the trip to Tortuguero. We arrived at the hotel and they gave me a wheelchair and loaded the luggage on a cart. (I did not know whether to tip Mario $5 or $10 but Bob picked $5.00). We went to check in and went through all the procedures and then they said we were early to check in and would have to wait for our room to be ready.

Lobby -stairs up to the bar (over the gift shop)

I was getting hungry (they gave us peanuts, pretzels and cheese nips on the plane, but that was hardly lunch), so I asked if we could eat while we waited. That seemed to be a new concept to him.

I footed the wheelchair around - I found the Greyhound tour desk and the visitor information desk - neither of them with any persons to answer questions. I ended up going into the first/ground floor restaurant which turned out to be the breakfast room. When they said it would be at least 40 minutes until we could check in, I asked again if we could eat there first. But Bob was worried about the luggage. They said they could just take it up to our room. So that was what I told them to do. I also got a city map from the desk

It turned out that we were ordering off the room service menu. Bob said that the restaurant restrooms were like the Waldorf Astoria, but the restaurant service was like Faulty Towers. And indeed the guy who took our orders did remind me quite a bit of the waiter in Faulty Towers. I ordered a

quesidilla - 5,440 col

Extra stuff that comes with a quesidilla

Iced tea -1,343 col

and Bob had a

Tuna sandwich

Bob also wanted more than a little glass of water, so I flagged someone down and asked for a bigger glass. They didn't have bigger glasses but they said how about a pitcher. We said that would be terrific. They brought a carafe with a lot of ice.

Bob then asked for a banana split and I just wanted ice cream. But while the order taking waiter could do banana split, he could not get the idea that I just wanted ice cream, so I got a banana split too

Partly eaten banana split 2,709 col

I was looking at the map and using my phone to get a better map when I got an email from AT&T that I had incurred $100 roaming charges. So I called and activated a roaming package which I had discontinued when we got back from England, and also put the phone to operate on the hotel wi-fi

The bill came to 19,459.99 Col. or $36.00. We asked if we could put it on our room bill but the desk did not know our room number (although they really must have done to take our luggage up to it)., so we just paid with a credit card.They showed us how to use the elevator (you need a room key)

Elevator selfie

and we went to the room which was on the 5th floor. We were checked in by 2:30 - so half an hour early

Mirror and desk

Beds

I was pretty much not inclined to do much other than try to get the internet and take out my nightgown and pills.

View from the 5th floor

Bob asked about the park across the street which we could see from our room so I did look that up on the internet.

Parque Morazán

So we have been watching Bones in Spanish, and getting organized.

Restaurant

We went up to the restaurant on the 17th floor for dinner. I had

Chicken Morocco

which came with a white gravy and nuts and raisins, but the chicken itself was kind of tough so I didn't eat much of it. Bob had

broccoli and giant shrimp

which he mostly finished.
They both came with mixed vegetables (a lot of very nice broccoli, carrots, squash etc) and actual mashed potatoes not from flakes. The waiter kept Bob's water glass filled and mine too. I am much thirstier than usual.

Looking out over the city at night

While we were eating, we could see from the streets below that it was raining or had rained. We saw a trash truck picking up trash while blocking all traffic. And lots of buses.

View from the 17th floor

We were told on the way from the airport that San Jose was going to consolidate all the bus stations. Before, we would go to the airport and get the bus from there to town, ending up in the Coca Cola district. That bus station is apparently going to go away. It seems like that would be OK for the inter-city buses but I fail to see how this would work for the city buses. Bob went to bed and went to sleep. We didn't watch TV. I went to bed about 11:00.

Touring San Jose - 2015 August 9 Gold Museum

We went to breakfast, which was a buffet.

Bob at the buffet

They had coffee, tea (hot), two kinds of juice and water, eggs cooked to order,

fruit

Selection of bread and rolls

pico gallo

stewed bananas

fish

sausage

ham, cheese

and bread to toast. I had a banana, a piece of pineapple, an egg over easy, tea and a few rolls.

Eggs, potato, sweet biscuit and pineapple

After we ate, I saw that the man was now at the tourist information desk at the front near the gift shop so I asked him some questions.

outside of the gift shop and bar

I thought he said that the hop on hop off bus was only $9.00 so I filed that idea away for future reference. He said the Gold Museum and the National Theatre were just three blocks straight down the street. So we went back to the room and re-organized. I tried to get my GPS and my phone in a little bum bag but it was a struggle. So I stuffed two water bottles, an umbrella, a raincoat, the GPS and my phone in my pocketbook. We took the GPS outside to see if it would get the satellites, and eventually it did. We set off with me on the scooter to go the three blocks to the Gold Museum which the internet said opened at 9:00 (half an hour before when the internet said was the opening for the National Theatre).

Passing the park on my scooter - San José

San Jose is not a very mobility device friendly city. When there are ramps, they are quite steep and often have a curb of asphalt at the end. (From re-paving the streets and not redoing the sidewalk.) Also the street we were on had a lot of large paving stones which are very jolty.

Occasionally there would be a street with no ramps at all and Bob would have to lift the scooter into the street and then back onto the sidewalk on the other side. But we persisted. And we got to the Plaza of Culture, which was where the Gold Museum was underground..

