As Advertised Titularly

We got back last night from seven days in Costa Rica. It was bee-yoo-tee-ful, as advertised titularly.

We landed in San Jose on Sunday, stayed a night in nearby Alajuela, then explored the northwestern part of the country -- mostly on Peninsula de Nicoya. This is not the best map, but it shows most of the cities/towns we visited.

San Jose --> Alajuela --> Tamarindo --> Garza (between Nosara and Samara) for two nights --> Tambor for two nights --> took a ferry to Puntarenas --> Zarcero --> San Jose. Here are the pics...

See those white marks around the wheel-well? A dog attacked our rental car as we drove up to Volcano Poas. Seriously. It was insane. It ran up to us barking as we drove. I slowed down so as not to kill it, and bang-bang-bang. Our car became known from then on as "Dog Bait".


Volcano Poas was gorgeous.

All of the Ticos were very nice, even when they were driving forty or fifty head of cattle on horseback and carrying two machetes.


We played with a six-month-old hound dog named Sushi in Garza.

Stray dogs played amongst themselves.

We saw white-face capuchin monkeys, at siesta time...

...spider monkeys that were not yet reintroduced to nature at the Curu national reserve at feeding time...

...a family of howler monkeys in the trees in Tambor way too early in the morning...

...cool tree roots...

...wee pretty birds...

...beeeg iguanas...

...and wonderful patterns in the sand.

Oh, and massive starfish!

We visited a welcoming church in Zarcero...


...situated at the top of the town green, which has a cool topiary garden beneath it.

There were well-intentioned Americans on the march, even in Zarcero, which seemed to be a reverent, pious place.

On our last day, we visited a butterfly farm in Guanica near San Jose. We took a tour and learned lots. Fascinating creatures!



The most heart-stopping event of the trip though happened on the first full day. We were driving to Tamarindo on mountain roads, and directly in front of us, a truck lost control, swerved left then right, and flipped over.

We were the first people on the scene, though other people showed up quickly. The cab of the truck was destroyed, and the driver was pinned between his steering wheel and his seat. Luckily, he walked away with only scratches. It could very very easily have been gruesome. Gulp.

That's the driver at left, realizing that he almost drove his truck off a steep dropoff. See the skid marks under the feet of the guy in the foreground? Scary stuff.

Anyway, we're back to the grind. Sue is feeling well, eating lots, and the spud (now five inches long) is kicking up a storm. Happy Year of the Tiger!

PS
Do you see Shepard Fairey's Andre the Giant (upper right under the Sloppy Joe's bumper sticker)? Providence is everywhere!

This cooler was in Guiones, just south of Nosara. From here, we rented an ATV (quadricicolo) to get to a walk-in snorkeling site about 20km away. We were prohibited from taking Dog Bait through any water (It would have voided our insurance.), so we had to rely on unconventional means of transport.




PPS
Many of the coastal roads were dirt/gravel. So in the dry season, they are very dusty, hence the protective face gear.