Costa Rica: December 25, 2009

We arrived in the capital of Costa Rica (San Jose) via Miami on Christmas eve. Taxi ride to Marriott outside of the city, then straight to bed.  Early on Christmas morning, I slept in and Danielle booked an ariel tram tour departing at 10 am. We ordered a quick quick Tico breakfast of rice and beans and eggs and bacon for me (also Lizano salsa for me -- as common as tobasco sauce) and we were off.  The tram was fantastic, and was followed by a delicious lunch and a cheesy nature walk. Leaf cutter ants were everywhere. 

Dense primary forest outside of San Jose

Massive trees.  Looked like broccoli

a bug

On the bus ride back, it was interesting to see the town of San Jose.  While there's a lot of Americans in Costa Rica, they haven't brought a lot of Americana with them, so no sprawling strip malls and fast food restaurants.  I did see the golden arches, but it was right next to the airport.  Most stores are just concrete cubes with roll-up garage doors.  Also interesting to learn was that they mostly don't have street names...just the major intersections have names.  Addresses in Costa Rica are descriptive, even for large international hotels, and can read like:  "400 meters north west from the intersection of X and Y, fourth building on the right."  We debated back and forth, but I'm glad we opted for not renting a car. 

Christmas dinner (expensive) back at hotel.  

Smiles, wine and wifi.