My Costa Rica Trip, April - May 2009

[K-Dub]

I didn't want to limit myself to only 3 pictures a day in the daily showcase, and at least this way I can have a dedicated thread to post and show you all what I saw on my trip!

I've been slowly blogging the pictures on my personal blog here, as I've been really slow editing them. I work on them in batches, but I get realllly tired of it.

I'll post a couple favorites from each day.

Our hotel in San Jose for the first 4 days of the trip.


Breakfast is included! I did get tired of rice+beans everyday though, and I really wanted some normal rice by the end of the trip. Am I too Asian?


Some scenes of the street as I shot them from the car. Didn't get to do a lot of walking cause my family had business to take care of, mainly meeting old friends/relatives and getting my citizenship card.







They have better cars then us. This Prado is big and aggressive.



Public transportation. Not all busses are this nice, and I even saw older busses driving around with the door open! Probably for ventilation.



more tk...

[K-Dub]

More of day 2.

Just like the guy on Robson, but chubbier and less funny.


Dinner. Rum and coke in the glasses, beside a plate full of food.


The pool I never once got to swim in.



Day 3.

Went to visit the old neighbourhood / house we used to live in. Repainted, but still the same.



Then it was off to the public market.





After lunch, we drove to Irazu.



A white-nosed caoti, not an anteater as some stupid tourist had told us.



The crater at Irazu.



There's a supposedly better observation point up higher, but by the time we drove up the short hill which was full of holes.. it had clouded over. And I don't think you can even see the crater very well from up there anyways..

There however was this really interesting building, which I can only guess is the observation tower?

[K-Dub]

More of day 3...

We went to Cartago after to look at their church. The layout of every city is the same, a park and a church in the middle of the city, and everything else around it.



Not sure why, but people would kneel and shuffle all the way to the altar. Which is REALLY far..




Some just went to the side altars instead.


People almost at the end.



I got bored of watching people shuffle so I looked up instead.



I should have asked my sister to take a picture of me taking this, I was almost lying in the pew aisle trying to get it lined up just right in the middle. I'm happy with it though, love the symmetry of it.



Day 4.

Another day, another volcano. This time it's Volcan Poas.

We saw this guy while on the drive there, that's so cool, but I'd probably suffer a heat stroke if I were to ride his cow all the way up.



Admission for Poas. If you click on it, you can see my notes about the prices.



What a beauty.



It looks so foreign..



The pano picture I took, uncropped.



Click this for large and cropped.

Hope you guys have enjoyed so far, all of the pictures can be found in my flickr set, here.

[Meowjin]

you use to live in costa rica?

[K-Dub]

Originally Posted by MajinHurricane

you use to live in costa rica?

I was born there, but my family moved to Van before I turned a year old. My parents had lived there for 10 years though. So it kind of sucks, when my parents and sis can speak Spanish and I can't.

[Levitron]

Originally Posted by K-Dub

I was born there, but my family moved to Van before I turned a year old. My parents had lived there for 10 years though. So it kind of sucks, when my parents and sis can speak Spanish and I can't.

I took you for "just another Asian"

[K-Dub]

Originally Posted by Levitron

I took you for "just another Asian"

I'm special.

[K-Dub]

Yay, schools over so I have been going through more pictures.

I always like the different types of houses and structures you will see in different countries.




After that, we met some distant relatives for dinner at a mall. The only time I went to a shopping mall this whole trip, and it was weird. One side of me doesn't like how things are north-american-ized, but the other side feels comfort from it. Eh...



Dinner at some steak house inside. Didn't even have a steak for dinner, haha.



Mixed platter. Ribs, chicharron, yuca, etc.



Home to pass out, another day. Breakfast looked like this everyday. I could get used to it, but I was starting to get tired of rice and beans every morning.....




Can't remember what city or province, but there was some stuff going on in the city center. My sister sitting beside one of the living statues. Most of them were kids, and had some costumes/make up on. I think they were showcasing their skills or what not.

[K-Dub]

Went to the zoo. It's not the national zoo, but rather Zoo Ave.

Summary by Fodors.

Spread over the lush grounds of Zoo Ave is a collection of large cages holding toucans, hawks, and parrots (the macaws range free), not to mention crocodiles, caimans, boa constrictors, turtles, monkeys, wild cats, and other interesting critters. The zoo, the best in Costa Rica, runs a breeding project for rare and endangered birds, all of which are destined for eventual release. It has a total of 120 bird species, including such rare ones as the quetzal, fiery-billed aracari, several types of eagles, and even ostriches. An impressive mural at the back of the facility shows Costa Rica's 850 bird species painted to scale.

I found this amusing. Loosely translated, my eggs are not the solution.



I seem to really only like the peacocks. The rest of the animals are behind fences, but they have a lot of space. As such, me being with my 28-75 I still did not have enough reach and I don't want to show any of you it cause its' boring.





Some behind for you.

[K-Dub]

Went to Cafe Britt for a tour of their plant and some coffee. It's a very commercialized coffee plant, so I don't feel that their quality is great compared to smaller local plants.



I don't really know the history of coffee, but they had a short skit that was amusing and informative.















Yea, those are all coffee beans on the floor.






Anyways...this is sad. I find posting the pictures here and writing about them so much easier and faster than posting on my own blog.

[J____]

nice pics. wtf is up with that bloody girl on the ground??

[K-Dub]

Originally Posted by J____

nice pics. wtf is up with that bloody girl on the ground??

Thanks.

Um, they were all dressed up as different characters/had make up on, and they took over the middle of the park like a flash mob. At the end of it, they all lined up by the fountain and bowed, and someone announced something./ I think it was about make up school or something, not totally sure, but sure was interesting.

[Matsuda]

great photos!

[ilvtofu]

what does a turtle have to do with viagra?
Lol the crater looks like it could be rad coolant!
Love your ceiling shot BTW!

[skyxx]

^ Obviously It makes you come out of your "Shell" and according to the Turtle, everyone in Cuba has a "Shell"

[K-Dub]

Uhhhhh skyxx....lol way off.

Some people have this belief that eating turtle eggs gives you a good libido/natural viagra....but it doesnt. Just a myth.