Blogs from Sarchi, Alajuela, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

It was our last part of the trip. We decided to do a little road trip. We went to Zarcero. On the way we stopped to Grecia, to see the church made of metal plates. We also stopped at Sarchi to see and buy some handicrafts. In region of Zarcero, views are splendid and reminds a bit of Switzerland. In Zarcero city, there's a nice topiary in front of the church. The church itself has 2 towers that look like missiles, (!!). On the way back, we went South to Atenas, one of the places that was tagged as one of the most ideals weathers of the world. In the "zocalo", like all other spanish cities, there's a beautiful park, and we sat there a little while to see people go by and eat some ice ... read more

We sadly took a taxi from the peaceful lodge, into La Fortuna, which was about 20 klms from Arenal Volcano, and the township we originally planned on staying in. So very pleased that we didn’t as it really was a long strip of resorts, guesthouses, travel agencies and shops. The birds at the lodge had been much better company! We were dropped at the bus station - the only one I’ve ever been to that had a large supermarket on site - which proved handy as we had to wait an hour for the bus which was going to take us to Zarcero, an agricultural town (it is the biggest area in Costa Rica for organic farming) set in the mountains about 50 klms from Alajuela where the international airport is situated. It took four hours ... read more

Zarcero is located west of San Jose past Grecia and Sarchi. We traveled through a small town, Naranja (I would love to tour this town if we make a trip back to this area). It was a pleasant drive to Zarcero and worth seeing for a day trip. I can proudly say we did not get lost on this trip! Zarcero has a small park in the middle of town that surrounds the town church. The park consists of sculpted shrubs that are spectacular. We read a gardener became inspired in the 1960's to shape the bushes. The shrubs are sculpted in likeness of animals dancing, a helicopter, faces, etc. The walkway leading to the church consists of shrubs sculpted into archways. Of course no trip is complete without lunch so we stopped at a roadside ... read more