San Jose, Costa Rica - learning Spanish. San Jose, Costa Rica - learning Spanish Main attractions. What to see

The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum is located in the heart of San Jose, next to the central bank. Its name speaks for itself - almost all of the museum’s exhibits are made of gold and date back to Indian times. It is worth noting that at first all the golden artifacts found by archaeologists were stored in a jar, but their number constantly grew and eventually they required a separate room. So the decision was made to build a special museum.

Everything here is unusual: from the exhibits to the museum building itself, which is located underground. All three of its floors go to a depth of twelve meters, and the structure is made in the shape of a pyramid.

Now the museum boasts a collection that exceeds a thousand gold items. Among them are Indian jewelry, amulets, animal figurines and even erotic figurines. Many products were made in the first centuries of our era.

Perhaps the largest gold sculpture is a life-size sculpture of a warrior. At the same time, the media does not mention a single case of an attack on a museum or an attempt to rob it.

Adjacent to the “gold exhibition” is the Numismatics Museum, which displays the first Costa Rican coin from 1825, as well as banknotes issued during the time when the Spaniards conquered Latin America.

The museum is open from Tuesday to Saturday from nine o'clock in the morning to four o'clock in the evening. Adult tickets cost $8.

Thermal springs Tabakon

The thermal springs of Tabacon are located in the north of Costa Rica, thirteen kilometers west of the city of La Fortuna. The water in these springs is heated by volcanic activity, and in the hottest ponds the temperature can reach 42 degrees Celsius.

The comfortable Tabacon Spa hotel is located near the springs

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Braulio Carrillo National Park

Braulio Carrillo National Park is a protected environmental area located northeast of the capital of Costa Rica, the city of San Jose. The park was founded in 1978 and was named in honor of the country's former president.

Braulio Carrillo covers an area of approximately 44,000 hectares, with most of the area being high mountains covered in tropical rainforest. The extinct volcanoes Cerro Negro Cacho and Cerros las Tres Marias are also a beautiful sight.

The fauna and flora of the reserve are distinguished by stunning biodiversity. Due to the strong differences in altitude above sea level, both mountain flora and fauna and lowland species are found in the park. There are more than 600 species of trees alone.

Thus, Braulio Carrillo is a real paradise for eco-tourists and simple lovers of wild, untouched nature. To admire all this beauty, the park has convenient cable cars - the so-called “aerial tram”. More than twenty trails run above the reserve, offering wonderful views of pristine tropical forests.

Rincon de la Vieja is an active layered volcano located in Costa Rica, twenty-five kilometers north of Liberia (the capital of the province of Guanacaste). Around the volcano there is a vast national park with a similar name - Rincon de la Vieja.

The height of the volcano is almost two kilometers; from its top there is a wonderful view of Lake Nicaragua and the Gulf of St. Helena. At the foot of the volcano there are many thermal springs that are sure to attract all tourists visiting Costa Rica.

The natural park surrounding the volcano is a very picturesque place. Here you can find the rarest tropical flower - the purple orchid, and there are more than three hundred species of birds alone. Rincon de la Vieja Park is excellent for active recreation - the administration conducts regular educational excursions through the jungle, organizes horseback riding and rafting along mountain rivers. Well, the volcano itself is a wonderful place for mountaineering lovers.

Manuel Antonio National Park

Manuel Antonio National Park is a small national park located on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica. In 2011, it was included in the list of 12 most beautiful national parks compiled by Forbes magazine.

The park was founded in 1972 to preserve it for future generations. Despite its small size of 16.2 square kilometers, it is one of the most beautiful and biologically diverse places in the world. The enchanting combination of rainforest, exotic beaches and coral reefs attracts 150,000 visitors annually.

The park is inhabited by various fauna. 109 species of mammals live here, including monkeys, squirrels, iguanas, and sloths. There are also 184 species of birds and many reptiles, including millions of crabs that inhabit the coast.

Numismatics and Pre-Columbian Gold Museums

The Museums of Numismatics and Pre-Columbian Gold brought together under one roof two thematic museums that are in one way or another connected with money. The number of exhibits in both was constantly increasing, as a result of which it was decided to update the exhibitions and open them to a wide range of viewers. In 2002, the new integrated modern museum literally stunned guests with the riches on display.

First of all, the Museum of Numismatics and Pre-Columbian Gold presents examples of gold objects from the Pre-Columbian era - jewelry, ritual accessories and whole ingots. The exhibits clearly illustrate the era preceding the arrival of the conquistadors. The halls display not just the country’s gold reserves, but also the historical heritage preserved in objects made of precious metal. Most of the ancient tribal art was melted down into tatty ingots during the Conquest. But in the museum you can see miraculously surviving statues of gods made of gold.

The numismatic collection is presented to the public in the main hall and is designed as a gallery. Here you can see the entire history of the Costa Rican currency, reflected in coins and banknotes.

Cerro San Jose Cliff

Cerro San Jose or Cerro de la Muerte is the highest point in Costa Rica. It is also called “Mountain of Death”, due to the difficulty of climbing the mountain and the death of many of its first conquerors.

Today, the mountain is easily accessible for climbing, as it is located next to the Pan-American Highway. There is a high temperature contrast on the mountain - at night it can drop below zero, and during the day it can be enough to put you at risk of heatstroke.

