San Jose

After a relatively short flight we arrived in Costa Rica. Instantly we could feel that the vibe was different. Costa Rica is heavily reliant on the tourism sector, this was reflected in how everyone we met sold themselves and the country. ‘Pura Vida’ is their motto, ‘Pure Life’ and they use it for all sorts – greetings, expression of thanks, demonstration of happiness… anything!

San Jose was somewhat less salubrious than we had been accustomed to. It didn’t necessarily feel dangerous but there was clearly a lot of deprivation with associated alcohol and drug problems which just tainted the atmosphere. The city itself has some landmarks that are worthy of visiting (as we did), but they weren’t anything to shout about from our perspective. Something we did see a lot of were sloth teddies being sold which Elana instantly fell for, we promised she could buy one when she sees one in the wild, cue ninja eyes!

On the full day we had in San Jose we headed to the fantastic local Children’s Museum, it’s a little like the Natural History Museum on a smaller scale. It was set in an old prison and had plenty to entertain and educate the children, it was all relevant to Costa Rica so we could show them what they had to look forward to. There was even an earthquake simulator which Elana loved and went on numerous times, Bert was more reluctant! Some of the old prison cells have been retained along with the graffiti that adorned the walls, not somewhere we’d like to spend too much time!Read more