Meaning to Life

Lonely Planet tells you and I am telling you

They say you can never say never. I have one serious exception: never, ever put anything that you own of value on the luggage rack in a Costa Rican bus especially between San Jose and La Fortuna (the usual journey to see the Arenal volcano).

At the time I was travelling with Pete the Viking Swede and we had noted on page 580 of the invaluable Lonely Planet guide to Central America on a Shoe String there is a prominently placed boxed text item specifically warning against this. Peter and I were sitting on the rear most seats of the bus, conveniently just beside the rear exit door. Suddenly there was a lurch of the bus and money dropped down between my legs seemingly from an old guy standing in front of me, I thought he was waiting to get off and I was not wrong. He was actually very very eager to get off the bus. I naturally stooped down to pick it up when I looked up the man was gone quicker than you can say 6 colones, the precise value of the coins he had relinquished (total value about one US cent). In the second I was grappling to recover his money the kind old forgetful gentleman had helped himself to a bag immediately above our heads. It wasn’t my bag nor was it Peter’s but that of another unsuspecting young Costa Rican passenger who after about 20 minutes discovered his loss when he was about to disembark from the bus. It transpired that the old thief had escaped with five new pairs of shoes which the young fellow mourned in particular because they actually belonged to other people. Unknown to me during the incident it seems that Vikings can be very untrusting especially of others marauding in their own territory (presumably something that was self-taught) and Peter, sitting on the window-side of the bus, had been eagley watching my back in case the thief dipped his hands into my pockets but not noticing what he was doing with them on the luggage rack.

As if to finally cement the “never” idea not too many days later we bumped into another very experienced traveller from Poland who had been denuded of his camera, money and other personal belongings. “It was just seconds that I had my stuff there,” he defensively opined. Where did he have the stuff… you bet on the luggage rack!

It does not take long to realize that there is something seriously wrong, apart from failure to put up street signs, with the authorities in Costa Rica that something that is advertised worldly wide such as in a Lonely Planet publication after so long (at least 2 years since publication of the edition I had) that they cannot do something to hinder this. I naturally indicated quite volubly my disgust to the rest of the bus who in predictable fashion shrugged their shoulders and pointed to yet another authority problem; “they don’t do anything with them even when they catch them,” the passenger on the other side lamely claimed.

So the two safety tips I have for Central America is NEVER put anything on a luggage rack in a bus in Costa Rica and always be very very careful about which kind of vehicle you hop into even if you think it is a taxi near Tipitapa in Nicaragua.

 

 

The horse parade that tops all Costa Rican horse parades

Just a month after the ox-cart parade downtown San Jose presents another testament to Costa Rican transport through the ages. This time it is all about the horse. Once again the parade, conveniently for me, passed right through barrio Lujan adajcent to Hostel 1110.

The event dates back to colonial times when it was of course the only form of relatively speedy transport and marked the inauguration of the San Juan festivities while determining which were the fastest riders and best horses of the day.
Reportedly it is the largest people-watching event of the Costa Rican calendar and the extent of its popularity can be seen here in some of the photos I took of last year’s activities. If you look closely you will see at least a couple of famous people. President Laura Chinchilla would be one.

And as a little travel trip if you stand around barrio Lujan next month, on the 26th to be precise, you will be able to see the great event all over again.

 

 

Ox-carts used to rule the Puntarenas highway and Costa Rican drivers had a more relaxed attitude to the meaning of life

After a very enjoyable time journeying all around the rural central highlands and Pacific coast side of Costa Rica in our minimalistically budget rent-a-car we drove back to the centre of San Jose and the Dollar rental car company on Paseo Colon only to find the way barred by a reminder of bygone transport times in Costa Rica.

The festival of the ox-cart parade is almost exclusively homage to a very ecological transportation method of yesteryear. In observance of the importance of agriculture to the country and hopefully also at least as a passing salute to the ecological urges of today, Costa Rica reveres its oh so sublime method of transporting goods in the past. In the 19th century yoked oxen pulling a cart loaded with coffee bound for export to the wealthier markets of Europe and north America was the means by which the Costa Rican farmer got his produce out of the Central Valley to the main Pacific coast export outlet of Puntarenas.

These ox-carts were first introduced in the 1840s, taking over from the presumably less yokable mule, and lasted through to the middle of the 20th century although coffee was increasingly transported via the Atlantic-bound railway towards the turn of the century. The railway offered the coffee industry a huge double gain. Not only was the previous 10-15 day ox-cart journey reduced to one but incredibly the Atlantic outlet at the port of Limon circumvented the need to take coffee all around the Cape of Good Hope to markets in the northern hemisphere.

