Discover Costa Rica: my first experience

Post by GuillermoG

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This post is the continuation of Costa Rica first hand

Avenida Central

My transfer from the “Juan Santamaría” Airport to the “Vesubio” hotel in San José, in a “Taxi Aeropuerto” showed me, on a clear night, the mountains of Escazú as we left Alajuela. Escazú is a municipality or canton of significant commercial activity, large department stores, hardware stores, and malls. It is there that hotels of companies like “Inter – Continental”, “Quality Inn”, and “Hampton Suites”, among others, are located. In addition to people of high socio-economic status, a significant presence of natives of countries like the USA, Venezuela, and Colombia come to the country to invest in commerce, construction, or the service industry. It includes in its extension Santa Ana and Ciudad Colón and approximately 150.000 inhabitants, although between the residents, workers, and visitors, during the day almost a million people are going about their daily activities in the area.

I noticed that the highway was wide and illuminated, and I saw to my left the lights of Heredia or “Canton of Flowers”, situated to the side of the “Braulio Carrillo” National Park, which separates the Central Valley from Limón Province. This province covers the entire coast from the Caribbean or Atlantic Zone. Heredia (capital of the province of the same name) is a canton caressed by the Caribbean breeze, with an extensive view over the valley. It gets a lot of rain during the winter (Costa Rica has two seasons per year: winter, with abundant rain; and summer, with radiant sunshine) for which reason it is very green and fresh for almost the entire year. It is the home of the “National Open University” and the “InBio Park”, an ecological park and mandatory visit for its beautiful installations, wealth of protected flora and fauna, and variety of scientific and recreational activity. Excellent for old and young.

The taxidriver offered me a great deal of information en route, and explained to me that the “Vesubio” hotel, where I had a reservation, is located in an area known as “Barrio Amón”, just a few blocks from the center of San José. That is where the majority of the “colonial” hotels are located. There the first families settled, and it is just a few blocks from the centers of power like the Legislative Assembly and the Supreme Tribunal of Elections and National Barracks (today known as the National Museum).

We arrived in San José through the zone known as “La Sabana” because it is here that the main lung of the city, “La Sabana Park”, is located, including several hectares of green areas, sport camps, eucalyptus forests, and an artificial lake that serves as a weekend oasis for families. Here is where the new “National Stadium” was built (under the patrimony of the Chinese government), with a capacity for 38,000 spectators. Not to be forgotten are, among others, the “Museum of Contemporary Costarican Art”, Ministery of Sports, and the “International Festival of the Arts”, which takes places every year with foreign invitees in Theatre, Music, Literature, and Painting.

At this point we took the “Colón Passage”, the true gateway to the center of the city. It’s an avenue with four lanes in both directions, with the “Hotel Centro Colón” to the right and the “Hotel Parque del Lago” to the left. Both 3 star hotels, but of excellent quality and friendly service.

All commentary aside, although Costa Rica is a far cry from the levels of violence and crime of other cities in Latin America, I would not recommend walking on this avenue after 10pm. Since the businesses and restaurants have an important presence in the area, at closing time some places become very lonely. Antisocial people take advantage of these locations to attract tourists and distracted passersby. During the day, however, it is a lively street, permitting the observer to see the day-to-day traffic of the locals to their trades and offices. At the end of the avenue is the Children’s Hospital, the “San Juan de Dios” Hospital, the “La Coca Cola” bus station, named after the former bottler of the beverage known worldwide and from which point buses depart to Escazú, Ciudad Colón, Santa Ana, Puriscal; and toward the Pacific coast, Jacó (good for surfing), Herradura (a bay with low waves, great for families), Quepos and the “Manuél Antonio” National Park, with its internationally famous beaches.

Finally we arrived at the hotel after crossing the Avenida Central, the main artery of San José; with four lanes of traffic and an extension of at least 12 blocks to the east. I explored these blocks on my first nighttime walk through the city’s center, and this will be the subject of my next post.

Wonderful!

Imagen: Hotel Pitaya

Tags Blogalaxia: Costa Roca Escazú Flowers Canton Inbio Park Sabana Park Central Avenue Tourism