Celebrate Costa Rica style

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I picked Costa Rica for the whitewater rafting and also because it had the jungle and the beach. It's really the best of both worlds. Costa Rica has 800 species of ferns, 1,000 of orchids, 2,000 kinds of trees, and 200 species of mammals. I had a feeling that I was going to be in floral and fauna heaven. I was pretty much right!

Costa Rica has the Caribbean on the east and the Pacific on the west. Costa Rica Has Nicaragua to the North and Panama to the South.

My flight to San Jose took 3.5 hours. When you go to Costa Rica, San Jose is pretty much the starting point of your trip. San Jose has the infamous reputation as the ugly duckling of Central America. The city has some particularly good museums, most notably the Jade Museum.

I spent my first night and also my last night in Costa Rica at Fleur de Lys. When I arrived at the hotel, it was dark, so I didn't realize that it's quite a colorful hotel, until I saw it in the morning. The hotel was clean and reasonably priced. I wasn't too concerned with the hotel since I was not going to be in San Jose very long.

While I was in San Jose, I walked through a flea market. They were selling everything. The art work is very colorful and I could tell the artists took pride in their works.

My next day in Costa Rica we were heading towards our destination which would involve white water rafting. We made a few stops along the way. One of the stops outside of San Jose is a small town that would be preparing to celebrate St. Peter and St. Paul Day. This is a religious celebration that is held on June 29th.

I was amazed at how much flowers and wood shavings were used to create these colorful patterns which were various religious symbols. It seemed as though everyone in this small town was involved one way or another. Everyone seemed to be having a good time, smiling, and basically it was a labor of love and good will.

Our next stop would be in the Monterverde area.

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Photos

Fleur de Lys
The hotel I stayed at in San Jose. Barney would be proud of the color.

Celebrate
The beauty of the flowers were astounding.

Working together
You could see the enjoyment that the townspeople had while working on this.

Petal power
I don't know if there were as many petals here, as there is in the Rose Bowl Parade.

Keeps on going
This seemed endless, but it never ran out of beauty or color.

Sunny in San Jose
This artist seemed to enjoy what he does.

Artist in San Jose
I loved the suns!

Colorful bottles
San Jose style