Our first real day of touring in CR took us 90 minutes north of San Jose to the Poas Volcano which last erupted Christmas Day in 2009. It is in a cloud forest and that's what it was - a cloud! We were told to wait because the cloud can disappear at anytime. Not this time! And, I waited 30 minutes imagining it clearing. It was a half mile hike up to the top to ba able to look down at the lake in the center. Well, they say there is a lake. All around it there is very dense growth with huge leaves. Cloud forests are like rain forests but with less rain and more humidity. It was also very cold and windy up there on top. Not what I expected in CR.
We saw a sloth in a tree along the road on the way up. It looked like a nest in the fork of the tree. Couldn't tell if 2 or 3 toed. Saw a raccoon on the deck of the diningroom after dinner tonight.
Down the mountain we saw many coffee plantations but could not do a tour as in the past. The gov passed a bill prohibiting tours of coffee plantations because of the machinery. We did stop at a small coffee planting where we could get up close to the trees. Beautiful, full of berries. Banana and other trees grow among the coffee to provide shade and use the land more effectively. Coffee export is no longer a top industry. Currently, 1. tourism; 1. Intel microchips; 2. bananas; 3. pineapples; 4. ornamental plants.
On the way back we visited the Gold Museum in downtown San Jose. Very interesting. Amazing history og CR money and collection of preColumbian gold figures. I bot a stamp to use on my scarves. I am sure it is an authentic PreColumbian artifact. :-)
I had planned to stay downtown after the Gold Mus so I could visit a coffee shop and look around. Planned ot take a taxi back. But after listening to a couple at lunch whose daughter lives in CR and they had just visited with her for 4 days I decided to get back on the bus and visit at the end of the trip. She had her wallet stolen out of her purse in the city without even knowing it and has experience living here. They said yo don't even use a cell phnoe or camera in public. I had my purse and backpack with me so I might have looked like a tourist... I figured better safe than sorry.
Tommorrow we head up north to cruise for 2 hours thru rivers and canals to get to the Tortuguero National Park to spend 2 nights. This will be my highlight of the trip.
Hasta manana. Thanks for the emails. Love, Claudia
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