The territory of the mountain itself and the surrounding area is rich in vegetation and representatives of the animal world. Here you can also find dwarf bamboo, tree fern, blueberries, gooseberries and others. You can also find many species of birds on the mountain.

Next to the mountain is the Albergue Mirador de Quetzales restaurant, which you can visit after traveling along the mountain.

Arenal National Reserve

Arenal National Park offers a variety of interesting sites, including the active Arenal Volcano, several waterfalls, and the variety of animals and birds that inhabit the park.

The park covers an area of 80 square kilometers and includes 8 ecological zones of Costa Rica, including the country's largest lake. The main attraction is one of the most active volcanoes in the world - Arenal. Despite the fact that the last eruption was in 1968, smoke can still be seen coming out of the volcano's cone, and lava flows at night.

In addition to the volcano, the park has many beautiful and interesting places. For example, the La Fortuna and Pino Blanco waterfalls, near which there are observation platforms, and you can swim below. Also, during your stay in the park you can see various animals, birds and fish.

And while visiting the Indian village of Maleku, you can get acquainted with their culture and buy handmade souvenirs.

National Stadium of Costa Rica

The National Stadium of Costa Rica is the first multi-purpose sports arena built in Central America. The stadium with a capacity of 35 thousand spectators was built in 2011 with funds from the Chinese government.

The stadium has a modern design. There are huge television screens hanging on it. The stadium has a sports museum and gyms for fencing and table tennis.

The stadium is the home stadium of the Costa Rican national football team.

Orosi Valley

The Orosi Valley is a piece of paradise in Costa Rica. Its expanses stretch for many kilometers and are covered with a green carpet of silky grass, flowers and shrubs. The gentle, cool climate makes it possible to grow delicious coffee in the valley, varieties of which are highly valued among lovers of this noble drink. Costa Ricans like to call this place a piece of land where spring always reigns.

It's always quiet and peaceful here. Enjoying nature and the aromas of plants, you can literally meditate for hours and gain strength. The valley opens with views of the Reventazon River, and if you walk further, you can come out on the shore of the mirror Lake Cachi, carefully surrounded by mountain slopes covered with Spanish moss and coniferous bushes. You will remember this view for many years.

For history buffs, in the town of the same name there is a museum of the history of religion and antiquities, as well as an ancient church.

The name "Orosi" was given to the valley and the town in honor of the leader of the Huetar Indian tribe. This area is famous for its fertile soils and ideal climate, thanks to which the valley has not left anyone indifferent for many years.

National Theater in San Jose

Since its founding, the National Theater of Costa Rica has become a source of pride for every resident of this wonderful country, because the building was built using taxes, which were regularly paid by the local population. The idea to build your own opera house and join the world cultural arena arose in the nineteenth century among the coffee magnates of Costa Rica. The dream was realized in 1897.

The construction of the theater, both inside and outside, amazes with its pomp and chic. Thus, the floor in the lobby is made in Baroque style from Carrara marble with bronze trim. 22.5 carat gold plating was used as decoration. There, all guests are greeted by a statue of the master Pietro Bulgarelia, depicting the muses. The chandeliers colorfully depict noon, night and sunrise. The theater premises are decorated with paintings and frescoes telling the history of the state. So you can walk through its corridors as if you were walking through a museum.

The theater's auditorium seats more than a thousand people. Its shape is curious - the creators saw the hall in the shape of a horseshoe. As for the repertoire, it is varied; his troupe often delights its audience with interesting premieres.

There is a cozy coffee shop next to the theater.

The most popular attractions in San Jose with descriptions and photographs for every taste. Choose the best places to visit famous places in San Jose on our website.

Individual and group

San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, is located on a plateau in the center of the country at an altitude of 1200 m, surrounded by mountains and valleys. Approximately half the country's population lives in this fabulous city, which is welcoming to foreigners, characterized by tolerance for diverse tastes and habits, a diverse bustling trade, vibrant nature and expressive architecture.

How to get to San Jose

San Jose Airport is a 15-minute drive from the city center. A bus ride will cost you less than 1 USD, a taxi ride - approximately 20-25 USD.

Prices on the page are as of September 2018.

By bus you can come to San Jose from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama. Traveling on Tica buses is chosen by all local residents. Another option has recently become King Quality. Compare prices: sometimes Tica is cheaper, sometimes not.

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Transport

A taxi in San Jose is cheap, but when traveling you should know some subtleties: you will be taken if the expected cost of the trip is at least 3 USD; It is almost useless to tell the taxi driver the address - it is better to say which famous landmark in the city should be taken to.

The city's bus network is reliable, convenient and very cheap, but keep in mind that even if you ask to stop at a place of interest, a friendly driver may drop you off at any random location.

It's easy to get around San Jose by bike, and you can buy a slightly used bike for just pennies.

Maps of San Jose

Weather in San Jose

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The rainy season lasts from April to December, but otherwise the climate of San Jose depends on the direction of the prevailing winds. Temperature from +18 to +26 °C.

San Jose Hotels

Most hotels in San Jose range from one to three stars, so you'll find plenty of options for budget accommodation. Mostly these types of hotels are located in close proximity to the airport.

Among the middle class hotels we can recommend: Adventure - a nice hotel with a sports bar, restaurant, jacuzzi and gym (double room for two 90 USD per night); B&B Tambo Mundo - an amazing hotel with views of the Irazu volcano and national park, the hotel staff speaks many languages, and room rates start from 40 USD per person; Hemingway Inn - a luxurious mansion in a quiet area of the city, turned into a hotel, with rooms 35-45 USD for two; or the Presidente Hotel, located in the very center of the city, room rates from 85 USD.