Ventilation stacks for the Gold museum

Looking down into the plaza from the street

metal sculpture outside the Gold Museum which was there in 1996

..and went down the ramp arriving about 9:05.
The Gold Museum, is the country’s only underground construction, and was designed specifically to accommodate a museum. Shaped like an inverted pyramid, it has three architectural levels (with elevators) that reach a depth of 12 meters below street level. The construction materials for this building include concrete for the walls, Costa Rican marble for the floors, and rain tree (cenízaro) for the handrails (the rain tree is a precious Costa Rican wood currently considered an endangered species). In addition, the exhibition gallery floors are made of small pieces of sura or tall guava, another semiprecious Costa Rican wood.

Vehicle ramp down to the plaza

And it wasn't open. The internet had said 9:00, but the sign at the museum said 9:15. Now, it is apparently open every day from 9:15 to 5:00. The first Wednesday of every month the hours are 11:00 to 5:00 and local residents get in free on those days. It was just as well because Bob was having trouble taking photos -- it took us a little while but the problem was that he had it set on the timer setting instead of single photo. By the time we figured it out, it was 9:15.

El Museo del Oro Precolombino «Álvaro Vargas Echeverría (sign)

The gate guard had four padlocks to remove from the gate, and we went in. Bob got the tickets (more for non-ticos of course - $11 each for us)

and then he had to go through security. I didn't. There was no way I could have done it anyway - they just waved me around the metal detector. They said we could take photos without flash. Flash doesn't work that well for stuff in glass cases anyway. The museum was very interesting - it takes up Costa Rican life where the Jade Museum leaves off - about 800 A.D. (so if possible - do the Jade Museum first). There were 1,600 pieces of pre-Columbian gold dating from 500 to 1500 AD. They also had large life sized models showing how the gold would have been worn and how the gold was used in the life of the indigenous people.

The exhibits included the various ways of working the gold. The technological complexity of producing metal objects meant that metallurgy required the participation of multiple artisans in the manufacturing process. The exact division of labor is not known, but it is likely that some workers collected raw materials and others provided fuel supplies and maintained the ovens at the proper temperature: all working in coordination with the gold Artisans. Knowledge provided by pottery specialists or their direct participation in making cores, was of particular importance to the metallurgical technology developed by these societies. Within pre-Hispanic metallurgy, casting accounted for the majority of the objects.

Artisans smelting the gold

Hammered gold

The gold items were mostly smaller than the ones we saw in Peru but the animals were more realistic. You could easily wear a lot of them as gold charms

Small realistic gold figures

Spaniards coming to take the gold

Gold in the Gold Museum

Exhibit at the Gold Museum

I think Bob and I saw totally different things. He went to the music section

parts of instruments

instruments

Musical instruments

Music after 'contact' (with the Spaniards)

Bob also did the burial section.

Women's activities

Traditionally indigenous women have performed important functions in ritual activities. Before taking up these functions a woman must pass through a training process overseen by female specialists, a process which includes fasting sessions and learning the sacred stories. In funeral ceremonies among the Bribri, one woman is in charge of preparing the chocolate drink and organizing the other women in making the chicha (fermented maize liquor) and the food consumed over the days of the ritual. Documentary sources from the sixteenth century confirm that women were chieftains, healers and warriors. In indigenous groups today, women continue to fulfill specific roles within birth and death rituals...Preparing the corpse was the first in a series of ritual actions necessary for a proper burial. The complexity of these funerary activities required made the participation of trained specialists essential to the rite. The person who arranged the body or bones in packages, the singers, the dancers, and the master of ceremonies these were all specialized hierarchical offices.

Burial practices

I spent some time at the rain forest display with little gold animals in a case. You were to pick the animal and the gold figure that went with it and if you pressed both buttons at the same time, a floodlight would light up that animal.

Buttons to push to light up the models

Deer lit up

Jaguar, bat, toucan, and loro bird to match

One of my favorite parts of these exhibits was about the Healers. The exhibit had the older man seated in the hammock instructing a younger man who isn't in my photo. The sign said Healers were the specialists charged with performing rites of healing, which were sessions of singing or chanting in which various objects and medicinal plants were used. This ancient tradition constitutes the most active legacy among indigenous peoples. In most cases the role of healer is the only traditional leadership post which continues to be fill to the present day. Shamans enjoyed great prestige and power in their communities. Their sacred character stemmed from their extensive knowledge of ancestral history and myths. One of their functions was to control the economic and political activities of their people. Furthermore, Shamans carried out rituals which enabled them to ascend to higher planes of reality and enter into contact with supernatural forces with whom they interceded in order to assure the welfare of the community of of an individual.

Shaman-Healer

Warriors "When the Indians go to battle...they wear large seashells...and certain gold ornaments in particular some large pieces on their heads and other parts of their persons... in addition to this they have rings of gold in their ears and in their nose hanging over their lower face." Account of Gonzalo Ferndindex de Oviedo, sixteenth century Spanish chronicler.

Warriors

There were also the inevitable pre-Columbian objects of pottery and stone, from different geographical regions of the country: vessels in various forms, objects, statues and utensils, used in the daily and ceremonial life of the people. Some of the pottery even depicted women

rattle-human figure with a headdress

After we finished up with the gold, we skipped the money section,

Jaime Solera Bennett Numismatics Museum

and went back up to the top floor and looked at the gift shop where they sold coffee, mugs and clothing items.

Gold museum shop

Then we went back up the ramp to the street level

and I scootered around to the front of the National Theatre and went in.

