Final days in Costa Rica

Greetings from Lima, Peru. I could not get to my final destination tonight due to bad weather at the Arequipa airport. Waiting for the ticket counters to open, I have a little time, and wanted to jot some final notes on Costa Rica before we delve into Peru.

Costa Rica was absolutely beautiful. For lovers of the outdoors and wildlife, you will be thrilled with the opportunities that abound. Along with pleasant, warm weather, and warm people, it is a great place to visit.

For the work opportunities I am seeking, I did not find Costa Rica suitable for a longer stay. There are many jobs in the San Jose area for English teachers and call-center employees--such as for the multinational sportsbooks--but San Jose is a congested, expensive city to live in, and it seems like the wind is always blowing a little there, which is a weather phenomenon I have never liked much. It is not a desirable city to me, and I wanted to see more than one country anyways, so onward and upward.

I was able to visit the Guayabo National Monument before leaving, a 3,000 year old ruin about 12 miles north of Turrialba. The acqueduct system is still working, diverting and slowing the flow of spring water around and under the ruins, and into holding cisterns. The ruins are not as dramatic as the Mayan temples of Mexico, Guatemala or Honduras, but still left one with a sense of awe to consider that all the stone was brought there from the Turrialba Volcano, and the passage would not have been easy at all, and had to have taken a considerable amount of time. The main stone road leading into the ruins is at least a few feet thick, and you could drive a semi-tractor trailer on it. It was quite impressive. The drive to Guayabo Village is very scenic, and we lucked out with good weather. A day to remember.

In San Jose, I was able to visit the Pre-Colombian Gold Museum, and learn about the lost-wax method of casting gold and tumbaga objects (tumbaga is an alloy of gold and copper). There are many pieces on display, many of them representing frogs, birds, and crocodiles and such. and I tried to photograph them, although I'm not sure the photos do them justice. I was intending to see the Jade Museum as well, but it got late in the afternoon, so I walked around, took a few photos, and popped in on one of the local casinos to see what they are like.

The Horseshoe Casino has no relation to the Vegas Horseshoe, but surely benefits from the name recognition. The casino was very small, with a couple dozen slot machines, and a few gaming tables. A funny thing about casinos here: slot machines are called tragamonedas, which translates as "swallows money" or "gulps money". How appropriate. I'm sure they do pay off sometimes.... I was coaxed into playing a little blackjack by one of several becoming hostesses, who sat at the table with me and the other gentleman playing, presumably to make conversation (and distract us from counting cards?) I was able to realize a $20 profit off a $40 buy in after 3 shoes, and was glad to get out of there ahead. I hadn't planned on playing, but the casino had planned on getting me to play long before I ever walked in the door.... Ha ha, my friends in Washington are laughing now. I scampered out the door with their $20 and had a nice dinner to celebrate.

Ah, Costa Rica. Nice place that it is, I was both happy and sad to leave. I am excited to move on and see new things. The rental agreement I had in Turrialba had soured a couple weeks ago. I had notified the landlord in December that I would not stay January, and they had told me not to worry or make decisions based on their situation. Then, when January rolled around, I got a note demanding me to pay for the whole month, even though I would not be there. By the way, I was dealing with an American, not a Costa Rican. This ended up being an unnecessary hassle at the end, which took some of the wind out of my sails, but that is far behind me now. I found that the people worried most about money in Costa Rica were Americans, not Costa Ricans.

I felt very safe in Costa Rica while travelling and enjoying the natural splendor. I recommend it highly, you will love it !