You can truly enjoy luxury (and at a very reasonable price) in luxury hotels. For example, at the Barcelo San Jose Palacio, which is located just a few minutes drive between San Jose and Heredia. This is an ideal starting point for tourists flying into the capital of Costa Rica and offers plenty of opportunities to start their visit to this tropical paradise on a high note.

Romantics should stop at one of the classic colonial-style haciendas located on the coffee plantations around San José.

Costa Rica Marriott Hotel is a beautiful classic colonial style hacienda located on a coffee plantation. The hotel offers you comfortable rooms, excellent restaurants, two outdoor tropical pools, a spa and much more.

Doubletree Cariari By Hilton San Jose, located five minutes from the airport, offers rooms from 90 to 230 USD, luxurious architecture and a huge pool. The 13 rooms of the Finca Rosa Blanca hotel, located in the Central Valley of Costa Rica, surrounded by exotic flora, among hundreds of fruit trees, offer stunning views of volcanoes, tropical rainforests and coffee plantations (double rooms cost 160-240 USD). Converted from a tropical Victorian mansion, Hotel Grano de Oro offers the comfort and coziness of a private home, with lush tropical vegetation, secluded atriums, and Italian marble fountains.

Restaurants

The city's old, bustling food central market, the Mercado, is full of small restaurants and cafes that are consistently popular with locals. Here you will be offered dishes from fresh fish, shellfish and crustaceans, sopa de pescado (fish soup) and exotic dishes such as squid in ink, ceviche (small pieces of raw fish in lime juice), helado de sorbetera (local ice cream) and much more. Buy delicious unripe mango strips with salt and lime from street vendors.

Bar Poas Photos of regulars adorn the walls of this dimly lit but cozy establishment. In addition to enjoying the legendary Chili con Carne, you will get a lot of pleasant emotions from watching local colorful characters, and the owner of the restaurant is simply a storehouse of information about San Jose and Costa Rica.

The owner of Bar Poas is a wealth of information about San Jose and Costa Rica.

Breakfast with banana and macadamia nut pancakes at the Grano de Oro's restaurant. Seafood dishes are also excellent here. A little expensive, but very tasty. National dishes from all over Latin America (and not only) can be tasted in restaurants: Machu Picchu - the best Peruvian restaurant, where you will taste such delicacies as Causa Rellena, Cebiche, washed down with the traditional Peruvian drink Pisco, and Manolo's Churreria, where you can order churros chicken taco ( Here you can watch how local bookmakers accept bets from regulars).

Tin Jo is the city's most popular Asian restaurant serving Japanese, Thai, Chinese and Indian cuisine. If you are a fan of vegetarian cuisine, you should go to the Vishnu restaurant, where they offer vegetarian and organic dishes at very reasonable prices (there are three such restaurants in San Jose).

Shopping

A good gift shop, Boutique Annemarie, is located in the lobby of the Don Carlos Hotel; There are also many small souvenir shops located in the El Pueblo shopping center; If you like to bargain and like first-hand souvenirs, visit Mercado Artesania - a market on Second Avenue: there are many shops with painted wooden masks and handmade ceramics.

We need to bring some real coffee from Costa Rica. Buy coffee beans from large stores where prices are lower and quality is guaranteed.

Entertainment and attractions in San Jose

San José's many museums deserve close attention; you won't see such collections of artifacts anywhere else: the Museo Oro Precolombino (Golden Museum) features a huge collection of gold artifacts from the pre-Columbian era (from 500 AD to 1500 AD). The museum is open from 10-00 to 16-30, entrance for foreigners is 11 USD.

Museo del Jade (Jade Museum) - here you can see a collection of jade jewelry from antiquity, as well as stone, bone, and ceramic products of the pre-Columbian era. The museum is open from 8:30 to 15:30, entrance fee is 15 USD.

Museo de los Niños (Children's Museum) - touchingly housed in a former prison. Open every day from 10-00 to 16-00.

The Museo Nacional (National Museum), located in the old fort, includes a large butterfly garden and rock garden. Open from 8:30 to 16:30 from Tuesday to Sunday. Entrance 8 USD.

It is impossible to visit Costa Rica without going to see the volcanoes.

Lovers of exotic pleasures will probably enjoy the Insect Museum located at the University. Here you will see a huge collection of exotic beetles and other tropical insects.

It is impossible to visit Costa Rica without going to see the volcanoes. Buses to Poas Volcano depart from Parque La Merced at 8:30 am daily. Buses to the Irazu volcano, located 50 km from the city, depart every day at 8 am from Second Avenue near the National Theater (round trip will cost 10 USD).

An hour's drive from San José, the five La Paz waterfalls are surrounded by tropical forests, and in the garden you can visit the hummingbird gallery, serpentarium and butterfly garden.

), for some unknown reason not previously published. For some reason, I decided then, in 2008, that the reader only needs “action”, so there is no need to talk about the capitals of Latin American cities. Why I decided that - I don’t know. Let's fix it. I flew to Costa Rica the hard way: I flew from Washington, then to Atlanta, then to Miami (where I spent a couple of days - I haven’t seen a more depressing place in a long time), and eventually flew to Costa Rica. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Costa Rica. And re-reading the guidebook, I began to realize that I had greatly missed the choice of the season for the trip - the rainy season. Otherwise the country looked very attractive. Stunning tropical nature, magnificent beaches of the Caribbean and ocean coasts, active volcanoes, waterfalls, rich wildlife.

