I called an Uber this morning to take me to the National Museum. I walked up to the ticket office expecting to buy a ticket. The security guard told me that the lady is away on a partner function and won't be back for an hour. I was disappointed. But what she really meant was since the ticket seller is away I can enter the museum for FREE. It saved me $11!
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| The National Museum |
When I entered the museum, on the right it led me to a butterfly garden. I walked around but did not see any entrance to the museum. I came out and the security guard took me to where the entrance of the museum is. Viola! Now I see.
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| Butterfly Garden |
It's relatively small for a national museum but it tells the story of its history and how Costa Rica develops to what it is today. It took me about 2 hours to slowly read and understand the exhibits. It was very well done.
Almost everywhere I went I find Chinese immigrants have been there. In the case of CR the Chinese came here to build the railroads and work on the farms. When that work was finished some stayed behind and became model citizens. They started businesses, especially in the restaurant business. Even in some of the small towns that we passed through I saw Chinese restaurants. Our guide told me that there are many Chinese restaurants everywhere in CR.
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| This Chinese restaurant is not far from the Museum |
In contrast to Cuba, CR embraces capitalism. It is this type of economy that brought CR success.
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| Definition of Capitalism |
The main driving force behind CR's success is coffee and bananas. Its climate and terrain is well suited to growing both crops. Today it is not as dominant in coffee production as some of the other south American countries so it specializes in high-end coffee. It also was a big producer of bananas, with the help of the United Fruit Company, an American company. Today it has diversified into growing pineapples, melons, and other crops. You can buy them at Costco in the US. They started growing more pineapples when Hawaii decided to cut back on growing pineapples. However, when you grow crops you cut down trees in the forests. So there's a balance between keeping CR's forests and expanding its agricultural economy. Many tourists come to CR for eco-tourism so there is a balance between agriculture and tourism.
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| Steps in coffee production |
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| Boxcarts, traditionally pulled by ovens, to transport coffee beans |
It was about 1pm when I finished visiting the museum. I walked to the Central Market, about 10 minutes away, to see if I can find a suitable restaurant for lunch. I randomly picked one that looks good and had rice with seafood. I also ordered a shake with horchata (rice drink) and guanabana or soursop.
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| Display of tortillas and empanadas |
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| Rice with seafood and shake |
I wanted to go back to the hotel to rest up, then go to the gym. After dinner that night we'll have a meeting at 8pm, when we'll meet our guide and the other travelers in the group.
At 8pm we met in one of the conference rooms. Our guide is Aarón. The Spanish pronunciation will be A-Ron but to make it easier for all the American travelers we call him Aaron. He has been working with Caravan for 16 years and is a native of CR. This is great news because he understands American travelers and can relate to what we experience in the American context. There are 33 travelers from different parts of the United States. This is much bigger than I am used to but I decided that I will not let that bother me. If I have a chance to talk to others, that's good. It not, I am okay experiencing my own CR.
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