We headed toward the other side of San Jose, toward the southeast, in our quest for a perfect mix of urbane and country that would be juuuust what we want. About 30 km southeast of San Jose, the next urban center is around Cartago. We went now because August 2 is the day for the patron saint of Costa Rica, La Negrita. Now, technically, La Negrita isn’t a saint. It’s a black statue of the Virgin Mary kept in the Basilica de Nuestra Senora de los Angeles. To make a long story short, miracles have been attributed to it, especially the curing of illnesses. Every year for about two weeks, starting Aug 2, at least tens of thousands of pilgrims come to pay homage and get relief from their maladies. Some crawl from as far away as San Jose, but most either walk in or crawl the last bit in front of the basilica. That black statue in the right foreground is a replica of the much smaller La Negrita inside.
We weren’t going to brave that to look at La Negrita, so we just hung out around there and left. That seemed to be all we wanted to do it Cartago. It didn’t feel holy, not like Medjugorie, Bosnia, or someplace like that. The crowd was kinda cranky.
We based ourselves near Paraiso, about 10 km from Cartago. Our place was in the country, away from everything. It was relaxed, quiet and had a view. We spent a fair amount of time just sitting outside our door with our computers and the owners dogs.
Here’s another typical view from a couple of kilometers away.
Things to do around there included nice drives through the countryside, visiting an old church ruin…
… and lounging in cheap public hotspring pools. Reports of my death are greatly exagerated; I was just sleeping.
That all was down in the Orosi Valley below Paraiso. Above, Irazu Volcano rises up 3432 meters (over 11,000 feet). Luckily for us, it was clear enough to see, unlike Poas.
We continued going in that direction, with the goal of reaching Tortuguero of the Caribbean Coast, and stopped above Turrealba to look at Costa Rica’s most notable archaeological site.
Guayabo is no Pelenque. No one knows yet much about the people who lived here. They do know it existed from about a thousand years ago and is the biggest find in Costa Rica. The walk through the forest to get there is better than the site itself.
After going to the coast, we came back this way, and I’m writing this from Turrealba. We like this place, too. Again, there are no noteworthy photos. It’s just pleasant. We stayed at this hostel, overlooking the town.
There’s a nice path down to the town. It goes through grassy scrub where thousands of butterflies were flitting around. A National Geographic photographer could have had a field day when we went down there this morning.
That’s going to do it for now. As soon as I can, I’ll blog about Tortuguero. Be well, all of you.