By the way, you can watch the departure from Miami. Airport and residential areas of the city -

Three and a half hour flight and the plane lands in San Jose -

Juan Santamaria Airport in San Jose is small, completely civil and very cozy. Passport control takes a matter of seconds and then the noisy crowd of passengers on our Boeing falls into the hands of host travel agencies and taxi drivers waiting at the entrance. Having found my bearings quite easily, I went outside the terminal straight to the highway passing nearby and a minute later I was already riding on a passing bus from the nearby town of Alajuela to San Jose, which is 20 kilometers away. A few words about the aforementioned Alajuela - this is an extremely convenient place to spend the night before a morning flight, since it is located just a couple of kilometers north of the airport. There are several simple hotels where you can spend the night. You can get to the terminal by any bus that runs every 15 minutes to San Jose, or you can walk for half an hour. At the same time, it would not be entirely reasonable to spend the night in Alajuela after arriving in Costa Rica. The fact is that there is no intercity bus station in this town, and if you plan to hit the road in the morning, you will still have to get to San Jose first, where you will have to change trains.

I arrived in the city around midnight, and, remembering that San Jose is a rather dangerous city, I decided not to spend more time on the streets at night than it would take to find a simple hotel. Tragicomically, having exercised caution in the relatively calm (by Latin American standards) San Jose, a week later I completely relaxed in a hundred times more dangerous Nicaragua and ran into. Let's not talk about sad things. The guidebook described the capital of Costa Rica in vivid colors as a very controversial place, which also becomes dangerous after dark. I will refrain from agreeing or refuting information from the book. I'll say one thing. The civilized and polished city center quite abruptly turns into areas of outright slums, dead-end dark streets, many homeless people sleeping right next to the walls of buildings and mountains of garbage. As you understand, the cheapest hotels are located right there, and not near the elegant and illuminated Parliament, or the National Museum.

I stayed at the simple Nuevo Johnson Hotel, a block from the airport bus stop. This is probably not the best place for a single tourist, or an overly sensitive gentleman. It is noisy here at times because of the billiard room in the lobby, there are long dark corridors. But the most important thing is a clean bed and your own amenities in the room. Moreover, with hot water, which is not a common occurrence in Latin America. And even with a TV. Paid $10 for a single room. And outside the window it was pouring rain, which couldn’t help but make me sad. It was very difficult to imagine how I would travel through evergreen tropical forests when it was constantly raining and there were landslides in the mountains. In addition, judging by the weather forecast on the local CNN channel (for Latin America), all mountainous areas are covered in fog. Thus, I came to the following conclusion. Since Costa Rica is a country rich in nature, but poor in historical cities and monuments, now it makes sense to travel towards neighboring Nicaragua. Having laid out a map of the region in front of me, I decided that I could explore the ancient Nicaraguan colonial cities of Granada and Leon even in the rain. Unlike the steep mountains of Costa Rica. And when the weather improves (judging by the forecast - in three days), I will return back to Costa Rica, fortunately the distances are insignificant.

Based on the conclusions made the day before, in the morning I went to one of the bus stations in the city, from where buses depart towards Nicaragua. Regarding buses and bus stations, I would like to add a few nuances. On the one hand, Costa Rica is the only Latin American country where the bus fleet does not consist exclusively of old American yellow school buses. The bulk of the fleet consists of fairly new cars made in Brazil, with air conditioning and comfortable seats. All this makes traveling by bus convenient and not as exhausting as in neighboring Nicaragua. The bus service is well developed, and any small town can be easily reached. Unfortunately, like in neighboring countries, there is no fixed bus station in the cities. Each direction has its own bus company, which has its own station. There are at least five such stations in San Jose, located in different parts of the big city, which makes travel somewhat complicated. It is practically impossible for a tourist to find out the schedule except to personally visit the desired station. I spent at least an hour searching for the station I needed, desperately weaving through warehouses and craft workshops.

Ultimately, having found the desired station, popularly called “Coca-Cola” (once in its place there were warehouses for the finished products of this company), I learned that the bus I needed to the Playas Blancas border point would only be in three hours. This meant that I would spend the entire daylight hours on the road, and would end up on the Nicaraguan side after dark. No, it won't work that way. We should have left immediately and arrived today. I moved to another bus station, where I took my place on the bus to the town of Los Chiles, where the second and last border crossing with Nicaragua is located. Judging by the guidebook, the two countries are separated there by the tropical river Rio Frio, and actually crossing to the opposite bank will have to take a real pirogue. I could not suspect what an adventure this trip would lead to.

As you descend from the mountains and approach the Nicaraguan border, the surrounding “social landscape” begins to change. If most of the way, not without interest, I observed quite prosperous towns and villages, with well-dressed and smiling people, with neat houses, rich ranches, and many new and decent cars, but now everything became different. Firstly, there are sad areas of widespread deforestation of tropical forests. Thousands of tree stumps literally disappeared into the horizon, decent dwellings were replaced by poor huts, often made from scrap materials. And the bus in each new village was greeted by flocks of child beggars. I can’t say that all this is very shocking - after all, I didn’t come to Switzerland at all. It’s just that for me it was a kind of signal, reminding me of the need to get together and be prepared for any surprises typical of a third world country.