Entrance between pineapple topped posts

Three replicas - dance, fame, and music

There are three statues on the top of the National Theatre. They were taken down and casts made from the original statues, and the statues that are up there now are the copies. I don't know for sure, but I think the earthquake of 1991 might have been the reason for this. In any case, the original statues are now inside the theater. The statue of Fame is in what they call the Foyer but is really a room over the lobby where people go between acts to have a smoke.

Fame in the Foyer

According to the Theater website, this statue was on the pediment of the National Theatre until 8 June 1990. In August it was transferred to the Foyer. It underwent a thorough cleaning and molds and replicas were made of this and other sculptures by Mexican expert Jaime Bed and Miguel Saldana. On October 23, a copy from those molds took the place of the original on the pediment of the theater. Behind the statue are three arches with velvet curtains. In addition to Fame, Music is in the lobby

Music in the lobby

and there are also statues to Dance, Comedy and Tragedy in various locations. In the lobby is a Cariatide (holding a light) - a marble statue attributed to Francisco Indurini- there are four of these statues altogether.

Cariatide marble statue in lobby

Outside of the theater are other statues. . In front of the theatre are two statues: one depicts the cherished Spanish dramatist Calderón de la Barca and the other represents the legendary composer and musician, Ludwig van Beethoven. Also there is a bust of

Chopin in the garden

,
a statue representing a flutist, and several other statues.
Bob bought tickets. We didn't wait for a tour - just went around by ourselves. The tours of the Theater are from Monday to Sunday, from 9 am until 4 pm every hour. I think the tour would have been good- we probably missed things,but we didn't want to wait for the next one. We were allowed to take photos without flash

Bob buying tickets

Floor pattern detail

We got two stickers to stick on ourselves and the receipt the guard at the door took. They asked us if we wanted to go the 2nd floor, and not knowing if we did, I said yes. So they took us around to a cubbyhole in the wall and there was a small elevator which the guy activated and we went up to the second floor. The theater construction was began in 1891, supposedly to entice a famous 19th century Italian opera singer to come and perform there. It opened to the public on 21 October 1897 with a performance of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust.

Marble angels decorate the railing over the lobby

Painting by Thomas Povedano representing Industry

1896 Lamp - Alloy cast iron, bronze and glass

We looked around. This lavish theater was one of the first buildings in Central America with electric lighting, but it’s most famous for its ceiling murals

Part of the ceiling in the auditorium

Red velvet in the boxes

Central chandelier which can be lowered so they can change the light bulbs

It is made of rolled brass with gold and measures 400 cm diameter x 166cm height It was built in the Ministry of Development, Public Works Department of Costa Rica. The original hoist that let it down to the floor was manual

Stage from second floor box

Detail of the wood carving in a stall door

and we did find the erroneous banana painting we had been told about. These paintings were done by Italian artists who had never been to Costa Rica, seen a banana plantation or what the indigenous population looked like or wore.

Italian peasant picking coffee

Erroneous Banana painting

The bananas are growing pointed down on the stalk instead of as they really grow pointing up. Also the stalks (which are very heavy) were not carried across the chest as in the painting - they are carried over the shoulder

Allegory of the Coffee and Banana

This painting was was on the ₡5 bill that is no longer in circulation. It has another error in it - the coffee and bananas are show growing together. In real life, the coffee is grown at altitude while the bananas are grown at sea level where it is warmer. The paintings were outside the Foyer (people could go here in between acts) which had a flight of steps to get up to it. Bob went up there and took photos because I couldn't do it on the scooter.

Chair north and south - Approximate date: 12/06/1896

Console with mirror

Rafael Iglesias - by Gonzalo Morales Suarez c1997

Large console with mirror

The first change of tapestry was made in about 1912. The current curtains date to the most recent renovation which was in 1996. We came back down in the elevator by ourselves without needing help and looked around the first floor went to the gift shop. I saw a T-shirt that I would have gotten Lynde which said in Spanish 'calm yourself', but I could only find small ones. We had lunch at the restaurant there as we did in 1996.

Counter

Place mat

Bob's cup

Ceiling and windows

Bob had a ham and cheese sandwich and hot chocolate and I had a chicken salad sandwich and tea.

Bob's sandwich

Ceiling in the Alma Cafe- Allegory of architecture

I heard a lot of music from the plaza near the theatre so I scootered around there and there were a lot of people in costume and some of them dancing. I took a few photos in between people.

Music and Dancing

Dancers

I felt a few drops of rain, but it didn't actually rain. We went up the pedestrian street which was much easier on the scooter.

and got back to the hotel about noon. The scooter was still in the green (meaning it had a fairly full charge still - the levels are green, yellow and red - you don't want to get into the red). I had asked the guy at the desk if he could recommend a guide and how much would it be, and when we got back he said it would be $80 for three hours. I said that was too much. But I thought we could do the hop-on-hop-off Costa Rica City Square Tours that the man at the Tourist Information Desk in the hotel at told us about. So I made reservations and he said they would pick us up at 2:10. Bob charged the scooter and napped. I downloaded photos- I took 157 and Bob took about 80. When we went down, I just had my cane as I was not planning to get off the bus anyplace, and then I found it was $30 per person. Which is right much. There was some event on the 17th floor and the driveway of the hotel was clogged with cars so we had to go across the street to get on the van. I asked if I could sit in the front seat and they said yes. It was better for photos because I could see both sides of the street although there were still reflections. There was another couple with us from California

