Day 8 - Arrival in San Jose, Costa Rica

We were collected from the hotel at 6.30 for a 30 minute journey to the airport, which is really no more than 1km away.  The traffic was terrible and most of the time we were in stationary traffic.  The flight was on time and only took about 90 minutes.

We collected our luggage and met our tour guide.  Then one of the ladies (Anne) realised that she had picked up someone elses bag.  It was identical to her own and very distinctive.   She only realised when she saw the Llama tag was missing (it had already been damaged) and saw some tape around the zip area that wasnt on hers.  The bag she had belonged to a man who had travelled from Chile via Guatemala to San Jose.  The airport had his phone number and tried to ring him but didnt get an answer.  She didnt have any clothes in her bag so was very stressed.  She is much larger than any others in the group so no-one else was able to offer to lend her any clothes.  We left the airport and drove into very heavy traffic.  After about 10 minutes the tour guide had a phone call and we recognised a few words and thought they had found Annes bag but he didnt say anything.  We started going back towards the airport and he announced that Annes luggage had been found so she was able to collect it.  We left the airport again into the same heavy traffic and made our way to the upgrade hotel where 2 of our party had booked into.  We continued to our hotel and it took well over an hour.  We arrived at 1.45 - 3 hours after landing.  The hotel room is huge and we have a good view over the city to the Poas Volcano where we are going tomorrow.

 
Western Kingbird

We had the rest of the day free so after a quick unpack and change of clothes we went into the city centre which is about 2kms from our hotel.

The city was very lively with lots of music coming from shops and we found some nice buildings and parks and even a Chinatown although apart from the gate, there was no other sign of anything Chinese.  There are a lot of beggars about and we saw a few asleep on a pavement where they passed out from drinking too much alcohol.

 
Braulio Carrillo Colina Park

 
Iglesia Neustra Senora de la Merced

 
Cathedral of San Jose

 
Side view and gardens of Cathedral of San Jose

 
Cathedral of San Jose 

 
National Museum of Costa Rica

 
Chinatown gate

 
Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church

 
Our Lady of Solitude Catholic Church 

 
Side view of National Museum of Costa Rica

 
National Monument in National Park

 
Sculpture in National Park

 
Pond and bridge at National Park

 
Little island with seating on the pond at National Park

 
Plaza de La Libertad

 

 
Colourful houses in a side street

 
Model of Bull in main shopping street

 
Former Post Office building 

 
Entrance to former Post Office building

 

 
Parakeet - there were a lot all over the city





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