Irazu, Orosi, and Lankester... Oh, my!!
Buenos noches, familia y amigos!! I have had SUCH a long day today! We had to meet the van at 7:30 am at the school. It came a bit late, but Shauna and I had fun watching a British girl pitch a fit because her bus left her. She was “literally” (say with British accent, like “litrally”) 10 minutes late (more like 20) and she was honestly irate that the tour bus had the gall to leave on time. None of us (there were about 6 of us waiting for various tour vehicles) were very sympathetic, which seemed to annoy her even more. She kept stomping around and demanding the number to the tour bus company. I think she honestly expected them to turn around and come back for her. My van came shortly after the histrionics, so I don’t know how it was resolved. I really hope they didn’t come back for the spoiled brat. She “litrally” should have been on time if she really wanted to go. Anyway…that was an amusing way to pass the time while waiting for our own late ride. And Mom…before you say anything about enjoying other people’s suffering…I wasn’t amused because she missed her ride. Stuff happens, people are late, the world is an imperfect place. What made me chuckle inside (actually, internally I was ROTFLMBO) was her attitude about the whole thing. How dare they leave me even though I was late?!! Not to be England hating, but it was even funnier with the accent.
Anyhoo…after all of that drama (LOL) our van came and we got on. The tour guide, Willy, asked how many people spoke English. Shauna and I were the only two people that raised our hands. This is when I knew the day was going to be slightly less relaxing than I planned. Everyone else on the bus was from Mexico. Actually, there was one Colombian and one Guatemalan, but the rest were Mexican. So, obviously, the whole tour was in Spanish. He told us that he would use both, but that never lasts long. I actually was able to follow along pretty well, although my head was beginning to ache by the time we reached Volcán Irazu, which is the tallest volcano in CR. I did ask him to clarify something right before we arrived. In his statements he made as we were pulling up to the park, I heard him say “animales” and “cuidado” which means “be careful”. I asked him for the English, because you don’t want to misunderstand what you have to “cuidado” about. Turns out there are these little critters called coatis and they will swipe the food from your hand (and some of your hand with it) if you aren’t careful. I think they were kind of cute, in a giant rat sort of way. The baby coati was adorable but wouldn’t pose for me. Brat.
The volcano was impressive and there are numerous pictures of the volcano. My pictures got all mixed up somehow, so let me just list for you some of the things you will see. The picture that looks like a volcano…is. It’s Irazu Volcano, named after a god of the volcano who, during some ancient war, made the volcano erupt and flow down one side, wiping out the army of the side he didn’t like. You really didn’t want to get on the bad side of those ancient gods. They had very devastating and painful ways of smiting you. I don’t remember what war or who was fighting - it was in Spanish so I was just happy to get the general gist of the thing. Anywho, the pictures where I am standing overlook a big valley? That’s Orosi Valley. The picture of the big church is in Cartago. It’s the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Angeles. It’s the home of La Negrita, or The Black Virgin. Gotta love the name, right! There is a story behind the Black Virgin and if you want to know it, Google “La Negrita”. I was only half paying attention to the story, so I don’t want to get it wrong. I know that they have a fountain of sorts next to the church where water flows from under the original Black Virgin (so called, by the way, because of the color of the stone she’s carved from, not for any ethnic reason). The waters have healing powers, so people come from far and wide to pray at the church and drink the water. I didn’t partake even though the tour guide assured us that the water was filtered and clean. The church building itself is beautiful inside and out.
What was I talking about? Right…pictures. There are pictures from the restaurant where we ate. They were setting up for a wedding, so the fancy setup was not remotely for us. But it was still very lovely. There are also pictures from Lankester Gardens. The plants here are SO big. Actually, the foliage is huge in this whole area, mostly because the volcanic ash makes everything so fertile. The purple plant (being held by the wonderful hand of our tour guide) is called a one-day plant. So is the white plant. Any guesses as to why they’re called one-day plants?
There is a picture (for Doni) of some Holsteins and some Jersey cows. Holsteins produce way more milk than Jerseys. At least…I think that’s what Willy said. (shrugs) I think I included a picture of Willy in the front of the bus (que guapo!) and a picture of our tour group. I became the official photographer for the older couple in the front of the picture. The woman had asked me my name earlier and she kept calling me (“Neeki? Neeeki?”) to take pictures of her and her husband. They were really sweet folks. Let’s see…any more pictures? I think that pretty much sums them up. I’m sorry they aren’t in order. They were in order when I downloaded them to the Kodak site. Don’t exactly know what happened after that. Oh! There are some pictures from the bus. I was fascinated with the fact that we were driving above cloud level. I have no idea what town that is under all the clouds. It might be Cartago because Irazu Volcano is above it (duh!).
Anyway…no more tours til the Aerial Tram through the rain forest on Friday. I’m sure I’ll have other pictures by then. Or, if no pictures, then some pithy commentary.
Ooh…I just talked to Ana and the family (including me) is going to…hmmm…don’t remember the name but it’s past Cartago. So I may have pictures after all!! Joy!
Here is the link to the pictures from today:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=13stamf2.8o671o6y&x=0&h=1&y=-8wt962&localeid=en_US
Good night everyone, and God bless you!!
¡Adiós!
Neeeki