Costa Rica

 

Quick Facts
  
Capital - San Jose
Total Area - 19,729.82 sq mi (slightly smaller than West Virginia)
Population - 3,710,558 (July 2000 est.)
Languages - Spanish (official), English spoken around Puerto Limon
Literacy - 94.8% total, 94.7% male, 95% female (1995 est.)
Religions - Roman Catholic 85%, Evangelical Protestant, 14%
Life Expectancy - 73.3 male, 78.47 female (2000 est.)
Government Type - democratic republic
Currency - 1 Costa Rican colon (C) = 100 centimos
GDP (per capita) - $7,100 (1999 est.)
Current Environmental Issues - deforestation, largely a result of the clearing of land for cattle ranching; soil erosion; water pollution (rivers); fisheries protection; solid waste management

 

 

Bernie and Sondra's Visit

Laurie's parents left the mountains of North Carolina to visit us in the mountains of Central America, and we had a blast touring around Costa Rica together.  They arrived a few days after we did, and we spent most of our time making day trips from San Jose itself.

 
08/01/02 Entry 20 San Jose Tootin' around the museums and such with Laurie's folks
08/02/02 Entry 21 Finca de Mariposas A Butterfly farm that cultivates and ships butterflies
08/02/02 Entry 22 Cafe Britt Really cool tour of a cafe plantation outside of San Jose
08/03/02 Entry 23 Habitat San Ramon Bernie and Sondra workingn hard on their vacation
08/04/02 Entry 24

Rainforest Aerial Tram

 Cable car tour of a rainforest
08/07/02 Entry 25 Laguna Arenal A very relaxing weekend at Villa Decary B&B
08/09/02 Entry 26 Parque Zoologico A morning at the zoo with Bernie and Sondra

 

Volunteering with Habitat for Humanity - Monteverde/Santa Elena

HFH Costa Rica began working in the town of Esparza (near Caldera on the west coast) in 1988, and is now consists of five regional affiliates: Cartago, Central Pacific, Nicoya, Occidental, and Monteverde.  We lived and worked in Santa Elena with the Monteverde affiliate, and really enjoyed getting to know the families we were working with.  
08/10/02 Entry 27 Life in Santa Elena Truly living, Tico style...  all the goodies about life here.
08/12/02 Entry 28 Rainforest Hike A day trip to the Bosque Eterno de los Niņos
08/20/02 Entry 29 Habitat Homeowners Meet the 3 families that we worked with for 5 weeks
08/20/02 Entry 30 Global Village Trip Big group from Norte America... ton o' fun!
08/21/02 Entry 31

Don Jose Fan Club

 One of our mo' better favorite jefes of all time!
09/01/02 Entry 32 Zen and the Art of Slinging Cement John recounts the fine art of the building process
09/02/02 Entry 33 Gone fishin' John and Matt's great fishing expedition
09/03/02 Entry 34 Tarzan and the Zip Line Our big canopy tour, Tarzan style
Our buddy Nicholas,  a.k.a. 'Filipe'

 

 

Carol and John's Visit

Matt's mom and brother, ever the adventurers, joined us for the last week of our Costa Rica adventure, for birding, hiking and scuba diving.  Laurie got her scuba certification during this trip, while Mom, John and I explored the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

 

09/05/02 Entry 35 Laurie Takes a Dive Laurie gets her scuba certification in Playa de Coco
09/10/02 Entry 36 The Great Birding Adventure A day trip to the Bosque Eterno de los Niņos
08/20/02 Entry 37 Costa Rica Bird List Photos of the 86 species we saw in Costa Rica!
Violet Sabrewing