Tag: Costa Rica

Female Shamans and Art in San Jose, Costa Rica

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San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, is a constant hustle bustle of strollers, musicians, shops, and street vendors. Museums feature local artists, past and present. It’s the rare place where you’ll find ancient sculptures of female shamans.

Great facts about Costa Rica

  • Literacy there is 96.3%, among the highest in Latin America. When Costa Ricans abolished their army in 1949, they vowed to replace it, “with an army of teachers.”
  • They elected their first female president in 2010. In Latin America, female presidents are common.

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Ancient Female Shaman, Costa Rica.
Ancient Female Shaman, Costa Rica.
Ancient Female Shamans, Costa Rica.
Art courtesy of San Jose Museum of Art.
Art courtesy of San Jose Museum of Art.
Art courtesy of San Jose Museum of Art.
Art courtesy of San Jose Museum of Art.
Downtown backstreet, San Jose, Costa Rica.
Downtown street music, San Jose, Costa Rica.

Learn more about Costa Rica here and here.

Sloths and Surfing at Costa Rica’s Puerto Viejo Beach, Manzanillo: videos included!

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Costa Ricans are among the happiest people in the world, according to scientific studies.

That explains how pura vida (pure life or good life) has come to be used by all Costa Ricans to greet, to encourage, and to convey all around friendliness.

Some other interesting facts about Costa Rica:

  • Just about everyone there speaks English.
  • The country has only two seasons – rainy and not as rainy.
  • Temps are 80’s and 90s Fahrenheit year ’round.
  • Every day of the year, sunrise and sunset are at 5:30.
  • It’s easy to get sunburned due to its being closer to the equator.
  • My husband and I used citronella wristbands and natural bug repellent, yet received fewer bug bites than many of our fellow travelers.

Take it from me — seeing a happy sloth close up definitely contributes to my sense of wellbeing!

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Breathtaking Puerto Viejo Beach.
My first surfing lesson ever!
Costa Rica is heaven for more critters than most anywhere, including fuzzy kneed big insects on the side of the road.
Downtown Puerto Viejo de Talamanca.
Sloths are incredibly graceful and charming when they’re just hanging out on tree branches!
What could ever be better than a sloth that’s close enough to touch? One that’s hanging from tree branch and smiling at you!

 

Costa Rica: Arenal Volcano, La Fortuna, Plus Videos

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Volcanos, waterfalls, and sheer fun abound in Costa Rica.

Arenal Volcano
Arenal Volcano

Hum a little tune as you watch these fast motion photos.

Learn more about Costa Rica here and here.

Videos: Costa Rica animals, food, money, and plants

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A mere 0.1% of Earth’s landmass, Costa Rica harbors 5% of Earth’s biodiversity. Environmental protection is Costa Rica’s middle name. Ecotourism rewards Ticos (Costa Ricans) with jobs and commerce. Other countries take note: caring for Mother Nature pays off in $mucho$ $dinero$.

25% of its land is nationally protected. Compare that to the developing world’s average of 13% and the developed world’s average of 8%. Each Costa Rican drains the Earth a third less than each North American does.

Crops include coffee and sugar cane.

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From caterpillar to pupa to butterfly.
Optimism springs eternal at a taco stand.
Typical Costa Rica all day fare: rice, beans, stew, fresh grilled cheese, and thick bread
Varied sizes lessen mistakes.
Colorful Costa Rican currency features local wildlife.
Lively downtown San Jose.
A red macaw oversees a butterfly sanctuary.
These puffy little yellow birds were everywhere.
Costa Rican hummingbirds come in many colors and sizes including this iridescent green.
Coati
A coffee Plantation
These coffee berries taste sweet before they’re processed.
Coffee remains are composted.
A calf at the coffee plantation.
Milled ugar cane gets recycled into paper.
Sugar cane juice.
Sugar cane juice boiled into syrup.
Sugar cane syrup whipped into candy.
A bottle of Cacique: potent fermented sugar cane alcohol.
These insides of a cocoa bean taste sweet and nothing like processed chocolate.
Cocoa becoming chocolate.
Hanging bridges like this one let you view the cloud forest from up high.
A fern tree from below.
A fern tree from above.
Bromeliads like this one grow up high and are homes to frogs.
Bromeliads like this one grow in all colors on the ground.
Bug tracks on leaves.

What do you think about when you think of butterflies?

Learn more about Costa Rica here and here.

Costa Rica: Jungle Hiking, Indigenous Abodes, and Rafting Pacuare River

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A popular medical tourism destination, Costa Ricans live longer than Northern Americans. How? Thanks to their socialized medicine system, strict anti-smoking laws, overall healthy focus, and low sugar consumption in.

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Rafting Pacuare River, Costa Rica
Lunching along Pacuare River, Costa Rica.
A bird soars over Pacuare River, Costa Rica.
A bird over Pacuare River, Costa Rica.
A bird over Pacuare River, Costa Rica.
A bird over Pacuare River, Costa Rica.
Swimming Pacuare River, Costa Rica.
Indigenous abode.

Learn more about Costa Rica here and here.

I Love Costa Rica: Ziplining and Tarzan Swing Videos

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My beloved and I have yet to come down from the serious high of the Costa Rica vacation we took some months ago.

Here we are, hanging out in the rainforest of Monte Verde, in the northern part of Costa Rica.

Stay tuned for more Costa Rica posts.

Learn more about Costa Rica here and here.