WONDERFUL COSTA RICA, FEBRUARY 15-27, 2025

 Saturday, February 15, 2025

We are off to Costa Rica today where we will meet up with a group from Road Scholar. Looking forward to lots of photography and new adventures.

Thanks to Danny and Donna for our ride to the airport!  Our flight from Houston to San Jose was uneventful with a few delays on each end.  Caught the orange Taxi to the San Jose Radisson, as the lady from Road Scholar gave us good directions.  US dollars are accepted about everywhere, so we don't bother to exchange for the Costa Rican colon  We checked in about 9PM and had an excellent very thin crust pizza and beer downstairs before calling it a night.

Sunday, February 16

Beth has scheduled a San Jose Walking Nature Tour through Viator for 8:30 this morning, so we are up early and enjoy the hotel buffet breakfast.  Excellent fruit (which we will enjoy the entire trip) and the usual eggs, sausage, beans and rice, yogurt, etc.

The hotel gets us a taxi and we head to a restaurant called Ondina, which is our meeting place, about 3 miles from the hotel. Busy city, lots of American fast food places like KFC, McDonalds, Subway, Dunkin' Donuts, etc. along with local businesses.  Electrical wires everywhere! San Jose is in the Central Valley, so is surrounded by highlands and mountains.

The restaurant is closed and we are a little uncertain what to do, as is our taxi driver who spoke no English. We tell him to go on with the hope that someone will show up at 8:30, as we are a bit early.   But we got a card from the taxi driver in case we need to call for a ride.  Beth notices a woman about to enter a building next door and fortunately she speaks English and assures us that we are in the right place.  (Something about this restaurant showing up on GPS, so people use it as a meeting place.)

Her name is Sonya and she has just retired from teaching here at the University of Costa Rica.  She is very friendly and we chat for a while, finding once again that it is a small world as she spends half the year in the US, in Massachusetts and Arizona (where we have family).  She points out some cork trees and various flowers on this street and tells us about the University.  It is the largest in Costa Rica and one of the top in all Central America.  She says if we need her, just ring her buzzer - so kind!

Promptly at 8:30, a young woman approaches with spotting scope in hand.  We are the only people signed up for today, so we have a private tour with Sara who is a biologist and very involved in ecology and conservation.  She points out various trees in the yards we pass and says they are part of one of many biological corridors that the country is trying to establish, so that habitat is continuous throughout the country. About 50% of the corridors include private property.

Sara points out various trees and plants and speaks of the usage in medicines, teas, food for various animals, etc.  Some, like the eucalyptus and african tulip trees were imported.  We walk to the main campus of the University where the tour officially begins.  We spot our first sloth which is napping up in a tree and simply looks like a fur ball.  (We would never have seen it without Sara.) It is a 2-toed one.

(Sara took this picture on my phone, through her spotting scope).

This beautiful yellow Cortez tree usually blooms in December, but like most of the world, is being affected by climate change, a mantra we will hear time and again.

Ginger plants, swiss cheese plants, heliconia, giant bamboo and more.  Then we see a 3-toed sloth. It too is a fur ball, but we can see the "toes". This is the one with the smiley face that is usually depicted.  The 2-toe one has more of a "piggy" snout.

Lots of kiskadees (below), a woodpecker and a few other birds.  She finishes with a coffee plant, which we will come to learn, was crucial in the development of the country, Many air plants (epiphytes) and vines which do not harm the host plant/tree (except for strangler figs which we'll encounter later).

Sara kindly calls us an uber, which costs $3 vs the taxi we had which was $10!  Our young driver is pleasant and says he only drives on the weekends.

Back to the hotel, we re-group and then walk toward the museum and main plaza.  The hotel gave us a poor map, so we end up using good old google maps instead.  We pass this cool firehouse with statues and a firetruck leaves as we walk by.   

A few blocks seem inhabited by homeless people and one guy asks for money but quickly leaves when Greg says no.  We come to a pedestrianized area where lots of folks are strolling and shopping.  Some shops are closed on Sunday, but some are open and many people have set up their wares on blankets.  Jewelry, clothes, fruits, woodworking, etc. No aggressive salespeople, though, which is nice.  We reach the Plaza of Culture and National Theatre (built by coffee barons).

This sloth was in a small shop where we bought a wooden hummingbird for the Christmas tree.  

We have a 6:00 introductory meeting with our tour guide, Andrey Acosta, and 16 folks from around the USA. We introduce ourselves briefly.  Since the title of the program is "The Best of Costa Rica: Exploring Natural Wonders", most are interested in wildlife, birds, culture and nature.  4 single women, the rest couples.   From OR, WA, MN, MT, AZ, CA, FL, NC, TX.  Andrey covers the itinerary with slides; then basics, like water (potable everywhere except Tortuguero), money, food "lots of rice and beans and when you are tired of that we will have beans and rice!" He hands out "Whispers" which are small hearing devices so we can always hear the speaker/guide.

After this we have a Welcome dinner buffet.   Soup, beef, chicken, vegetables, rice and beans, etc.    Beer and/or wine and getting to know some fellow travelers.