San Jose Costa Rica

San Jose is a large city located in a valley between several volcanic mountain ranges. In January and February, the valley has very strong winds that blow. This can affect airline travel as our non-stop flight was to stop in Liberia, Costa Rica when we departed from San Jose to take on fuel.

San Jose is the capital of Costa Rica and so has similar problems to any large city. We did not have any issues walking around and we stayed right downtown on the pedestrian street. The Presidente Hotel is a modern Costa Rican Hotel. With a great breakfast buffet that included eggs or omelet prepared the way you want. 

We visited the National Museum and learned about the history of Costa Rica. The museum is housed in an old fort. When you initially walk into a butterfly garden before actually seeing the historical displays. It is always an interesting experience to have a variety of butterflies hovering around.

The museum explains the challenges that Costa Rica endured before developing an export economy through the sale of coffee. Costa Rica does not have a military and they do not allow hunting of animals. Their goal is to be the first carbon-neutral country by 2023. To help achieve this goal there are large areas that support natural environments.

Between the National and Jade museums, you can find an artisan market. The market is set up with small stalls and narrow walkways. You can find a variety of tourist items from wood items, mounted butterflies to hammocks as well as shoes, backpacks etc. Remember to bargain and if on stall has an item you like the next stall will probably have the same item. 

The Jade Museum is expensive for foreigners. The museum houses a variety of artifacts from pottery to jade jewellery. The displays are modern with lots of opportunities for hands-on experiences and they use a lot of technology to help explain the displays. If you are interested in seeing the selection of jade make sure to open up the display case on the top floor. It is a good idea to take the elevator to the top floor and work your way down to the main floor.

The opposite west of the Museums and just off the pedestrian walkway by the modern square you will find the National Theatre of Costa Rica (Opera House). We took a tour of the Opera House. This structure is very similar to the Opera house in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The main floor can be raised and the seating removed to create a dance floor or dining area. There is a lot of history and architecture detail in the National Opera House. On the second floor is a ballroom and the countries Presidents private box.

If you are interested in shopping take a stroll down the promenade. This is always a great way to see what a city is like. You will find a variety of small shops with everything that a family needs.

We stayed at the Hotel Presidente on the pedestrian street. This hotel was recommended by a friend and was centrally located. The hotel has free parking for their guests. Breakfast was included in our room rate and was excellent. You could have traditional Costa Rican breakfast or they would cook you an omelette or eggs. Staff were very friendly and helpful. They will also recommend restaurants. We had an excellent meal at Tin Jo Asian Resturant near our hotel.

 

Want a great view of the city head towards the district of Escazu (suburb) of San Jose. We had the opportunity to visit Mirado Tiquicia night view of the city was fantastic. The night we went dinner featured a Costa Rican buffet that you could watch them cook and was served right from the pan. There is also an a la carte menu. The cultural dance performance was an added highlight.






















From San Jose, we rented a car and drove along highway 2 towards the south to see the Quetzal bird.  To read more check out the Central Highlands blog.

Central Highland of San Jose

The Journey to see the Quetzal Bird

The road becomes challenging to drive as you travel up the mountain south of San Jose but it is still passable. We had a reservation at Trogon Lodge near San Germaine. There are numerous lodges, cabins and hotels to stay at in this area. This is not as commercialized as Monteverde and is a cloud forest in the area. Recently with the heavy rains portions of the road have had landslides so you need to be careful when driving. The areas of concern are well marked and some repairs had been made.



The National Parque is located on the main highway before the turn toward Trogon Lodge.


The lodge was an excellent choice. We had a quiet room up the hill with a wonderful balcony that allowed us to watch the hummingbirds feed on the bushes near our room. The central highlands are cool at night in February and the temperature did get down to 4C. There were gas heaters that the staff light in the rooms each night and we were provided with hot water bottles nightly to warn our bed. The meals were good as served buffet style, they even catered to my lactose
intolerance. We eat breakfast and dinner each day at the lodge.

Hummingbird feeding on the flowering bush.

Male Resplendent Quetzal Bird

Since we came to this area to see the Quetzal bird we were up at 5:30 am to start our adventure. First a quick coffee and then we were off in the dark.  What we ended up doing was drivings along the road back towards the main highway. Everyone stops on the road and walks around looking for the elusive bird. The morning we went there must have been between 30 and 40 people all looking for the male Quetzal to see the beautiful long tail.

We found lots to do in the area. We hiked to the waterfall on the lodge property and did all the trails. Farther down the road is a nice area to hike to another waterfall and bird watch.








When we drove out toward the main highway again we stopped at Maria's Cafe. There is a bird feeder around back that attracts a variety of colourful birds.

The biggest challenge driving into the lodge was the road going from the highway to the lodge is narrow and extremely steep in a few areas. Be sure to gear down. If you are not comfortable with the drive you can always arrange a driver.

If you continue south on the number 2 highway to Palmar Sur and get to  Drakes Bay and then continue on highway 34 to San Antonia where you can visit Manuel Antonia National Park. Give yourself enough time to visit each area before returning to San Jose and on to your next destination. 

Costa Rica Awaits!

Costa Rica A Meca of Experiences

This is our third trip to Costa Rica. The first was a stop in Limon on the Caribbean side from a cruise ship.

The second trip was a visit to the area of Puntarenas and Manual Antonia National Park on the central Pacific the side of Costa Rica. This was our first birding experience in the country and we saw huge crocodiles in the Tarcoles River.  Quepos is an interesting town to base a stay in this area.

This time was our longest stay. We visited three lodges, spent time in San Jose, and went to Arenial in Alajuelato enjoy the hiking and hot pools. 

San Jose is a large city but there are several museums that we were interested in visiting. We chose to stay at Hotel Presidente right downtown so we would not have to drive to the museums. As with any large city you need to take precautions but we felt safe during our visit.

In the San Jose area, we travelled south of the city to the upper highland for our stay at Trogon Lodge. This lodge is located in the mountains and is close to the national reserve for the Quiszell bird.

Our next lodge was located in the Southern Zone near Drakes Bay. We took a flight from the Juan Santamaria Airport. Aguila De Osa lodge is located in an area that can not be accessed by car and was an interesting area to visit. We were able to take several tours from the lodge during our stay.

Our last stop was in northwestern Costa Rica near the Arenial Volcano in the Alajuuelato area. This was our luxury stay at the Nayara Hotel. We spent time hiking, relaxing and visiting the hot spring pools.

What an awesome time in Costa Rica and would recommend a visit to this country to everyone interested in more than just a beach holiday. If you also want the beach there are resorts near Liberia. You can fly to Liberia and can avoid San Jose completely.