Ticket for the tour

While this was an extensive, thorough tour of the city, which I enjoyed, I felt it was somewhat expensive, and in particular it is NOT a hop-on-hop-off tour. The hop-on-hop-off tours I have taken in other cities (Madrid, Barcelona, Copenhagen, London, Sydney, New York, Savannah, Honolulu, and Amsterdam where it was hop on hop off boats), there are vehicles circulating on the route. There are multiple stops on the route, and you can get on or off at any of them, see the attraction, and then get back on another bus. This tour was not that. There were two stops to get off and view the attraction and everyone was to get off. I cannot walk far. I thought it would be OK for me to just stay on the bus and not get off anywhere. Had I known that this was a city tour with two stops and not a tour with optional stops, I would have brought my scooter so I could go in and view the museum with the guide. As it was I missed a good part of the tour because of the mis-labeling as a hop-on-hop-off. For the price, I could have (and later did) hire a car and driver to take me with my scooter to places I wanted to go for three hours. After my review was stolen from VT by TripAdvisor, the man who ran the company disputed my assessment of the situation. There were places to get off, but since there was only one bus, it would have been a dead end if we did that.

Statue in the park from the hotel

It is a two hour tour. As the Parque Morazán was opposite our hotel, we started there

entrance gates Parque Morazán from the bus

Temple of music and phone bank

Down Calle 9 by the park toward Sleep Inn

Carlos Gardel Statue

Then we passed by the

Yellow House (Casa Amarillo)

Costa Rica’s Yellow House was built using funds donated by Andrew Carnegie in 1912, It is a noteworthy (and noticeable!) building that is across from the Parque Espana. It housed the Central American Court of Justice. It was built for the headquarters of the first permanent international court of the world, the Central American Justice Court. This never took place because when the building was about to be opened, the convention was over and therefore was given to the government of Costa Rica. It has since been appropriated for use as a presidential home, a temporary facility for the Legislative Assembly and sometimes also the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Culture. It was declared a national heritage in 1976. There is a plaque next to it on the "Republic of Argentina Passageway" which says
Paseo
Republica de Argentina
line I can't read)
Municipalidad de San Jose

Plaque next to the house

We saw quite a bit of different architecture

decorative iron fence

and we went past the Children's Museum

Taxi from a tour bus

One part of the tour was the new bus depot which has been built

New bus station with the orange stripe

in one of the most horrible neighborhoods in town. He said they intended to clean that section up, but he didn't sound optimistic.. It wasn't the place where we took the bus in 1996.

Neighborhood street near the bus station

I took photos of a lot of the fast food places

Popeyes, Burger King and Papa John

KFC

Costa Rican chicken

Golden Arches - they are everywhere

We got to the first stop (Costa Rican Art Museum) It is in an old airport terminal building with a disguised tower and the guide got off with the other two people. Bob and I stayed in the van. The guide told us that it has a wood carving wall which shows the history of Costa Rica. The guide showed me a photo he took of it on his cell phone. I did not know that the tour would stop for everyone to go in (it is free so it costs the tour company nothing) so I was not prepared and could not go.

Museo de Arte Costarricense

Museo de Arte Costarricense

Museo de Arte Costarricense

We did see some of the sculptures outside and the hopscotch games painted on the parking lot.

Museo de Arte Costarricense

Sidewalk art at the Art Museum

Guide_unchaining the parking lot

We passed by the

Hotel Gran Oro

employees in front of the hotel

where I had thought we might have lunch (lunch would be cheaper than dinner)

Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Joseph

Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Joseph

statue of the Pope

We also saw

Holland House

Beer Factory

Museo Dr. Rafael Angel Carmona

1908 - Railroad Station

The Costa Rica National Museum sits directly across from the country's Legislative Assembly. The museum is situated in the Bellavista Fortress, which was built in 1917 and originally used as military barracks, specifically during the 1948 Costa Rica civil war.

The_wall_with the bullet holes from 1948

The guide didn't explain about the Civil War - I guess he thought we already knew about it. But the Costa Rican Civil War lasted for 44 days (from 12 March to 24 April 1948). It started because of the vote of the Costa Rican Legislature, dominated by pro-government representatives, to annul the results of the presidential elections held in February, alleging that the triumph of opposition candidate Otilio Ulate had been achieved by fraud. The rebel army under commander José Figueres quickly defeated the government of Legislature backed President Teodoro Picado. Figueres ruled for a year and a half as head of a provisional government junta which abolished the military. Figueres' junta oversaw the election of a Constitutional Assembly in December, which produced the 1949 constitution. The junta then stepped down and handed power to Ulate.

Police guard outside house of president

St Thomas University

University outside stairs

Near the university, there was quite a bit of wall art

Art on the wall

wall art

and we

Passed by China Town/ Bario

And we saw the pink building. I was interested in this building (which wasn't far from our hotel) before I knew anything about it. It seemed a little different. In fact, it is made of metal. I've seen other metal buildings - specifically one in the Dockyard in Bermuda. After the big earthquake, in 1890, the Forging Association of Aiseau, Belgium constructed a metal building designed by the architect Charles Thirion. It was the San Jose Graduated School for Boys and Girls. At the end of 1892, the pieces of the building arrived to Costa Rica, and it was inaugurated in 1896. In 1917, the girls section of the school was given the name Julia Lang, and the name Buenaventura Corralesa was given to the boy´s section. It is still a school and the park in the front of it has a playground.