The colourful pageantry of the festival of the ox-cart parade follows along the central Paseo Colon from Sabana park of San Jose every November 29th.

 

 

 

Still in training for the Liveable City!

“There is a quirky rickety little single railway track with a quirky two carriage train that slowly passes very near-by continually sounding its horn and quaintly tingling its bell in warning because there are no level crossings and I suppose also because it does run right in the middle of the street “.

When I first arrived in San José I thought it was ever so atmospheric to hear that train jangling its bell repeatedly as it passed through barrio(district) Lujan, just a stone’s throw from Hostel 1110. While walking and jogging over and around the simple single track I often pondered as to the meaning of ‘its’ life. The track seemed very old and I observed two types of train: either rather dilapidated looking haulage engines or extremely modern passenger trains that, oddly, never appeared to have any passengers. Whichever way I looked at it it left me with a sense of sadness. Something really wasn’t right? How could they possibly run a two-way service on a single track? They certainly wouldn’t be able to keep this train running economically with the passenger numbers I saw. I could only conclude that it would eventually degenerate to a standstill and San José would be left without any railway service, not even have the minuscule service that it appeared to have.

A casual inquiry of Rodrigo, the main man in charge back at Hostel 1110, soon revealed that there was far more to this than met the eye. Juan, one of Rodrigo’s partners had been very much engaged in the city’s urban transport planning and he explained to me that the introduction of an urban train network was part of a green plan for a “Liveable City” (Una Ciudad Habitable) for San José. What I had been observing was merely part of a kind of pilot plan.

This put a wholly different complexion on my sad quirky rickety confused train and its track. It immediately dispelled the sadness and engendered a new sense of well-being with the culmination of all good things coming together in a bright new future: modernization, reduced traffic congestion and numerous ecological benefits; not least less pollution. The in-depth coverage of the full plans on the TREM (Tren Eléctrico Metropolitano) web site backed up the seriousness of the initiative and heightened my own enthusiasm. “So when is this all going to happen, Juan?” I asked. “Well”, and those dirtily arresting words were uttered, “it is all so political”.

The project has been on the table for many years and has been subject to numerous stops and gos usually for political reasons and even now, although a timetable was set up up last year for full implementation to begin between this year and next, the latest Costa Rica administration under President Laura Chinchilla is currently in contemplation of another grand metropolitan transport plan which could result in well… presumably a bit of a delay at the very least. The announcement of those particular plans has rather inconveniently not been given a date yet either.

That is the story seen principally from barrio Lujan in downtown San José but to be more San José-encompassing there has at least been greater movement on plans along the principal stretch of the urban network between central San José and Heredia. The inauguration finally came about in August last year, overseen by the then President Oscar Arias Sanchez, but it has a limited service running in the rush hour on weekdays only. The global San José urban transport plan is now waiting for Laura Chinchilla and her government for the launch of that Liveable City initiative.

For a Spanish translation of this article – San José Una Ciudad Habitable

 

 

Potholes, recklessness, falling trees and earthquakes – have a safe trip!

Now that the 2010 World Cup that Costa Rica could have won is over (don’t forget Costa Rica only very narrowly lost to the team that narrowly lost to the triumphant Spanish) the country can get back to planning and not just for the Brazil World Cup in 2014.

Some serious attention to transportation control and transport infrastructure planning would certainly not go amiss.

I have in previous blog posts passed comment on different aspects of San José’s transport situation and by way of an easily identifiable example I highlighted in some detail the very surprising lack of street signposting in San Jose causing considerable difficulty for the directionally challenged. I surmised from what locals said that the old bureaucratic evil of corruption was the villain behind this. Ticos were again willing to offer this as the ready reason for the deplorable state of some of the roads outside the capital.

We journeyed by car the length and breadth of the country and observed that virtually anywhere away from the notably “developed” Guanacaste region on the Pacific north side there was a serious problem with potholed roads. I came across this highly illustrative cartoon from a national newspaper noting that the problem has hardly gone unnoticed in Costa Rica.

The translation of the caption would go something like: “Look, excellent!... they’ve put down road markings!”

We observed apart from the fact that potholes were a common occurrence the true danger lay in their sporadicness and occasional dramatic size. In simple terms, just as you may be relaxing your attention on a relatively long uninterrupted section of smooth asphalt a single huge hole can suddenly appear that can swallow a large part of your car momentarily with underside damage being the least you are likely to get away with. I often cringed imagining what the perils must be like for motorcyclists and at night… dios mio!

