San Jose, Costa Rica

Our travel day begins with a 3:30 A.M. wake-up call. Our flight departs on-time at 7:15 A.M. from San Antonio to Houston where we immediately change planes for San Jose, Costa Rica. The total flying time was approximately 5 hours including the 30 minute connection at Houston. By mid-afternoon we checked into the Holiday Inn and ventured out on a guided tour of central San Jose.

Map source: http://www.govisitcostarica.com/

San Jose is the capital of the province of San Jose. It is located in Costa Rica's central valley region and is surrounded by volcanic mountains. During the day, temperatures had been in the upper 70's (degrees F). However, but 3:00 P.M. a light rain fell for a brief period as we set out to explore central San Jose. A light wind continued until sunset around 5:45 P.M. and skies remained overcast. Temperatures dropped into the upper 60's (degrees F), but the air retained a humid feel. Long-sleeved shirts or light jackets were comfortable clothing.

The "Leaf-Cutter Ant" group on a walking tour of San Jose with our local guide.

San Jose is largely a commercial area. There are no permanent residences in the city and no apartments. Homes are single family structures of one to two stories that are located in areas surrounding the city. San Jose experiences thousands of micro-quakes a day. Because of the seismic activity, all building in San Jose need to be earthquake resistant. The tallest building is in Costa Rica is in San Jose. It is 22 stories tall.

National Insurance Building

There are no buildings from the colonial period. Being a poor area, Costa Rica was the last region of Central America to be conquered and colonized by Europeans. Structures from the colonial period were constructed from adobe and disintegrated long ago. Spanish and French influence is apparent in the architecture of buildings that date from the 1800's.

The Yellow House built by Andrew Carnegie served as the home of Costa Rica's president and is now a judicial building.

These are not homes. They are business and government office buildings.

Although there are no green zones in San Jose, there are several small parks and trees line the streets.

The common name of this tree is inspired by the shape of the flower. Can you guess the name? (Hint: Think of what you would need to clean out a bottle.)

The color of the Bouganvilla flowers depends on the humidity of the soil.

Click to enlarge the picture. Can you find flower buds, flowers, and seeds all on the same plant at one time? This is the Yesterday-Today-Tomorrow plant. Why was it given that name?

Tomorrow more about San Jose.