The metal building and fountain

Through the trees

Front of the building with the name

We also saw the Parque Espana which is between Ave 3 and President Roosevelt on the north and south and Calle 9 and Calle 11A on the east and west. On one side is the Centro National de la Cultura and on the other side is the INS building which housed the Jade Museum (until the Jade Museum got its own building), the metal building (which is a school) and Jardin de Paz which on the other side of the Jardin de Paz is Morazan Park.
Originally this space was occupied by the National Liquor Factory (c 1856). It was renamed Place de la Concorde in 1917 and was renamed Paque Espana in 1920. The park has lovely trees, In 1963, the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy , visited the site and planted a ceiba tree. Many birds come to roost here at night. It has several monuments, the largest, most notable and well-known statue is of Spanish conquistador Juan Vasquez de Coronado , next to a fountain in the main entrance to the park.

North Entrance

Statue

sculpture

Trees

Toward the end of the tour, my camera battery started to die so I tried to limit my photos, but I ended up with a little less than 200 of them. Bob didn't take any photos because he didn't bring his camera.

National Theatre entrance from hop on hop off bus

The other couple wanted to go to the Gold Museum and the National Theater, so they let us off at the hotel and went back to the Gold Museum with them. I understand that this company has now gone out of business.

I set the camera battery to charge (and the alternate camera battery needed to be charged also) and downloaded and started entering photos, and we repacked so that we could put two big bags (the Luggie bag and Bob's big bag) in storage here at the hotel. When we got everything organized, Bob took the two bags down.Then because we felt that the hotel restaurant was a bit expensive, Bob walked to Burger King to get us Whoppers for dinner.

We wanted milk shakes but they apparently didn't get the concept, so we got sundaes.

Just after he left, they called from Tortuguero and said they would pick us up between 6:50 and 7:00.

10 August 2015
The bus for the group tour to Tortuguero was to pick us up between 6:15 and 7:00. We were up at 5 and down at breakfast at 6.

omelet chef

breakfast

Bob checked us out after breakfast. We sat in the lobby to wait. While we waited, I walked around and took photos of the hotel gift shop.

jewelry laid out in rows

T shirts

First to leave was a whole group of 30 traveling with a guide. Then came a red and black bus - that wasn't our bus either. Then came a tour leader from another lodge. Finally the Mawamba bus came. When the bus came, we found out that they had not been informed that I used a scooter. This was one of the several problems with this trip - it turned out that Pat Hewitt had failed to say anything to the tour company about my use of the scooter and as a result they were totally unprepared. The tour leader Anna Maria put us in a front seat which was fine as it allowed better photography. She gave almost all the narrative in English and Spanish although there were French and also Italians on board. We had several more people to pick up,

and then we drove out of town

Dividing river between Heredia and San Jose

through the

Clouds in Braulio Carrillo

which was a toll road. Our guide passed around a branch of a coffee tree which grows in the mountains in this area.
We stopped for breakfast at Guápiles. This town is on Highway 32 which is the road that goes between San Jose and the jumping off point for Tortuguero.

Restaurant in the morning

Breakfast

The restaurant also gives a chance for a bathroom stop. The restaurant is a part of a group which includes two hotels - the Mawamba Lodge at Tortuguero being one of them. This was also a place where people would get on or off the bus tours to switch tours or to rent a car. Facilities include a bar, a family style restaurant (which basically means a buffet), which include typical Costa Rican and Caribbean foods and marked natural trails for tours. We were never told about the possibilities for nature trails.

fire hydrant on the way to La Pavona

old unused narrow guage railroad tracks

The place where people get boats to Tortuguero is La Pavona.

The bus goes down a long unpaved road,

Road in to La Pavona

and turns at a small parking lot which has a sign with the boat times on it.

Sign with times of public boats

At the end of this road is a larger parking lot, and a place where the charter buses disgorge their passengers. There is a restaurant there where you can use the rest room for a small fee. This is also where you buy your boat ticket if you are not on a charter.If you are on a charter, you carry your luggage (or pay a small fee for a man with a handcart to take it for you) to the luggage boat for your hotel, and then slide down the muddy bank to the boat for the guests at that lodge. There is no dock. At the boat landing, Bob had to take the two suitcases and the scooter to the luggage boat.

Transfer point - bus to boat

Boats down the mud bank

boats as we left La Pavona

River-canal side - muddy

supply boat

On the bus, Anna, the tour leader for our Mawamba group gave rapid fire instructions on how things were to go when we got to the lodge. I don't know why we could not have a printed schedule (such as when lunch would be) and a map of the place. I got completely lost coming back from dinner. Anna did not really spend much energy helping us until we were back in San Jose at which time she expected a tip.

Kayakers on the river

When we got to the lodge, they could not give me a room that I could scooter to.

Hotel manager assigning rooms

The manager was most upset when he found out but they were completely full so they do not have anywhere to move us to and the room they have given us has five steps. First a step up to and down from a kind of pagoda,

cabins from central pagoda

and then the five steps into the room. Each time Bob has to pick up the 55 pound scooter and lift it up the steps. This is really not satisfactory. The best they can do is to move us to another room tomorrow. I did have to walk from the pagoda to the room. At lunch Bob could not find anything that he wanted to eat. So then he was hungry and dinner is not for an hour and a half. It took us so long to get to the room that almost everyone was seated when we got there, and all the people at our table were talking only in French.

Pasta for lunch

Bob could not figure out how to work the ceiling fan - it is on a dial switch that we didn't see.