Unfortunately driving dangers were not restricted to this but added to by commonly observable reckless driving habits. Some while ago I recounted my views of the narrow margins of safety afforded the pedestrian in San Jose by the car driver. Well, the San Jose car driving mentality is given space to fully blossom out in the provinces where speeding circuit takes on a more sinister meaning. Our observation was that the going rule for Tico drivers is that completely regardless of whatever else is happening you really must overtake. Very regrettably there were few days that passed without us seeing multiple remnants of accidents on the road side including numerous upturned cars. One could only conclude that many of these other drivers failed to see any correlation between the overturned vehicles at the roadside and their own overtaking recklessness.

Nature also plays its hand occasionally. Tropical rain quite easily loosens the soil and before you can say “timber” you might have to stop for a fallen tree or two. Here you can see -during our only night-time journey- the simple technique of removal. This particular tree blocked our way on the very scenic lakeside road that hugs the shores of Laguna Arenal.

And do not forget the aftermath of earthquake damage to Costa Rican roads either.

Bon voyage (buen viaje)!

For more background on aspects of current road transport in Costa Rica read “therealcostarica” blog especially the section on Road Conditions

Costa Rica Transport – Driving Dangerously

Kurdistan to hold 2012 World Cup (a bit unofficial)

Perhaps we should just get one little thing straight first off. The second “F” in FIFA stands for football so perhaps it would be reasonable for the “whole” world to call this sport football although one inventive (or condescending – still not quite sure which) American friend of mine came up with the notion that it could be called kickball although I didn’t hear him suggest the Americans could by way of two-sided compromise offer to change their sport’s name, for example, to bruteball.

I had heard that Cost Ricans were mad about football although a swift periscope-like peek around the world right now and it does beg the question as to where people are not mad about football. I tried scouring the planet -not with a periscope I might add, that would have taken me a very long time indeed- and came up with a short list. Not only are they not mad about it in these countries they did not even bother to enter or turn up for the pre-qualifying events in spite of being members of FIFA. Bhutan, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Guam, São Tomé and Príncipe, Brunei, Philippines and Papua New Guinea are the culprits.

As is usual there are those that spurn their opportunities in life and there are those that hanker after that which those that spurn have. By easy reference I refer to my Kurdistani hairdresser. Yes, mad about football and he is convinced that Kurdistan will be competing in the next World Cup. He said that Iraq will have to give back the Kurdish members of its team. At that point in the conversation my mind had too many things to consider politico-logistically but I did investigate later and discovered there is a very vibrant non-FIFA World Cup which Kurdistan hopes to host in 2012 and a whole stream of regional associations, unrecognised states, autonomous regions and minorities that would love, just like Kurdistan, to be participating in the official World Cup. Shame on you Bhutan, Central African Republic, Eritrea, Guam, São Tomé and Príncipe, Brunei, Philippines and Papua New Guinea.

The photograph below was outside a very ordinary store at about 9 am in a San Jose shopping street where I was surprised to find that the Ticos (male Costa Ricans) were not watching anything remotely live but a rehash of an important World Cup qualifying match that had taken place the day before. In fact, in the 94th minute (usually of a 90 minute contest don’t forget) of their all-important encounter that unforgettable night before with the USA they conceded a goal which prevented what had been looking like their direct entry to the South African world party. They had one more chance, in fact two more chances, through two very lively and hard fought games with Uruguay. In spite of the millions of Ticos and Ticas glued this time to live television sets urging their team on, the presumed at least equal urging going on in Uruguay held sway and Uruguay by the margin of another slender goal went through to South Africa.

Ticos are football mad. Photographic evidence suggests Ticas less so!

A quick look at the calibre and ranking of the two teams who barred their way indicates that Costa Rica are absolutely no push overs. Uruguay have actually won the World Cup in the past, though it be quite a distant past, and are currently ranked 16 in the world, the USA are ranked number 14 and both have started this year’s tournament very solidly and that my friends is precisely how Costa Rica have so narrowly failed to win the World Cup on this occasion.

 

 

Don’t mess about in Masaya or even tiptoe into Tipitapa!

In a perfectly uncorrupt, prison-free and selfless world (another reasonable Obama goal?) there would be no headline news items talking of man’s inhumanity to man just the occasional accident and natural disaster accompanied, of course, by stories of man’s humanity to man.