Stop! I was carried away by the story of the trip from Costa Rica to Nicaragua, but completely forgot about San Jose. Let's walk around the capital a little, and then move on -

Founded by the Spaniards in 1738, San Jose was a provincial mountain town until the beginning of the 20th century. The thing is that there were initially problems with drinking water due to the terrain, and besides, all trade routes passed by. Thus, the future capital had the status of a kind of Spanish outpost of medium importance. No elegant cathedrals or powerful fortresses were ever built here. There was originally a city here school, exactly like that, ending in “..shko”.

With the proclamation of independence of Costa Rica, the city began to develop rapidly, today it is home to about 400 thousand inhabitants. What else is interesting about San Jose? Here, in my subjective opinion (confirmed by statistics), there is the highest percentage of white residents (direct descendants of the Spaniards) of all countries in Central America. About 80% of the population is white. By comparison, Nicaragua is only 17% white, and Honduras and Guatemala even less.

There are also an incredible number of beautiful girls here.

After spending a day in San Jose, I drove towards the border with Nicaragua in the Los Chiles region, in the northeast of the country. There he planned to cross by boat to Nicaraguan San Carlos. But this is a separate report about everything"

Less than a day had passed since I booked my air tickets before I set foot on the soil of this wonderful country. I bought the LP on Latin America the day before, I studied it in the cabin of the plane, flying from Washington to Atlanta, and then waiting for a flight to San Jose, being at the Atlanta transit airport. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Costa Rica.

Less than a day had passed since I booked my air tickets before I set foot on the soil of this wonderful country. I purchased the LP on Latin America the day before in the cabin of the plane, flying from Washington to Atlanta, and then waiting for a flight to San Jose, while at the Atlanta transit airport. To be honest, I didn’t know much about Costa Rica. However, reading the guidebook, I began to understand that it seemed that I had made the right choice in choosing the direction for a new trip. The country looked very attractive. Stunning tropical nature, magnificent beaches of the Caribbean and ocean coasts, active volcanoes, waterfalls, rich wildlife. There was only one downside - I chose the time for the trip simply outstanding - the rainy season. Moreover, the weather forecast for the coming days was disappointing - rain, rain and more rain.

I arrived in the city around midnight, and, remembering that San Jose is a fairly crime-prone metropolis, I decided not to spend more time on the streets at night than it takes to find a simple hotel. The guidebook described the capital of Costa Rica in vivid colors as a very controversial place, which also becomes dangerous after dark. I will refrain from agreeing or refuting information from the book. I'll say one thing. The civilized and polished city center quite abruptly turns into areas of outright slums, dead-end dark streets, many homeless people sleeping right next to the walls of buildings and mountains of garbage. As you understand, the cheapest hotels are located right there, and not near the elegant and illuminated Parliament, or the National Museum.

The border town of Los Chiles is located in the hottest part of the country, in a lowland, surrounded by tropical swamps and rivers, just ten kilometers from the largest lake in Central America - Nicaragua. The journey from San Jose takes about 4 hours, and runs through the main watershed ridge, which has peaks 3500-3900 meters above sea level. As you climb the mountains, the temperature in the previously literally scorching hot and stuffy cabin begins to drop sharply. Towards the middle of the trip, the weather began to gradually improve, the rain stopped, and the fog began to slowly melt. Thanks to this, it was possible to thoroughly enjoy the stunning landscapes of mountain peaks, volcanic hills and graceful villages along the way. In the town of Ciudad Quesada I have a break of an hour and a half before the next bus to my final destination. This is the time to have lunch and collect your thoughts.

As you descend from the mountains and approach the Nicaraguan border, the surrounding “social landscape” begins to change. If most of the way, not without interest, I observed quite prosperous towns and villages, with well-dressed and smiling people, with neat houses, rich ranches, and many new and decent cars, but now everything became different. Firstly, there are sad areas of widespread deforestation of tropical forests. Thousands of tree stumps literally disappeared into the horizon, decent dwellings were replaced by poor huts, often made from scrap materials. And the bus in each new village was greeted by flocks of child beggars. I can’t say that all this is very shocking - in the end, I did not come to Switzerland. It’s just that for me it was a kind of signal, reminding me of the need to get together and be prepared for any surprises typical of a third world country.

Los Chiles is a very small town, consisting of 1-2 storey houses, among which a massive modern supermarket stands out. There is a small bus station with the wrong schedule posted on the stand. There is even an abandoned railway station building. He, like the Costa Rican railway itself, died out back in the early eighties. About a kilometer north of the bus station there is a boat pier on the Rio Frio River, from where pies are actually sent to Nicaragua. It’s two o’clock in the afternoon, which, at first glance, is not so late - I sincerely hoped to cross to the Nicaraguan side today. Without wasting time, I headed across the entire town to the pier, because, according to the information from the guidebook, pirogues depart several times a day until five in the evening. Alas, I did not take into account the fact that this is Latin America. The boat has already left today, a policeman told me as he strolled lazily near the unprepossessing border pier. And he added - “Mañana, dia” (tomorrow, at ten). Along the way, he gave me an immigration card, indicating with signs that I should fill it out before departure, and take it, along with my passport, to the immigration building, which is a couple of hundred meters up to the center of the town.