Cabin, one bed, shelf with blankets and window

shelves in hotel room

I was so exhausted from the walk to the boat that - after I tried and failed to get the wi-fi connection, I just fell asleep and slept until 4:30. I thought about swimming, but it would take too much effort to get my bathing suit on. I could not do the afternoon walk of the grounds anyway. Bob did it on his own and he said the path to town had big mud holes in it that the scooter couldn't do (although they ride bikes through there)

Lots of rain in the rainy season makes muddy walks

When I woke up I decided to take the computer to the internet place. But I had stripped down my suitcase so it wouldn't be heavy and I had nothing to carry it in. I had the bright idea of using a pillowcase. So we found a working plug and tried to log on.

Wi-fi hot spot

Wi-fi area near the office

Good signal but no internet. Bob went to reception and they said to bring it in. With difficulty I climbed the steps with my computer. But he couldn't do it either. He had to recycle the modems for it to work. I sat in the only A/C place on the property to do the internet.

Anna Maria told us just to sit at a different place at dinner and we did - it was easy to find a seat because half of the group was out on the night rainforest walk

Coconut and chocolate for dessert

I signed up for the early boat trip in the morning but Bob does not want to go. He still has to get me to the meeting place by 5:30 a.m

11 August 2015

All last night it was raining, thundering and lightening. And Bob had the ceiling fan on - he likes air blowing on him and I do not. I tried to cover up with a sheet, but eventually had to go get a blanket. At 5 we got up and Bob said there was no way we should be going out in a boat in lightning and thunder. Also the paths are mostly covered, but not the path from our room to the pagoda. There was standing water on the path. So Bob said I could not use the scooter (which I agreed with). .

Morning rain

I put on my raincoat and put my camera in a baggie and set off with my cane. I was soaked (the bottom half of me) by the time I got to the pagoda and it isn't that far. The path from here was covered, but I was already wet. I soldiered on and got to the meeting place. They decided to postpone the tour about 40 minutes.

Waiting for the rain to stop

I think the boat drivers didn't want to go with the lightening either. But at 6:15, the rain had let up some and it had more or less stopped thundering. So we got in the boats. I paid for our Tortuguero passes (I was told it was $10 each, but Anna Maria charged us $15.00 each and no explanation has ever been given to me. The park website still says $10). Some people had it included as part of their package - but we did not. I sat in the middle seat and an English couple sat on either side of me. My glasses got rain on them

Selfie with cell phone in the rain

and I had nothing dry to wipe them off with. I was afraid to get my camera out to take photos so I used my cell phone. We saw quite a few toucans (but I couldn't get photos with my cell phone because they were too far away), a caiman, a basilisk lizard, a lizard that was swimming like a snake, a gallinule and a couple of jacana.

Boat tour in the rain

There's a snake here?

Is that a snake

Anhinga

Lizard

Night heron

House with low pedestrian bridge

Low bridge - regular boats can't pass

No TV - this is jungle sign

Another boat in the rain

Also monkeys and some bats. Our guide was Owen and he was very good.

Bats on the boathouse

On the roof of the boathouse

The little boy behind me was most unhappy with the tour and wanted to go back to the hotel. It was really no tour for a child. When we got back, I was soaked through to my underwear on the bottom and not much dryer on the top. We were going to have to switch rooms and I didn't want to put the wet clothes in the suitcase, so I kept them on. We had breakfast

Breakfast omelet

and then Bob told me that I needed to do a better selfie (with my eyes open)

Anna Maria did not remember that we were switching rooms to one that I could get the scooter to at 10 and she scheduled the walk to the village then - that was one thing I really wanted to do which I thought I could definitely do. But it conflicted. Also she was going to walk both ways - I might have done it if we had gone in a boat, but she said there were no boats available. I do not think that there were no boats available. I think it was just easier for her to walk rather than hire a boat.

Necessities and Souvenirs shop near our new room

Anyway we moved, and then I removed my wet things and changed into dry ones and tested out the internet, which I can get at this cabin. I talked to a couple of people who did the turtle nesting walk and decided that the way they described it, I could not possibly do it. One of the ladies said she lost a shoe in the mud. So I have not signed up for it. That's the two things I wanted to do and I am not going to get to do them. The grounds of the Mawamba hotel were nicely landscaped with many flowering plants. While I was drying myself out, Bob walked around the grounds and took some photos of the butterflies for me - he said I couldn't get there because they have big round stepping stones on the trail and some of them were underwater.

non-scooter/wheelchair path

Pool during the day at Mawamba

Bluish iguana

Iguana on the grounds of Mawamba

Kayak storage

Flowering plants

Flowering plants

Ginger

Flowering plants

The lodge was breeding butterflies and he took photos in the butterfly enclosure

Butterfly chrysalis

Butterfly up by enclosure top

Butterfly feeding station

- particularly the blue morpho butterflies. These butterflies only show the brilliant blue back of their wings when they are flying. When they are sitting still, their wings are brown and look like bark

Blue morpho in the center

Blue morpho feeding on left

Blue morphos flying

Then we had lunch. The meals were buffet style and we ate at big tables. Each guide had their tables marked with their name so we would sit at the correct one.

Part of the salad bar

lunch plate

When we were getting ready to go on the afternoon tour, one of my sandals (which I bought for the trip in 1996) came apart. So after the tour, I put them in the trash as the soles were separating. I think it would be easier and probably more efficient to buy some new one rather than try to get a repair. I hoped the afternoon tour would be better. We stopped for the guides to pay for the park passes.

village from the river

On the way to get park passes from the boat

Guides lined up to pay

Our guide in the Spanish speaking boat after paying

Building the new park entrance

Trees above the river

and at least I was able to use my 300 mm lens to take some photos of animals in the trees, so I got some reasonable ones. I didn't think the guide was as good as Owen, but at least I wasn't all wet. We had three boats this afternoon and our boat was all people from California except us. We saw quite a few herons and anhingas - but no toucans. There was a basilisk lizard but it jumped into the water before we could get a photo and there was an olive keeled snake but I could not see it. We saw many more different kinds of birds when we were here in 1996.