A similar picture would hold when people meet up travelling from country to country exchanging stories solely on their experiences of how well they had been treated in previously visited villages, towns and cities. It has to be noted that most of the unseemly stories that are chewed over on the subject of safety and security are what people have heard or felt with regard to a place, rather than necessarily a matter directly affecting them; thank goodness. Where there is a notable discrepancy between poverty and wealth the ugly matter of theft often raises its head. At this juncture please allow me one more deft knee to the groin of the British Members of Parliament recently charged with theft: they, too, surely couldn’t have believed they were being rewarded insufficiently in life and therefore had to carry out a little wealth distribution of their own?

Anyway, how safe is safe in Central America? If you never have anything stolen then it is as safe as anywhere else you haven’t had anything stolen. Conversely if you are held up and/or lose money and possessions then you just might think it is the worst place in the world. The very general consensus from what I have heard in my travels so far is that Costa Rica and Panama are some kind of step ahead of the others and the others namely: Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Belize and Honduras rank fairly equally in terms of security. There are measures you can take that will reduce the possibilities of problems but of course bar never leaving your accommodation nothing is foolproof. Touching a very large piece of wood, so far I have been untroubled by theft but have certainly picked up some tips as I move along that if I had not known could have got me into the kind of trouble certain other souls have had to endure.

In Costa Rica I was witness to a taxi driver being punched in the face -for what reason I have no idea- and also the theft of a bag (not mine!) from immediately above my head on a bus from La Fortuna to San José. I saw the bandage on the nose of a fellow hosteller who had been attacked and robbed immediately outside our hostel in downtown San José by some form of taxi connivance (legally registered taxis or not I do not know). Unfortunately this sequence of unnerving incidents took a much more serious turn for the worse when my hostel neighbour Steve from Davis, California tried to get to Masaya by bus one typically gorgeous day in Nicaragua from the much-vaunted and visited colonial town of Granada.

Over breakfast Steve and I had had one of those very enjoyable penetrative humanity-examining conversations before he skipped off to see some “events” in Masaya later that day. The next time I saw him was the same evening when I stretched out my hand to welcome him back “home” to the Hospedaje Cocibolca, our hostel in the centre of Granada, only for him to shockingly reveal that his day had largely been taken up with a very unenjoyable penetrative and humanity-examining phenomenon called kidnap. His ordeal was extremely unpleasant for what actually occurred but far worse for what his kidnappers led him to believe they were going to do to him. Thankfully one could sense Steve’s relief that at the end of the day because he was still in one piece and had “only” lost a camera, a couple of plastic cards and cash, perhaps as much as US$400, presumably together with as much adrenalin as the body can manufacture in a day.

Although being a very experienced traveller Steve’s mistake was overshooting Masaya on the bus and then trusting the apparently innocent woman who coincidentally descended from the bus at the same point as him while talking on her cell phone. The cell phone was the key because the seemingly friendly group (of kidnappers) turned up on cue in a car to “help” Steve, and the lady who Steve thought was another wayward traveler, back to Masaya. It all looked fairly innocent at this point and in usual foreign fashion Steve, not understanding too much Spanish, was liberated from thinking about any suspicious innuendoes they no doubt were making. However, when he began to suspect something, for example the car going back in the reverse direction and then not stopping at the gas station as they had explained was the motive for retracing their steps, and then actually tried to get out of the car, the five incumbents revealed their collective hand by immediately and forcibly restraining him on the back seat.

It is quite a few years since Nicaragua had a problem with roving bands of terrorists. In fact, ironically, Steve last travelled through these very parts back in 1978 when his travel plans were severely hampered by a major military incident on the Nicaraguan-Costa Rican border at Peñas Blancas between the Sandinistas and Contras. Almost knee-jerk reaction-like he jumped to the assumption that they were terrorists. They took his spectacles and covered his face with his hat and began to punch him with the intention of intimidating him into not only handing over everything he had but revealing the pin numbers to his cards also. He was surprised that the women were worse and being the forgiving kind of fellow he is Steve defended their circumstances by not only recognizing that they were poor but that they might have been as scared as he was. They threatened to kill him especially if he did not give them those pin numbers: not sure if Steve’s forgiving nature ever came up with an altruistic excuse for that because surely at that point he had to be far more scared than they were! After a lengthy and very frightening ordeal, by which time he realized they were all just thugs and nothing to do with any kind of political terrorist group, they actually gave him back his spectacles, passport, antibiotic medicine and just enough money to get the bus back into Masaya the right way. Steve even mumbled to me something about them actually being quite nice after all, considering this parting sliver of a gesture of man’s humanity to man.

