Costa Rica Days 1 and 2: Arrival in San Jose and travel to Montezuma.
1-21-10: This was the travel day from Maine. Beth and I took her car to Portland, parked and took a bus to Logan Airport. Boarded an airplane to Houston, then changed planes and continued on to San Jose, Costa Rica. Arrived at San Jose International around 10:30 pm. Beth’s sister Hadley and her friend Allena had already arrived from the west coast of the US. We waited for Beth’s parents to arrive outside the airport. It was pleasantly warm; maybe in the mid-70s. After Beth’s parent’s (Elna and Otto) arrived we took the hotel shuttle to the Best Western in central San Jose. After checking in, we got a cab (van) to takes us to a place for some food and beer. San Jose was not an inviting place at night. All the shops and store fronts at the street level were closed and covered with iron gates. There were prostitutes on various street corners and there was hardly any traffic (no people on foot, cars, or otherwise). After eating, the van took us back to the hotel and we all went to bed.
1-22-10: I woke up early, around 7:30, excited to do some exploring in San Jose. After some breakfast, I walked up to the upper balconies of the hotel ( it was a 4-floor building) to see the view of the city and the surrounding mountains. It was quite spectacular. San Jose is like nothing you would ever see in North America. Tin roofs, concrete buildings, narrow streets, no big cars. Next, we took a trip out into the streets. This being mys first time in the city, I left my camera behind. The reading I had done about the city indicated petty crime, such as pick-pocketing, was coming so I was not comfortable taking it out into the streets. The city was loaded with people during the day, a stark contrast to the night before. All the stores were open, selling shoes, bread, to leather goods, designer jeans, and many other things I probably didn’t see. The sidewalks were very narrow, only wide enough for two people to pass on a side, and the streets were all one lane, and loaded with taxis, vans, and delivery trucks. On the sidewalk vendors were selling fresh avocados, news papers, fruit, and lottery tickets.
Two blocks from the Best Western was the central market of San Jose. This was a large airplane hanger -like structure packed with…everything. It was full of vendors. Fresh meats, vegetables, fruits, leather goods, souvenirs, spices, herbs.. If you wanted a prepared meal there were plenty of tiny little food stalls where you could pull up a stool and get something to eat. Think of it as an ad-hoc supermarket. If your local grocery store were made up of 100 different independent vendors, each specializing in a certain product, it might be like the San Jose central market.
The van we rented to Montezuma arrived a little after 1:30 pm.. The van was nice because you could open the window and take pictures of the countryside. The ride down to the Pacific coast consisted of a lot of mountains and steep switch-back roads. Some of the corners were a little harry; no guard rails, lots of other traffic, and long tips to the bottom. But our driver was good, and so was his van. We reached Puntarenas around 4:30. The van dropped us off and we walked on the ferry that would take us across the Golfo deNicoya to the Nacoya peninsula. The ferry ride took about an hour, and was timed perfectly, as it allowed for a spectacular sunset.
After dark, the ferry arrived and we got into another van that would take us the rest of the way to Montezuma. It took about an hour over dirt and (possibly) paved roads. The van dropped us off right in front of our hotel around 8:00. After checking in at the Luna Lena, we dropped our stuff off and walked down the hill into town to get something to eat. I’m not sure if it was the water or the heat, but I did not feel well and headed back up to the hotel after dinner and went to bed.
