Costa Rica Unplugged: Day 1

Day 1 started with a fight. I knew it would happen, just not so soon. My OCD and punctuality was bound to clash with Jackie's procrastination and notorious tardiness.

Because we missed the initial meeting the night before, I wanted to be ten minutes early to breakfast so we could meet our tour guide and the rest of the gang. But she had no such plan. When my ten minutes of cushion time turned into five, I lost all patience. I grabbed my CamelBak and headed downstairs to breakfast on my own.

I was halfway though my gallo pinto (beans and rice mixed together) when Jackie made an appearance. She set her stuff down at my table and filled her plate at the buffet. When she sat down, we started chatting as if she hadn't told me off in our room. And that was just perfectly fine with me. What was the point of lingering on a spat when we were in FREAKIN' COSTA RICA!!!

A fellow tour member pointed out our guide and we waved him down. In no time, 24 of us from all over the world (California, N.Y., Washington D.C., England, Germany, Canada, Missouri, Connecticut, Australia, and New Zealand) were off to explore the capital of San Jose in the rain.

Church view from our shuttle.

This woman was singing and playing the maracas to her hearts' content.

El mercado, the market. Totally resembles my hometown's El Mercadito.

Souvenirs. 

Farm workers depicted in front of a bank to acknowledge their contribution to the country.

Oldest post office still in operation. 

Teatro Nacional. National Theater. 

Oldest hotel in Costa Rica.

Colones, their currency.

After learning that stop signs mean nothing, tailgating is a must, and honking is a given on city streets, we headed to Volcán Poás about an hour away. There, the weather turned icy cold, with rain and wind that cut our eyes. But the views were spectacular. Our guide said we were lucky that the crater wasn't covered with fog.

Coffee plantations on the way.

Short walk.

Mini waterfall.

Description of plant above.

Volcán Poás. It measures one mile in diameter. 

Did I capture the cold???

Another walk to a lagoon.

Squirrels were very friendly there. They walked up to you and if they could, they would have asked you for food. They looked different too, with a reddish tail instead of the grey I'm used to seeing in So Cal. 

Breathtaking.

Our bus driver pointed out this armadillo as we loaded into the bus. Jackie told him to bring it to us and he did. 

Then our driver spotted a sloth as we were headed to lunch. He pulled over and allowed us to get off so we could capture him. In pictures, that is.

Day 1 concluded with a tour of an ox cart factory. The ox cart is a symbol of this central american country. The factory still runs the good ol' fashion way-- on water power. 

Detail on a bench.

The making of a wheel in process.

The main wheel, water-powered.

Artist hard at work. Hence the price tag :/

Mini ox cart model.

Largest ox cart in the world, according to their Guinness World record. 

Angel statue atop a church.

Jackie and I weren't very impressed with our first day there. We thought it was a little slow in the city and I was disappointed we hadn't gone inside the Teatro Nacional or the contemporary art museum. We enjoyed the volcano park and started checking off our souvenir list at the factory, but for the most part, it was pretty mellow. I told Jackie, this just means it's going to get better and better with every passing day...