In Masaya police station he made a full and difficult report to the police with the help of a few local people who could speak some English but realism indicated that the perpetrators would not be caught for this crime because Steve recognized, again either realistically or excusingly, that the police just do not have the “resources”.

While Steve was busy on the internet trying to recover his financial situation I became immersed in a conversation with the hostel management who had been contacted by the police earlier in the afternoon to alert the staff to the fact that the villains probably had Steve’s room key although there was no indication on the key as to which establishment in Granada it was. The conversation with the management put the blame immediately and exclusively on a band from Tipitapa. According to them this was a town near the capital Managua where there is a very high percentage of delinquents and malcontents. According to them this group came from there without any shadow of a doubt whatsoever.

What can one learn? With varying degrees of importance: don’t stop anywhere near Tipitapa, be very careful when you get into an unknown vehicle, don’t trust single women with cell phones who get off the bus in out of the way places with you, and proven -yet again unfortunately- there are just too many people in our world who want more than they have and will stop at nothing to get it.

Steve, to his excellent credit, recovered quickly and fully and continued happily with his travels after several laborious hours in communication with various financial institutions in the USA and the American Embassy, the latter making the customary almost entirely unhelpful token offer of a list of telephone numbers of “reliable” taxi services in Managua should he want to head back that way again.

Goodbye Masaya and Tipitapa as Steve takes the safer travel option.

 

 

Meaning to Life and Nolan’s Seven Principles

I inferred in my last blog post that corruption, more searchingly describable as abuse of power, is the most likely reason as to why there are next to no sign posts in the capital city of Costa Rica.

Across the water in the United Kingdom news has this morning surfaced that the Crown Prosecution Service has filed criminal charges against four individuals holding office in the highest positions of responsibility in the land: persons not only elected but also paid quite handsomely in order to represent and protect the common good. This would appear to be the culmination of an extraordinary sequence of revelations which first began last year in the columns of the London Daily Telegraph. It seems as though the Daily Telegraph’s investigation centred on a computer hard drive containing documented evidence of expense claims made between 2004 and 2009 by members of the British Houses of Parliament, the findings far from revealing very much maternal from a body often referred to as the Mother of Parliaments.

There are 646 members of the lower House of Commons and 392 have now been asked to pay back money that has been “falsely” claimed. So far just three, plus one member from the upper House of Lords, have been presented with criminal charges of… well, theft actually. The four, with boring predictably refute the charges and “robustly” too as if to make it sound like they are so far removed from guilt it is preposterous or a trumped up move by the Crown Prosecutors. It would be very interesting to know if they believe they are not guilty of a crime then would they admit to being guilty of anything: ignorance of the law, minor abuse of power or simply in the end to being an absolutely normal greedy human being which, I remind you, is exactly not what they were elected to be or paid for? Besides that what about the other 389? Would they now support a law that allowed thieves to go unpunished on handing back ill gotten gains – presumably with the proviso that only if they got caught in the first place, of course?

In 1995 the British Prime Minister must have suspected that there was trouble at’ mill because he requested the Nolan Committee examine precisely the matter of people in public life. The committee took six months to make its presentation based on the seven common fundaments of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership. Clearly the dictate of common sense was not enough and for a lot of members of parliament neither was the Nolan Committee’s highlighting report.

On the theme of corruption and a look at where it might be going in the future I jump right back across the pond to the United States of America where, as would befit their panache for style of grandeur, they seem to have made a decision recently of monumental proportions in their Supreme Court.

It has been pointed out to me this week in no uncertain terms by a couple of extremely learned American travellers that the Supreme Court made a decision which augurs very darkly for the future of the rights of the individual in that country. Quite simply there will be no limits on groups funding political parties. You could always argue that they are waving the flag for Nolan’s principles of honesty, openness and perhaps leadership, although I do not think the Nolan Committee was offering an à la carte menu but more intended it as a set meal.

President of the Washington-based government-watchdog group Democracy 21, Fred Wertheimer put it very succinctly, “With a stroke of the pen, five justices wiped out a century of American history devoted to preventing corporate corruption of our democracy.”

An awful lot of people in an awful lot of countries would be advised to re-read the Nolan Committee’s report on selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership but don’t they sound like useful guidelines for living your own life even if the august among us don’t want to use them?

