Hello dear readers! I have made it to Costa Rica and am spending my second night in San Jose, the capital. I spent this morning wandering around the city (looking like a tourist idiot with my backpack on my front given the rate of petty theft here) and visited the Jade Museumand the National Theater. I also walked through the Mercado Central (the central market with a panoply of stalls selling everything you never wanted) and enjoyed a bit of sun in the Plaza di Cultura. By then the storm clouds started to roll in and that meant it was time to get back to the hostel.
The rainy season has descended upon Costa Rica, and here in San Jose that means beautiful, clear mornings followed by raging thunderstorms every afternoon. It clears by nightfall, but every person I’ve spoken with here insists this is not the city to walk around after dark. So that means I got up at 6am and got a full day of exploring in by 1:30, when I jetted back to the hostel for cover. It was quite a storm today too, and with the tin roof we had quite the thunderous afternoon. Got dinner at the hostel restaurant with a couple of girls from my dorm room.
Food here is simple: beans and rice and rice and beans with some chicken thrown in for good measure. It's tasty though so I can't complain (yet... this is, after all, day 2 of said diet). What I can rave about is the coffee (oh my freaking goodness!) and the fried plantains (an absolute favorite). The local beer is pretty tasty as well (and super cheap! less than $2 a bottle). What I'm saving on food and lodging ($12 a night in a 6-bed dorm) is all going to activities. Tomorrow I'm going white water rafting and then heading to La Fortuna, home to one of the most active volcanos in Costa Rica. There are also several natural hot springs in the area and some decent hiking so I'll probably spend three days there.
For pictures from today (and upcoming days as well) check out my flickr site here. There are older pictures that aren't available without a flickr account, but all of my Costa Rica stuff will be available for now.