Heron in flight

Tiger heron

Blue heron

Male anhinga

Female anhinga

Green heron

We also saw quite a few Howler monkeys - on trip in 1996 we saw all three kinds of monkeys, but on this trip, just the Howlers

Howler monkey

Monkey in a tree

Monkey sitting in a tree

Monkey

There was an amusing incident - one of the monkeys decided to hang upside down and eat fruit that was below him on another branch.

Monkey unzoomed

There were a couple of little girls sitting with me and they were pointing and giggling and one of them said the monkey had a pink vagina. The monkey was quite away off, and I couldn't see that well, so I zoomed in with my 300 mm lens and took a look. It was a male monkey, so he did not have a vagina

Monkey with 300 mm lens

Dinner was fish, rice, beans salad and spaghetti with a 'Costa Rican' dessert). The salad had hearts of palm. I didn't eat much - I just had trouble wanting to eat. They have taken away the palm that I park by - I guess I was too hard on it.

Salad with hearts of palm

pool at night

Mawamba bar after dark

August 12th Returning to San Jose
In the morning, it was raining fairly hard. and the route from our cabin to the eating area/cafeteria includes an area by the pool that is not covered. We went to breakfast and I had an omelet and cinnamon bread. Their cinnamon bread is really good. After breakfast, I put on the wet clothes from yesterday morning (which were still kind of damp) and packed. We got ourselves out to the reception area by 9. Anna Maria took our key, but they asked Bob to go back and tried to charge him for a second tour. Bob explained that I went by myself. I was on the scooter and draped my raincoat over my shoulders and somehow the cord to tie the bottom caught on and wrapped around the scooter wheel and pulled the raincoat apart. It was ripped right up the back. I threw it out. Bob claims he could have fixed it but I think not. So I need another one of those too. We loaded the luggage into the boats and we got on also and we ran down the canals mostly in the rain

Passing the village on the way back to San Jose

Passing by

Colorful

Buildings over the water

Tour boat at the park as we leave for San Jose

to where the bus was to meet us. The landing was just as muddy as before except that now we couldn't just slide down - now we had to go uphill. My pants were a little long and were dragging in the mud and of course I could not use the scooter.One of the guys from the boat helped me and together we struggled up to the restaurant where we were to wait. I tipped him $5.00. He was a big help. I persuaded Bob that he had to get help from the guy with the wheelbarrow to get the luggage from the boat up to the restaurant -

La Pavona restaurant in the rain

- he couldn't even wheel the scooter in the mud. I sat on the stool and waited. Bob found me and left his bag and went back to get my bag (the handle on it broke so that makes three things) and the scooter. I made my way over there (a guy from England carried Bob's bag over. We sat and waited for our bus - the English guy said it was green and I said it was orange. (It was orange, but the seats inside were green). We loaded onto the bus but Anna Maria was two people short. She said that the agency said there was a family of six, but there was only a family of four. This caused a delay. The driver said we would be at the restaurant for lunch by 12:30 even if he had to get 25 tickets. And we were. No tickets, but I noticed that he did not slow down at all for the school zones

Rain through the bus window

I took photos on the drive, as is my habit, to show interesting parts of Costa Rican life

Bus stop - Guápiles

Restaurant sign - Guápiles

When we got to the restaurant for lunch,

Lunch dishes - two salad plates and chicken rice

Sweet fruit dessert

most people got off the bus. Apparently this restaurant is also a transfer point where there are rental car people and also buses transfer passengers from one tour to another.

Luggage at transfer point

our guide Anna Maria in the white shirt

but a couple of us went back to San Jose.

Signs on poles - A Soda is family-run restaurant like a diner in the USA

Anna Maria took our luggage in to the hotel (now that we were the only ones on the bus, she wanted her tip), and the hotel clerk remembered us. It was only about 2:45, but our room was ready and they got our luggage out of storage and brought it up too. The elevators are too small for me on the scooter and the luggage cart too so we went up on two separate elevators. This time we had a room on the 8th floor.

elevator area on the 8th floor

shower head

grab bars

bathroom mirrors

View from the 8th floor

I decided I wanted to go to the Jade Museum, but the website said they closed at 3:30 (I found out later that it was wrong - they didn't close until 5). So I tried to call Mario who brought us in from the airport but neither of his phones worked. So I emailed him and he called me right back. He is to pick us up at 8:30.

Bob asked me what I wanted to do for dinner and I said he should walk to Burger King again, and he didn't hear me. So after it got dark, he asked again, and I said Room Service and he said they wouldn't have anything. They do, but it is a little expensive. So I told him what I wanted and handed him the menu, and he decided to go to Burger King after all. They are getting to know him because he wants one Whopper with cheese (for me) and one without (for him) and they have to get the one boy who speaks English to take his order..

dinner

August 13th- I had an idea that I could print out stuff from FindAGrave at the visitor's center. So I did that, and while I was there, I looked up the serpentarium again and it said that it wasn't open except Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So we couldn't go there today and that made things simpler. (assuming that the website was up-to-date).