Now we had to find a place to stay for the night. In the immediate vicinity of the pier there are several small family hotels of varying degrees of neglect. The most unpretentious tourists can spend the night for 2.5 dollars in the Onassiss hotel, which is opposite the central park (aka the football field). The squalor of existence, which is a barn divided into tiny and faceless little rooms without windows, with common amenities, a common roof and painful audibility. The reward for the torment will be proximity (in the good sense of the word) to the owner’s daughter Sandra, an exceptional beauty. She is also the administrator there. The poor girl, seeing the expression on my face after seeing the closet, was embarrassed by the squalor of their family business and literally took me by the hand to the best hotel in the city - “Cabinas Jabiru”, located closer to the bus station. The city's best hotel is a long, one-story building with two dozen rooms, all equipped with air conditioning, televisions and in-room amenities. You shouldn’t believe guidebooks that say that the cost of an overnight stay in this establishment is only 6 dollars. This is absolutely not true. The cunning owner realized long ago that his hotel was the best in the city. And there is simply no acceptable alternative. The proposed price right away is 20 dollars, a lot of money by the standards of a small, godforsaken town in the jungle. You can bargain, but it’s impossible to bring the price down below $15.

The next morning, I arrived at the pier early, an hour before the pirogue was supposed to depart. And he wasn't the first. About ten people generally spent the night here, right in the bushes. Others ate at a nearby cafe, looking wistfully at the river. All this suggested that it would not be so easy to take a place, and among those wishing to leave Costa Rica, there were, as an option, lists. I didn’t know all this, and I couldn’t know. None of those present knew a word of English, and the most that I managed to find out was that the vessel was leaving for Nicaragua from here.

All that was left was to wait patiently. For now, I walked to the immigration office, where a bored guy in shorts and a T-shirt, who turned out to be a border guard, cheerfully accepted my passport with the exit form. I looked at the passport for a long time, flipping through the pages. It seems that for these places my passport is very exotic! Then he suddenly grabbed the seal and slapped the sweeping exit stamp. When I asked about the departure time of the boat to Nicaragua, he just shrugged his shoulders. Meanwhile, the time was approaching half past ten. Fun, to say the least. I returned to the pier - potential passengers were completely detached and lazily resting on benches and right on the grass.

By eleven, a tender arrived and an exhausted-looking comrade made some kind of announcement in Spanish, after which the people began to very suspiciously collect their things and move towards the center of the town. Should I not get to Nicaragua today? Someone told me that the boat would be there, but a little later. At one o'clock in the afternoon, that is, in two hours. So everyone went to the center - to take a walk and kill time. I can’t stand wasting time—there’s damn little of it in life anyway...however, here the concept of time is completely different. I was unable to find out what was going on due to the incredible complexity of this question for my more than modest knowledge of the Spanish language.

We went to Nicaragua. Not at one o'clock in the afternoon. And not at one thirty. And at three. Everything happened very spontaneously. The tender just pulled up again, from which the same guy with a sad face got out and headed towards one of the long 15-seater pirogues with an outboard motor that were trembling on the water. A nice girl, probably his wife, helped drag a dozen life jackets on board. Then people started filling the empty seats. As you might expect, there wasn't enough room for everyone. About five people were left without a place and they were easily placed right at the bottom of the boat, in an extremely uncomfortable crooked position among the legs of those sitting, their trunks with things and mountains of life jackets.

Then the guy from the immigration office came down to the boat and checked everyone’s exit stamps. A few minutes and we were on our way. We had to cover about 12 kilometers downstream of the Rio Frio, follow the river to Lake Nicaragua, make a right turn and swim a kilometer along the shore to the Nicaraguan town of San Carlos. In my opinion, this journey of about an hour is a very vibrant and impressive part of the trip. And wonderful wild tropical nature, vines hanging over the river, exotic birds, steep meanders, rare houses of poor Nicaraguans on wooden stilts. All this was reminiscent of footage from the program “Cinema Travel Club”, or more precisely, those episodes of it that were hosted by the now deceased traveler and TV presenter Yuri Senkevich.

About half an hour later, after another bend in the river, a huge and slightly rusty metal sign with the inscription “Buenvenidos a Nicaragua” (Welcome to Nicaragua) appeared from behind the dense vegetation. Here, right next to the shield, on a rickety bridge, Nicaraguan soldiers were waiting for us, whose appearance did not inspire any confidence. Strange, very dark, in rumpled and clearly ill-fitting military uniforms, with AK-47 assault rifles over their shoulders and beach flip-flops on their feet. They greeted the pirogue with commanding remarks, and the passengers stopped all conversations among themselves and stared at their feet. The soldiers demanded that all passengers go ashore with their belongings, and then, after all the things were on the grass, they began to inspect them. They took out various objects and put them aside to the displeased grumbling of passengers. Apparently, it was about something like a customs check. I can’t say that I was very confused by what was happening - I don’t have any valuable things (except a camera). On the other hand, these guards of local customs could easily take away not only the camera, but also all the cash. What would I do? Here you have no rights, but only the good mood of the officer. Or a bad mood.

