We flew from La Paz Bolivia to San Jose, Costa Rica. We spent 2 days in San Jose. Our first visit was to the National Theatre of Costa Rica.
The National Theatre of Costa Rica, was completed in 1897 and stands as a premier example of Beaux-Arts architecture in Central America. Built during the coffee boom to host high-quality international performances, the theater features opulent interiors inspired by Paris’s Palais Garnier and serves as a cultural landmark. The guided tour was hosted by two people, who acted as royalty from the 19th century. The entire tour was really awesome and quite funny.
The Pre-Columbian Gold museum is right next to the National theatre. The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum which is managed by the Central Bank of Costa Rica, was established to protect and showcase over 1,600 indigenous gold artifacts dating from 500 AD to 1502 AD. Located beneath the Plaza de la Cultura. The museum evolved from a collection formed between 1950 and 1980, focusing on the spiritual and societal significance of gold.
Next, we walked to the Central Market, San Jose. Its a compact market with a lot of small shops.
On our second morning in San Jose, we started with a visit to the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Jose.
Our second visit of the day was to the Jade Museum. The Jade Museum in San José, was established in 1977 by the National Insurance Institute to preserve pre-Columbian archaeological heritage from theft and destruction, featuring the world’s largest collection of American jade. The museum houses over 7,000 pieces of pre-Columbian art, including jade, stone, ceramics, gold, and bone, originating from various indigenous cultures in Costa Rica.
We wished to visit the National Museum in San Jose. Unfortunately, the museum was shut down due to power failure in the entire locality.
On our third morning in Costa Rica, we drove 3 hours to Arenal Volcano mountain. We did a hike on the main trail. Unfortunately, the weather was very cloudy and we couldn’t see the mountain at all. However we enjoyed the trail, and saw lots of volcanic rocks.
From Arenal, we drove to Monteverde Rainforest. On our fourth morning, we did a trek in the Monteverde Rainforest. We saw the hanging bridge and “the Window”. The forest was very nice and there were information boards well placed.
We drove back to San Jose and the following morning, took a flight to Corcovado National Park. Our flight landed in Puerto Jiminez, from where we took a taxi to Carate. From Carate, we walked about an hour to arrive at La Leone Eco-Lodge.
On the next morning, we started with an early morning bird watching tour. We saw Pelicans, Toucan and many varieties of birds.
After breakfast, we did a four hour tour of the Corcovado National Park. The trees and plants were magnificent and we did see lots of wildlife.
The following morning, we took the flight from Puerto Jimenez to San Jose. The views of the Corcovado National Park and surrounding areas were great.
We really enjoyed our visit to Costa Rica, including the trip to Monteverde and Corcovado National Park.
My Travels - by Sivamani 