 

 

The entrapment conspiracy theory or the triumph of corruption?

I refer purely and simply to the status of the humble street sign in the Costa Rican capital of San José. Quite frankly it is abysmal. It is so abysmal that only the blind would fail to notice such a glaring hindrance to making your way around this city. I am talking specifically of signs for identifying the name of the street although it was fairly apparent in moving around on occasion by car that directional signs were none too common either.

To keep it simple there are four observable facts.
1. The norm is that there are none. Zip nada, absolute desert.
2. When they do appear they are nearly always attached to buildings on the corners at intersections.
3. The majority of the few that exist are difficult to read.
4. Some are impossible to read.

The paucity of these signs in a large city that obviously has sufficient resources and has failed to do anything about it for so long leaves the visitor with only one entertaining outlet on the subject which is to ponder as to why? There is, after all, ample time to do so as you trudge between unmarked street corners trying to work out where exactly you are.

If it is intentional, why so? Is it that it is just not important to San Joseans, is entrapment part of the picture or even exclusion, is it to confuse an unidentified enemy as the British tried by removing all street signs in case the German army should have made it across the channel during the second world war or is it trying to encourage people to tap more into a directional sixth sense?

If it is not intentional then what? Regrettably after consultation with locals it seems that the most likely reason is misappropriation of budgets; plain and simple CORRUPTION.

The story amusingly also encompasses the way in which they identify addresses which traditionally, thereby indicating that this has been going on a long time, do not necessarily use the names of the streets either but a commonly identifiable landmark. The hostel which has been my home for some time was 525 meters east of “La Biblica” (an admittedly well known hospital in the area) and for greater exactitude the address can include “the yellow house on the right”. The amusement value runs further when it is learned that sometimes they continue to use landmarks that no longer exist. I heard of one especially amusing locator, admittedly not in San José, as being: 200 meters west of where Juan’s cow gave birth last year.

This might help to support the theory that they just don’t need them but the inefficiency or corruption theory sounds more likely when you consider that some kind of attempt at signing of streets has happened at whatever low key level at some point in the past. Furthermore almost like a testament to logic from another world if you make your way to the junction of Avenida 14 and Calle 7 you will encounter a scene that is a sight for directionally challenged sore eyes:

Unique street corner sign post AND street plaques

Just makes you want to ask again why though?

The occasional helpful street sign in San Jose, Costa Rica	When you get on top of it, so much clearer now, don't you think?
Nicely painted corner building with helpful street name plaque	So much better - with a nice new paint over job that is!

 

 

Costa Rica’s Urban Conundrum

San José is a large capital city and is importantly the fulcrum of an even larger metropolitan area comprising also the separate cities of Alajuela, Heredia and Cartago, actually the capital of Costa Rica prior to 1823.

San José itself has the unremarkable reputation of being a rather tedious and ordinary urban city much like any other anywhere else in the world. However, in spite of the seemingly unspoken prerogative afforded to the motor car here in the downtown area, there are some redeeming features. For example there are some fairly sizable pedestrian thoroughfares, not an inconsiderable number of parks and various areas of other greenery scattered in and about. Considering Costa Rica’s very positive ecological stance it would be a travesty for the national agenda not to have some kind of an influence on its capital city.

At the west end of the city is the extensive La Sabana Park which was in fact the main aerodrome until international flight got very serious in our modern world and they created Juan Santamaria International Airport further to the west in Alajuela. The park is an ideal size for not being able to lose yourself but large enough to feel you have escaped from metropolitan life. At the weekend it is littered with various football (soccer) matches taking place: a clear reflection of the importance of football as the national sport. This however is not to the exclusion of baseball that also has a standing but based on numbers I saw in La Sabana Park football would win; actually “hands down”.

Of the other smaller parks dotted around, one morning I was fortunate enough to stumble across Parque Espana where a school group were practicing for a musical performance. Parque Espana lies a little to the north of the central area in Barrio Amon where the greenery of the park blends very nicely with some distinctively designed housing and hotel structures in the area.

I have also heard directly from the horse’s mouth (a member of a certain management project team here) that the city has some grand plans to make the city more “liveable”. The project focuses on a huge transportation renewal plan and the development of a modern urban transport system in the heart of the metropolitan area. Unfortunately this will take a lot of time and a lot of money and even more unfortunately it is at the dictate of the hands of an imminently changing government.

Meanwhile you can enjoy a current very liveable scene directly from Parque Espana.