At that moment, I remembered the gracious security officers of the Israeli Ministry of Defense, who arrested my friend and me in October 2006, and then their department conducted a long and grueling correspondence with us. Those poor fellows sincerely already saw themselves as at least Nobel Peace Prize laureates, like the current President of Israel for the Oslo Accords, Shimon Peres. Alas, with the Nicaraguan soldiers everything was completely different. Or maybe these are not soldiers at all? At least the guidebook said in black and white that some areas of the east of the country were not controlled by the government.

One way or another, my turn to be searched was approaching. Like everyone else, I opened my backpack, preparing it for inspection and...it was not required. The soldier who was conducting the search and moving from bag to bag on his haunches looked up, saw my “tourist” face and straightened up. A second soldier approached (all of them were without shoulder straps and it was quite problematic to determine their rank) and asked for a passport. As always, he opened it the wrong way and stared in surprise at the comments in a language he did not understand. Then he opened it on the right side and sighed with relief. I called another colleague, who joined in studying my simple documents: “-Israel?” “-Si” - I used one of the few Spanish words I know. They smiled broadly and wished them a safe journey. After that, all the passengers, including me, were allowed to return to the boat and we went on our way.

My companions, not having the time or desire to pack the torn bags on the shore, did this in the boat. Accompanying all this with indignant remarks addressed to the soldiers. And there was a reason - they took away from the unfortunates everything they liked: electric razors, cigarettes, individual things. Plus, in the process of counting money, some were missing individual bills. Needless to say, it never occurred to anyone to make a fuss and demand anything.

Another fifteen minutes along the river, and a huge lake of Nicaragua opened up in front of us, stretching beyond the horizon. From geography we learn that this is the largest freshwater lake in Central America, 185 km long and up to 70 km wide. It is noteworthy that the lake is separated from the waters of the Pacific Ocean by a narrow isthmus of land, only 20 kilometers long! At the end of the 19th century, when the Panama Canal was just being designed, it was the option of laying a canal in Nicaragua that was the alternative. Fortunately for the pristine nature of this region and unfortunately for the economy, preference was given to Panama.

The town of San Carlos is rather a huge village of 1-2 storey buildings. Some part of the town hangs directly above the lake, supported by gnarled wooden stilts. There is also a crumbling boat pier with rickety outbuildings. From the side of the lake, a hill with the ruins of a Spanish citadel is clearly visible, surrounded on all sides by the simple houses of poor Nicaraguans. Immigration control is carried out right on the pier, and people are released from the boat in batches, probably to avoid the collapse of the already collapsing pier directly into the waters of the lake. When you step onto the pier, the entire ridiculous immigration building, which is cobbled together from scrap materials like everything around, shakes. Here I filled out the form, paid the $7 fee, received an entry stamp for 30 days of stay, and finally got out into the city. It should be noted that the very poor Costa Rican Los Chiles, which we left just an hour and a half ago, now seems to be the height of civilization.

Alas, this Central American country, the largest in territory and richest in natural resources, has experienced a number of shocks that have thrown it far back. The consequences of the powerful earthquake that occurred here in 1972 and killed tens of thousands of people have not yet been overcome. And the civil war, better known as the “Sandinista Revolution,” lasted almost 50 years starting in 1936, and ended in 1979 with the overthrow of the Samosa regime. Then a new war began, this time between the pro-Soviet government of Daniel Ortega (supported by the USSR and Cuba) on the one hand, and the Nicaraguan Contras, supported by the Americans, on the other. The next ten years of bloody war turned Nicaragua into ruins, and the number of victims of this war exceeded 100 thousand killed and even more wounded.

So, it was getting dark and I had to find a place to stay for the night. Tomorrow morning I planned to go downstream the Rio San Juan River to the historical town of El Castillo, which is 60 km from San Carlos. There is a large 16th century Spanish fortress that once controlled the waterway from the Caribbean Sea to Lake Nicaragua. According to the guidebook, small river boats called “Pangas” (like the one I arrived on from Costa Rica) go there three times a day. Walking along the piers, I learned with shame that the next “Panga” would be tomorrow at 9 am. Great! We can only hope that history will not repeat itself, and we will leave, if not at nine in the morning, then at least by lunchtime. America Latina, however.

In terms of finding reasonable accommodation, San Carlos is in many ways similar to its neighbor Los Chiles. There are several terrible shelters in the form of sheds divided into sections measuring 2x2 meters with common amenities. The only difference is that Nicaragua has big problems with water supply. Here no one seriously counts on water from the tap, and in the shower (in Spanish “baño”) there is an ordinary 180-liter barrel of water and a ladle floating in it. Hordes of huge cockroaches indicate that there is a big problem with cleanliness here. No, this is not an option for an overnight stay, even for 1 (one!) dollar. The only acceptable hotel in the town is a two-story guesthouse about a kilometer from the center. There are several clean rooms with fans and in-room amenities. There is no water in the tap either, a barrel is inevitable. But all this is compensated by cleanliness, fresh linen, silence and the absence of cockroaches. The pleasure cost 10 dollars. How wrong I was!

I went to bed early. Due to the lack of an alarm clock and a strong language barrier with the administrator, I was not sure that he would wake me up. Despite his sworn assurances that he understood me correctly about “Wake me up at 8 o’clock AM.” Quite quickly I made myself comfortable in bed and fell asleep. It seems that I was dreaming of something good and kind, when some strange rustling sound began to spread throughout the room. At first, the dream clung tightly to life, not wanting to let me go from its embrace, but the rustling kept growing, and I woke up in a certain irritation. The room was dark, only the moonlight penetrated through numerous cracks in the plank walls. The rustling sound came from my backpack, which was leaning against the wall closer to the door. Moreover, in addition to rustling, I detected strange physiological sounds, reminiscent of sighs and grunting. Having looked closely, I saw on my backpack a certain silhouette of an incomprehensible animal the size of a cat. I admit, I felt uneasy. Who is this? And how “it” entered the room, because the door was closed. And most importantly, how will this strange animal react if I show signs of life?

