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A day in San Jose

I slept pretty well, with the curtains open and the lights of San Jose spread out below me. I managed to sleep until about 7, then went down to breakfast. Coffee, eggs, and fruit got me going. Oh, a funny thing about this hotel. It's a Park Inn by Radisson, and everywhere there are signs about how green they are. (Don't get new towels, conserve water, recycle, toilet paper in the trash and not the toilet (😳), etc.) And yet the water is bottled and expensive! A 20-oz bottle is $3 and a 50-oz bottle is $6! So, I asked at the desk if there was filtered water for me to fill my Yeti water bottle. Turns out that there is a machine by the bar that you can use in the morning. Yes, it's there in the afternoon and evening, but then the bar is open and they charge you to fill your bottle. Guess who plans to fill her bottle bright and early tomorrow morning?


So, I decide I would walk to the La Sabana Metropolitan Park. It's a very nice urban park. The space was a park, then became the San Jose Airport. After the new airport was built in the late 1950s, they decided to renaturalize the area and make it back into a park. It's quite large, with wonderful trees and a wetland/pond area, plus there are recreation areas within the park. I made it there by about 8:30 and started walking around. Interestingly, while I had my camera out, two people warned me to be careful with it. I guess there are street snatchers here, like in any large city. BTW, I did not have the camera out while I walked to the park—it was in my daypack. (It's not my first urban rodeo.) Anyway, I wandered around, hearing some birds, most of which were great-tailed grackles. But I came across this adorable squirrel dining on a coconut. (The coconut had to come from a vendor stand, and there are no coconut trees in the park.)


Variegated squirrel

I was fortunate to run into a group of four birders, and they let me join them. Today was a big survey day for Costa Rica, with teams all over the country doing bird counts. They had been birding since 6 AM, and were only staying until 10 AM, but I had a good time with them. I saw about 20 different species, but only one species was new for me. I did get some good photos, which made me happy!


Tropical kingbird



I also saw a lot of migrant species, birds that we have in Virginia that are wintering here, like warblers (yellow-rumped, Tennessee, and yellow). And then I found a whole tree full of Baltimore orioles, over a dozen of them! At home, we see them one or two at a time, but that's during their breeding season. Here I guess they all hang together—no territories needed. And a Hoffman's woodpecker decided to check me out!


Hoffman’s woodpecker


I got back to the hotel at around 11:30 and just hung out for a while, then headed to the Mercado Central, the large market in town. It's Saturday, of course, and the entire area (blocks and blocks of shops, not just the Mercado) were packed with people. Shops had music and people with microphones, trying to get people to visit. It was pretty intense! The Mercado was fun. I bought coffee beans for a friend, and I swear that the stall is the same one where I bought coffee beans in 1987. As I recall, they were about $3 for a kilo back then, and I paid $25 for a kilo this time. But it's excellent coffee.


The corridors between the shops were so narrow! It reminded me of the bazaar in Cairo. This was one of the wider ones!


In Mercado Central


There were all kinds of shops and restaurants. I was fascinated by the herbal shops.


If you are curious about the pricing, it’s it about 500 colones to the dollar. So 800 colones is about $1.60 per kilo of carrots or 72 cents per pound.


If you wanted, you could buy everything to build your own Nativity crèche.




Or, any size aluminum pan.



After I'd had my fill of wandering and looking, I headed out. I stopped at a bakery and bought a cheese bread and a bottle of water, then walked back to the hotel. My Apple Watch is quite happy with me today—my rings are going round and round.


I've decide to eat here in the hotel, and then I'll have to get myself together. My bag will need to be in the hall by 6 AM and I think we are leaving for Arenal at 8 AM. I did find out that it is a big group: 42!! I've never been on a tour with that many people, so we'll see how it goes. The bus seats 60 or more, so I should have a seat to myself, I hope. I'll write next from Arenal.




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