Pura Vida - Our Costa Rican Adventure

Everywhere I look there are old men and woman. They are between 50-100 years old. They look better then 40 year old's in America. Archeologists in Sardinia in 2004 referred to these spots as Blue Zones. People in blue zones live past 100. They smile. Or at least many of them smile and appear to be healthy. Last year I retired my cane and found I could walk miles. This year I walk 3 1/2 miles on the equator a couple of times a week. Kelly and I decided to take a journey to the center of a blue zone last Monday. Our guides are through Fun Adventures through Destination Adventures. The name of the tour is Palo Verde River Safari.The names of our guides are Juan 1 and Juan 2.

We eat lunch at a very nice Costa Rican restaurant called Cafe' del Lego.

Kelly had a Casado. I gave her mine but I nibbled on a little of the veggies and chicken. A Casado is Spanish for 'married man'. It is a local cuisine dish consisting of black beans, plantains, salad and tortillas. Ours had a lot of veggies.








Many colorful flowers. Click on the picture and you will get to see much detail. I will be posting this picture online sometime in the next few months.









Many wild friendly chickens. I want some fried chicken now. Just joking.











Almond Tree. It smells magnificent.












More exotic flowers.












After eating lunch and drinking a lot of freshly squeezed pineapple juice we move on. This last picture I took online because my picture didn't come out right. It was fuzzy do to moisture and heat in the air.

More roads. Some roads are good and some are not good. We travel deep into Guanacaste Peninsula.











Howler Monkeys!












We make it to a very large river. This bridge is from Taiwan. It was made in 2003 by the Taiwan Compant called MAA. The river had to be crossed by ferry until 2003. There are crocodiles, one even jumped and snapped at our guide later in the adventure. This is Barra Honda National Park.

Our river boat.













The bridge spans the Tempisque River. The bridge is called 'Taiwan friendship bridge' or Puente La Amistad de Taiwan. Costa Rica cut relations with Taiwan for China a few years ago. The locals call the bridge Puente de la Apunalada which means 'Back stab bridge'. Before I get my camera out a five foot crocodile jumps out of the water near our vessel, back flips, catches a critter in the air or near the surface of the water, twirls in the air, and lands on its back with its tummy in full view.

Welcome to the biggest Mangrove in Central America. The Orosi Volcano empties into the river which in turn empties into the Gulf of Nicoya. Nicoya is one of the oldest cities in Costa Rica spanning back five hundred years ago. The Tempisque River is home of crocodiles, monkey's, iguana's and many exotic birds.








Eagles and Herons. I don't know their exact names, maybe Kelly will help me with that later.






Red mangroves or in Laitn 'Rhizophora'. What are mangroves you might ask? A mangrove is a tree that filters salt water and can live in fresh water.It doesn't need oxygen in the soil. There are eight types of mangrove trees.













The heart of the tree. Seeds grow like fruit. Some mangroves can pick themselves up and walk a little or something. Our guide is called Quan One. Are bus driver was Quan Two.









Click on the picture and see a seven foot crocodile who is hungry. He is on top of the mud. These lizards can hold there breath for 45 minutes and only need to eat once a week. Monkeys need to swim the river daily. There are many crocodiles. One big one snaps at our guide at the side of the boat. He tells it, "not me buddy'.













In the middle of the picture is a crocodile peeking out of the river. You can see its eyes above the water, its easily six to seven feet long. All of these pictures are different crocodiles.

This is the biggest one I saw. Its easily eight feet long and came up to the boat. It snapped at our guide but no harm was done. It was half the size of our water vessel. We got close to them.

Bats. Many bats. They sleep in patterns to confuse the eagles as they try to blur into the trees. There are half a dozen bats.










More wonderful eagles. Its name eludes me. When the tide comes up this all goes underwater.

Black Mangroves or Avicenna germinans. They are also called walking mangroves and look they are walking to the water. The trees grow on top of each other. A crocodile is in this picture, its light green near the branches. Its about three feet long.








After many hours on the river we head to one of the oldest cities in Costa Rica. Welcome to Nicoya which was founded in 1554. My target goal is Costa Rica's oldest catholic church.

I humbly was able to pray and mediate.












The church. It feels amazing.












I think this is a plaque. Its in front of the church. Out of respect I'm not showing the other pictures. They don't want me to. I appreciate being able to see Costa Rica culture. I risk missing the bus as I walk around town. I need to see what it looks like. I need to see Mayan culture mixed with Western Catholicism.






Note the carved Mayan symbols and drawings on the rock? This is a park bench. So cool.












I wish I had more time here.












A regular street.












Costa Rica has is a democracy. They have no military but instead invested that money into public schooling. Over 90% of the population can read.










We head off to a local pottery studio.












Natives show us how to make pottery. They have been doing this for hundreds of years. 600 I think? The pottery style is referred to as polychrome. There were many tripods and dishes. They focused on lizards, birds and monkeys as designs and their style is the Vallejo.







Everything is from clay and is made by hand. No spinners or whatever they are called.















Have a nice day.