2006 - CENTRAL COSTA RICA

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I WAS ON A CRUISE IN 2005 THAT CALLED IN ON THE WEST COAST OF COSTA RICA

AND I LIKED WHAT I SAW, SO I TOOK THIS TRIP TO SEE WHAT THE CENTRAL PART LOOKS LIKE.

YEARS LATER I WILL GET TO THE CARIBBEAN COAST TOO.

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME OUT WITH A DIGITAL CAMERA AND THERE WILL BE SOME EXPERIMENTATION WITH IT.
VERY SURPRISED NOW AS TO HOW FEW SHOTS I TOOK.
MUST HAVE STILL BEEEN IN FILM MODE.

THESE DAYS I TAKE THOUSANDS OF SNAPS.

THE HOTEL IS IN OTAGO, A FEW HOURS BY CAR FROM THE CAPITAL, SAN JOSE. IT IS VERY BASIC BUT CLEAN & COMFORTABLE. RUN BY A GERMAN COUPLE, OR MAYBE SWISS.

OTAGO IS A VERY SMALL TOWN. THE BIGGEST THING IN IT IS THE KIDS PLAYING FIELD.

A VIEW FROM THE BALCONY OUTSIDE MY ROOM....

IN TOWN THERE ARE A FEW TAXIS AND I FOUND ONE WILLING TO TAKE ME UP A TO PAOS VOLCANO. WE PASSED SOME LOVELY SCENERY ON THE WAY .....

MY THOUGHTS AS WE LABOURED UP TO THE TOP WAS THAT I WAS NOT GOING TO SEE ANYTHING AS WE SEEMED TO BE CONSTANTLY INSIDE A CLOUD.

BUT JUST AFTER WE STOPPED THE CLOUD BROKE & AFTER A SHORT WALK, CAME ACROSS THIS ....

THEN THE CLOUD ROLLED BACK AND WE LEFT..

I MUST TRY TO REMEMBER THAT VISITS TO VOLCANO'S MAY BE OBSCURED BY CLOUDS.

THE CLOUDS ROLLED AWAY THE LOWER WE CAME ....

I HAD NOT ASKED THE DRIVER ( HE DID NOT SPEAK ENGLISH & I DO NOT SPEAK SPANISH ) ANYTHING OTHER THAN TO VISIT THE VOLCANO BUT HE STOPPED AT THESE RUINS ANYWAY.

AND A DAM .... NOT EXACTLY THE HOOVER BUT NICE ENOUGH

AT THE HOTEL I WAS VISITED BY A FEW BIRDS INCLUDING HUMMNGBIRDS ....

THIS IS A RESTAURANT I USED MOST DAYS. IT WAS ALWAYS ALMOST EMPTY.
THERE WAS NOT TOO MANY PLACES TO EAT HERE.
THIS ONE, THE HOTEL WAS FOR BREAKFAST AND A COUPLE OF VERY SMALL BARS IN THE CENTER.

NOT A LIVELY PLACE.

I NEXT WANTED TO GO TO A NATIONAL PARK . MY TAXI DRIVER WAS NOT AVAILABLE SO I ASKED ANOTHER IF HE SPOKE ENGLISH WHICH HE DID NOT .. AND HE WAS EXTREMELY SURLY ABOUT IT.

I TRIED HIM WITH MY ALMOST NON-EXISTENT SPANISH & IT WAS LIKE CLICKING A SWITCH. HE INSTANTLY BECAME VERY FRIENDLY. WE SETTLED ON A PRICE & OFF WE WENT. HOPEFULLY I WOULD GET BACK. THE PLACE WE WERE HEADING TO IS WAY OFF IN THE JUNGLE.

NOW I GET TO EXPERIMENT. THREE SHOTS FROM THE SAME PLACE OF THE SAME THING ... A WATERFALL

EXTRAVAGANT FLOWERS .....

ME ... AND A GECKO ....

AND IT'S TIME TO HEAD HOME.

I STOPPED IN ON SAN JOSEE FOR A NIGHT ON THE WAY AND THE TOUR COMPANY NEGLECTED TO PICK ME UP IN THE MORNING FOR THE RIDE TO THE AIRPORT. I MENTIONED IT TO THE TRAVEL AGENT & ABOUT A WEEK LATE GOT A CHEQUE FOR THE CAB FARE.
A NICE TOUCH..

I MUST HAVE BEEN VERY MUCH OUT OF SEASON TO HAVE SO FEW TOURISTS AROUND & THAT WAS A BONUS.

I WOULD RECOMMEND COSTA RICA BUT THERE IS NOT A LOT OF NEED TO SEE SAN JOSE. IT WOULD HELP A LOT IF YOU HAD SOME SPANISH TOO.