Forgot to mention in our shock at arriving in CR with the President that the country's immigration procedure at San Jose Airport (About the size of Sola Stavanger) was the easiest, quickest and friendliest we have ever experienced.... And the friendly approach continued today, wherever we were, whatever we did during our visit to San Jose itself - described by Lonely Planet as "not a pretty city, what with the unremarkable concrete structures, clogged pedestrian arcades and fast-food monstrosities dominating its cityscape". A pretty jaundiced view in our opinion - we visited 2 world-class museums and ate a very good "menu del dia" lunch at what was a very Costa Rican and not fast food restaurant - the owner chatting afterwards to be sure we had enjoyed our meal.
The first museum, dedicated to "Pre-Colombian Gold" (www.museosdelbancocentral.org)
and a prize-winner on Tripadvisor, in fact gave an excellent overview of life in the region before the Spanish conquest - clearly showing a well-organised and not at all primitve society, in strong contrast to the European thugs who raped and pillaged the place! A view strengthened by the Jade Museum, (http://portal.ins-cr.com/portal.ins-cr.com/Social/MuseoJade/) which showed how this semiprecious stone had great religious and ceremonial use and significance in the pre-conquest societies.
Ah well, back to geology tomorrow and a visit to the active Poas volcano, less than 50 km from San Jose - after almost 45 years as a qualified geologist, this will be my first visit to an active volcano!!!!!!
and a prize-winner on Tripadvisor, in fact gave an excellent overview of life in the region before the Spanish conquest - clearly showing a well-organised and not at all primitve society, in strong contrast to the European thugs who raped and pillaged the place! A view strengthened by the Jade Museum, (http://portal.ins-cr.com/portal.ins-cr.com/Social/MuseoJade/) which showed how this semiprecious stone had great religious and ceremonial use and significance in the pre-conquest societies.
Ah well, back to geology tomorrow and a visit to the active Poas volcano, less than 50 km from San Jose - after almost 45 years as a qualified geologist, this will be my first visit to an active volcano!!!!!!
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