This year´s southern summer vacation
was to Panama and Costa Rica.
Panama is here .
After spending a week in Panama, divided between Panama City and the mountain town of Boquete, we went to nearby David, and took the bus to Costa Rica.
(click on photos to enlarge)
The border crossing, about 50 km (30 mi) from David, took about an hour. Our luggage was unloaded and screened, we passed through the Panamanian immigration office and had out passports stamped. Then we looked for the bus, which had disappeared -- to the Costa Rican immigration office a block or so away. After a an anxious moment, walking along the highway crowded with trailer trucks, we saw the bus and eventually had our baggage inspected and our passports stamped and were back on the bus.
Our destination was Uvita, about half way up the CR coast, marked on the map above. In search of a Costa Rican beach town to spend a few days, the Wikipedia article convinced me: Uvita is one of the lesser known CR beaches, it is home to Marino Ballena National Park, a "good place to see humpback whales," and it's whale tail beach has "been described as one of the world's most beautiful."
What's not to like? Well, the climate perhaps; 90F and high humidity expected, but 4 hours later we arrived and managed to find out hotel, Uvita Paradise, a few Km from the center.
We had reserved a studio apartment, which turned to out be very comfortable with an industrial strength (or so it seemed) AC, cold beer and fruit in the frig, and David, the owner who was very helpful in arranging a whale watching tour and later our transportation to San Jose.
And a view. La Abu is 65+.
Eat your heart out J-Lo
Uvita is spread out, with only a small center on the highway. A short walk from out hotel was a soccer field, park, grocery and a couple of restaurants on the road between the highway and the national park and beach.
Walking toward the beach were souvenir stands with the usual bags, T-shirts and Indian table cloths.
The last 100 m had more of the same, plus tour operators and restaurants.
There we had our first Costa Rican food; in my case fried red snapper, salad and patacones (fried green plantains). Alejandra had her first casado, "married", supposedly what a wife serves her husband. It's Costa Rica's emblematic dish. It always has rice, beans, fried ripe plantain, salad and meat or fish of your choice plus any number of things; in this case marinated vegetables.
This is the restaurant where we ate these. Below, another restaurant on the same street. Looks surprisingly elegant for a beach side open-air restaurant; food was good too.
Ballena, "whale" gives the park it's name, both after the whales that migrate off its shore and for the "whale tail" reef that is above water at low tide. It has 240 hectares (420 acres) of beach and forest, extends out to sea 15 km (9 mi) and all flora and fauna, including fish, are protected.
On the way to the beach we passed this little river. A sign said "don't feed the crocodiles." We didn't; didn't see any either.
And then the beach.
At low tide the whale tail reef is exposed. You can wade out to it and explore the tide pools.
The next day we went whale watching. Dave, the owner of our hotel recommended Bahia Adventuras, made reservations and got us a discount. We would second his recommendation: our guide was excellent; very knowledgeable, bilingual, safety oriented and friendly. The boat was well equipped with two kinds of life vests, one for wearing in the boat and another for swimming, and masks and snorkels for everyone. They offered fruit and sandwiches for a mid morning break and even coffee and pastries while waiting for everyone to arrive in the AM. 
This was not our boat, but was like it. We waded out from the beach and climbed aboard.
And we saw whales!
A mother and her calf and a second female, perhaps an older daughter, said our guide Axel.
They were Northern Hemisphere humpback whales that feed and breed in the arctic and migrate south to the Pacific coasts of Costa Rica and Panama to bear and raise their young. They are in the ocean off Uvita from December to March. Whales from the Southern Hemisphere Population come from Antarctica to the same area from July through October.
We also saw dolphins, but didn't manage to get good photos.
As you see in the video, we were not the only boat around this whale family. The boats keep in touch and cooperate so that if one finds whales or dolphins the others gather. In order not to disturb them with too much attention after 30 minutes or so we moved away to see nearby sea caves and to swim or snorkel.
On the way back we stopped and saw the whales again.
The next day we left for San José, or specifically for Alajuela, the near by town where we had a hotel reservation. The bus rides we had taken from Panama City to David and from David to Uvita weren't bad, but getting to Alajuala would required a change of buses in San Jose and we decided to splurge and take a tourist shuttle from Uvita. David, our helpful hotelero tried to arrange passage, but when the time we wanted to go was not available, and since he was going anyway, he volunteered to drive us for the same price as the shuttle.
That made the trip more comfortable and more interesting as we talked most of the way. We stopped at the bridge over the Rio Tarcoles to see the crocodiles, use the facilities and check out the souvenirs.