So today we would go to the Jade Museum. In 2014, a NEW building was been built for this museum which covers the life in Costa Rica from 500 B.C. to 900 A.D. Not just jade but other aspects of life. This museum might be best visited before the Gold Museum which starts at about 900 A.D..

The Jade Museum website said it opened at 8:30, Mario came at 8:30 as promised, and drove .... to a place that didn't look like the Jade Museum. Turned out it was the place where the Jade Museum had been. So we went to the new Jade Museum, and I took the scooter up to the door

- new hours..... it does not open until 10:00. All the websites (as of 2015) still had the information (address, hours,admission) of the old museum. The current museum hours are 10 to 5 every day

So - I decided we should go to Obrero Cemetery while we were waiting for the Jade Museum to open. Obrero apparently means Worker, and it was next to the big General Cemetery for all the big wigs. Mario backed into the gate. Bob and Mario got out the scooter (Mario said just to put the back of the seat down and not to fold it up - it went OK in the back of his van). I started out down the central aisle taking photos and Bob apparently misunderstood or wasn't thinking because he did the same. Then when we met up, he decided to do some side areas that I couldn't get to. I got back to the gate, and we couldn't find him. He was wearing a dark plaid shirt and I thought he was wearing red. But eventually he came back We spent about a hour there and took 290 photos

Obrero Cemetery gate with watchman

Main path inside the cemetery

Graves in Cementerio Obrero

Graves in Obrero Cemetery

Back to the Jade Museum.

Logo for the museum

This is a very fancy and very well done museum which has five floors. The admission was $15.00 each, but the girl looked at me on the scooter and said "I will only charge you $5.00 each". Maybe there is a discount for old people.Or maybe we looked particularly poor.

looking down to the entrance

looking up

There were six "Halls" to visit.
1) Threshold - ground floor - level 1. This has the jade item which is the museum logo

Jade

I tried the face painting yourself to look like a shaman (you took a photo of yourself and used the computer to do the painting - not actual paint) but I was pretty bad at it.

interactive face painting book

2) The Jade - level 2. This area shows where Jade comes from (no natural jade in Costa Rica) and how it is prepared and used.

Origins of Jade - map in the center of Hall 2

Tools for working with Jade - Hall 2

stages where jade is cut and worked

3) The Day - level 3. Activities of daily life

Jade spoons hollowed at one end

I was more or less looking for the little painted ceramic horse that I saw before. Didn't find it. I had also forgotten how tactual but non-sparkly jade was.

family group

fishing

4) The Night - level 3 Mythology and war

War - illustration from Hall 4 - The Night

alligator as a fertility object

offerings

shaiman blowing smoke from leaves and tobacco for healing

burial practices

burial bundle

5) Ancestral Memory - level 4. What archaeology teaches us

Pottery in the Jade Museum

Ceramics at the Jade Museum

stone sphere for ceremonial purposes

6) Visitable Collection - level 5. Many cases of objects made from different materials from the three regions of Costa Rica.

Hall 6 - Visitable Collection

Stone owl at the Jade Museum

Stone owl with folded wings carrying an inverted carved head. According to religious beliefs, some species of birds carried souls to the afterlife or the spirit world

stone barrels and seats

Different stone objects to touch and discover the texture of pre-Columbian stone objects. (The sign was also in Braille)

We saw a couple that were at Mawamba there. We were there about a hour (could have been double that as we shorted the last two levels) We took 190 photos there - mostly Bob took them. He is very methodical about it.

I decided to try to find Cemeterio de Lomas de Salitral where some famous person named Ivan "Coach" Murrell is buried. Mario put it in his GPS but when we got there it wasn't a cemetery and no one knew that there was a cemetery around there. But we did pass another cemetery - La Piedad. So we went there. This turned out to be one of those fancy private cemeteries with flat markers.. We were only there for about 15 minutes. It was now noon.

Entrance to Camposanto la Piedad

When I looked at my photos later, I wondered about the one for Jose Vargas.

Grave of Jose Antonio Gutierrez Vargas

It turns out that Jose Antonio Gutierrez Vargas was a comedian and folklorist who was better known as Mena Olegario Barrantes. He began broadcasting on June 15, 1947 at Radio City. The character of Olegario Mena entertained several generations of Costa Ricans. He also starred as Don Tranquilino Ordonez with Carmen Granados who played Macedonia. He was part of the cast that performed the famous Costa Rican folk tune "The Purple Orchid" which was written by his brother Robert and Carlos Maria Lopez Castro in 1936. In addition to radio shows, he also appeared on television and in the theatre.

I decided that we probably had one more cemetery in us and Mario said he knew where Desampriados Cemetery was. He could park on the sidewalk - there was a parking attendant who could help you park and you would tip them. This was right on the street - not in a parking lot. I was interested in this cemetery because Desampriados means Abandoned. And it isn't. Apparently Desampriados is the name of the place and this is the municipal cemetery. Over the gate it says Quien Cree En Mi No Morira. Which means something like "Whoever believes in me will never die".

Gate of Desamparados Cemetery with Bob and me

Graves in Cementerio Desamparados

This was a very very big cemetery. Between us we took 356 photos. We were there about 45 minutes

Then Mario took us through the McDonalds drive through and we got food

and went back to the hotel. I paid him $20/hour for five hours worth.

Bob went out to Burger King again (this time they asked his name and he said Bob and they wrote down MOB which was amusing to the employees. Then he went and got milkshakes at POPS (which we also did in 1996).