The dream vanished as if by chance. The animal also did not sit still. With a sound reminiscent of an iron falling, it jumped to the floor and, judging by the sounds, began to run somewhere under my bed, loudly clicking its claws. It was beyond my strength. I rushed to the light, turned it on, grabbed my heavy hiking shoes and squatted down, looking under the bed. Well what can I say? It was a huge rat. She ran away from me, absurdly wagging her fat butt with a long tail. And a couple of seconds later she disappeared into a hole under the bed, where the builders accidentally (or intentionally) left a gap between the boards. But it wasn’t the rat that caused my outright disgust—I love animals, including rats. She ran away - and God be with her. The real disgust was caused by the many large mustachioed cockroaches, which she seemed to be hunting for. They began to scatter with the light on, and I only managed to slap two. Regular specimens are 3-4 centimeters long, similar to those that can be found in Egypt or Israel. Needless to say, it’s unpleasant. And the main thing is that they could crawl into my backpack, which is just standing on the floor.

Returning to bed, I tried to abstract myself from external stimuli, but I couldn’t do it. It began to seem to me that cockroaches were already in my bed. Of course, this is nonsense; they were most likely frightened by my mayhem and ran away from the room. At least until the next night. To reassure myself, I turned on the light again. Eh, it would be better if I took my word for it and fell asleep peacefully. Alas. Once again, everything on the floor was swarming with hundreds of cockroaches. Okay, not hundreds. I didn't count, there were probably only forty-five. Maybe less. But there were probably about ten of them. And this was enough to deprive me of all sleep. Somehow I dozed off. But the rest did not last long. Somewhere very close, as if a rooster was crowing next to my ear. In desperation, I reached into my purse with the gentleman's kit, where, among other things, earplugs were kept. I put them in my ears. But it was no use - the rooster crowed every minute, and other roosters in the neighboring yards began to echo it. I looked at my watch - it was only four o'clock in the morning. Crap!

I must say that in our understanding, San Jose is not very similar to the capital. The historical center is tiny, the houses are low, and there aren’t many must-sees.

Travelers typically stop in San Jose for the day before heading off to explore the national parks or swim along the coast. Most modern hotels are built in the new part of the city away from the center. From there you can see the hills of the central valley, but there is nothing to see there - just shops, so it’s worth getting out to the historical part.

BUILDINGS WITH ELEMENTS OF ART NOuveau AND ART DECO

San Jose became the capital only in 1823, the status was transferred to it from the city of Cartago. Then the government decided to build buildings in San Jose that could give it metropolitan chic. Thus, by the end of the 19th century, the impressive Metropolitan Catedral and the National Theater appeared, modeled after the lavish Italian operas (albeit in a smaller form).

In the photo: a building with art nouveau elements

The city's architects looked closely at trends in Europe, so at the beginning of the 20th century they began to build houses influenced by Belle Epoque, Art Nouveau and Art Deco. Of course, a pure genre, as in Barcelona or Paris, did not work out, but elements can be traced here and there: pavilions made of glass and wrought iron (now they house ATMs) resemble Parisian metro stations, and on the facades of Steinvorth, Knöhr, Libreria Lehmann – entertaining stucco.

These glass and wrought iron pavilions now house ATMs

Guide Juan Carlos instructs: “Don’t immediately rush to take photographs, look at the buildings carefully, try to understand the entire architectural concept. Many are now spoiled by ugly signs, and people don’t even notice what beauty they are walking next to.”

In the photo: a building with decorative elements in the Arabic style

The Correos de Costa Rica Central Post Office is very impressive, the architecture of the Musee d'Orsay comes to mind. The building is worth going inside and looking at the historic wooden mailboxes. Be sure to look for the former Estación del Ferrocarril station, where trains to the Atlantic departed.

In the photo: the central post office of Correos de Costa Rica

Not far from it is Parque Nacional, where it’s nice to take a walk (by the way, the air in the city is fresh, like in nature). Look for cafes in old buildings in the center, just to drink coffee in the interiors.

NATIONAL THEATER

Without exaggeration, the most luxurious building in the city, inside of which excursions are conducted. The National Theater was built in 1897 with an eye on the Italian style - with marble floors, gilding, stucco, painted ceilings and an abundance of statues.

Pictured: National Theater of San Jose

Previously, the theater was intended exclusively for the aristocracy. So they still go there to show themselves off and look at others. An elegant cafe with marble table tops and Viennese chairs is open next to the theater; you should definitely visit it for a cappuccino and cake.

In the photo: National Theater cafe

In the photo: a waiter in the cafe of the National Theater

Usually coffee in Costa Rica is brewed in a simple iron kettle, but here everything is in the European style.

CENTRAL MARKET

Where is life usually in full swing? That's where we need to go. The Central Market is about 120 years old, the building is not particularly remarkable, but the inside is great. This is the plan. On the trays you can buy spices, fruits and fresh cheese.