Our hotel in Alajuela, a Hampton Inn, was comfortable, convenient and very American. We chose it because it was in a central location for visiting San José and other communities and was close to the airport with 24 hour shuttle service. Very much like it's US twins, it had the usual motel breakfast buffet of DYI waffles plus Costa Rican gallo pinto (beans and rice), tamales, patacones, etc. (For more on Costa Rican food, go here.) As it turned out its clients were mainly Americans, who worked in the surrounding free zone industrial parks' pharmaceutical and other industries, and their families.
The morning after arriving we took the shuttle to the airport and then a bus to San José, about 20 km/12mi away. But instead of the expected 20 minute ride, it was an hour, thanks to the incredible traffic. The bus station, one of many, was only a few blocks away from the pedestrian mall of Avenida Central and La Plaza de la Cultura, site of the National Theater.
National Theatre of Costa Rica, opened in 1897 and still in use today.
Our first stop in SJ was the central market, a square block of food, flowers, souvenirs, clothing, shoes, restaurants and friendly people.
And there was a man with a trained chicken for photos.
We had lunch there, a chifrio (rice and beans with pork) for me and another casado for Alejandra.
We returned to SJ the next day, this time to see a butterfly garden and the National Museum. The Spirogyra Butterfly Garden, established in 1992, is more than a tourist attraction, it is an "Environmental and Socio-Economic Project." Income form visitors and selling butterfly pupa supports rural villagers who collect pupa and supply plants that feed butterflies. Its goals are to:
Provide income and a way to make a living for women and men
living in rain-forest buffering fringe areas
Create an ecologically safe way to use the environment, the land and rain forests
Create novel new ways to farm in a sustainable fashion
And it's a beautiful and relaxing place to visit. We were impressed.
Butterflies emerging from chrysalis.
Then there was almuerzo at a touristy but good restaurant called, in the sign above, Our Land. I had fish Caribbean style with patacones and gallo pinto.
Followed by a visit to the excellent National Museum, housed in the Bellavista Fortress, built in 1917 and used as military barracks until Costa Rica disbanded its army in 1948.
In addition to the attractive restored building and central patio, the museum has excellent coverage of CR's history and natural history with sensitive coverage of the plight of its indigenous people. Worth a visit.
The Costa Rica Animal Rescue Center was our destination for the next day. One of several wildlife rescue centers in the Alajuela region* it is open to visitors and accepts Costa Rican and international volunteers; income from both supports their work. All the birds and animals are "rescued" from accidents, abuse, or the illegal pet trade, and those that can be returned to health and are not habituated to humans are released to the wild. Visitors cannot touch or feed the animals.
The center had over two dozen sloths in residence when we were there, their calm and docile nature making them common victims of the illegal pet trade. Most are in fenced "gardens" surrounding trees and are difficult to see. The sloth at right was in a hospital enclosure. She had an eye infection.
A white-faced capuchin.
This capuchin's arm injury required amputation.
An orphaned baby mantled howler monkey.
coati
Geoffroy's spider monkey
Amazonia parrots. The genus has some 3 dozen species, ranging from Mexico to South America.
Volunteers preparing animal food in the kitchen.
Our guide "Juan" -- his Chinese name sounds similar. He emigrated to Costa Rica as a young adult and found this job which he loves.
On the way back we stopped for almuerzo in Alajuela, Costa second largest city (pop 300K, 1M in urban area) 2 km from our hotel. It's a pleasant city, larger than it feels, with a central district surrounding the Juan Santamaria Park. It's called the "city of mangoes" for the 20+ mango trees lining the town square. It's also famed for having "the best weather in the world," averaging 73 to 78 degrees F year-round.
Sitting in the town square is a popular afternoon pastime.
We found a pleasant place for coffee, and admired an interesting painting in the restaurant where we had lunch.
Across from the square is the Juan Santamaría Museum, dedicated to the city's most famous son and Costa Rica's national hero. Housed in what was the army barracks, the museum focuses on the war of national liberation when American filibusterer William Walker attacked the country. Santamaria, a poor peon volunteered to take a torch to burn down Walker's headquarters. He died in the process, but succeeded, and Walker was defeated.
Not a great museum, but worth a visit.
We liked Alajuela so much that we went back for lunch again next day, and visited the market, a smaller version of the big market in San Jose. And this one had music.
That evening we went to a dinner show with baile foclorico. When we signed up it hadn't occurred to us that it was on a mountain overlooking San Jose, an hour and a half away through traffic. But ultimately, it was worth it. Dinner was a buffet of traditional Costa Rican foods, and the dancing was fun.
And there was quite a view.
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* There are at least 12 animal rescue centers in CR. The best known, Zoo Ave, is where we though we were going on our tour, and until we compared pictures afterward, it is where we thought we had been.
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