Alajuela

I lied. I didn't go to the rainforest. Something about walking alone through a forest full of poisonous plants, frogs and snakes didn't appeal to me. Instead, I traveled to Alajuela, the fairly large capital of the northern province of the same name: what a great decision!

First was the obligatory stop at the local Catholic churches, La Iglesia de Santo Cristo de la Agonía (below) and the slightly less ornate Catedral de Alajuela. Both contained beautiful paintings, the former with large murals of colonial missionaries on the walls and the latter with large murals of Biblical stories painted on the ceiling. I finally found a Methodist church as well! Much smaller than the others, of course, and it was closed, but maybe I can return another day?

Next I stopped at the museum dedicated to Juan Santamaría, the Alajuela-born national hero of Costa Rica. A very interesting history is associated with him. In the 1850s, Tennesseean William Walker wanted to create a new tropical empire by enslaving the indigenous and mestizo (mixed-race) people throughout Central America. Taking advantage of a civil war in Nicaragua, Walker became the de facto president of that country in 1855. He sent his army to invade Costa Rica the next year in order to expand his empire, but was fended off by a ragtag militia of farmers and campesinos. Santamaría, a drummer boy, lost his life setting fire to an enemy stronghold, effectively defeating Walker's army and martyring himself for Costa Rica. (P.S. There's a distinct possibility that Juan Santamaría never existed) Walker continued his effort to enslave Central America, but was ultimately defeated by a Central American coalition army. He was executed in Honduras in 1860. More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Walker_(filibuster). The museum itself hosted a random collection of paintings, printing presses, and cannons related to the war and was housed in a former prison across from the central park in Alajuela.

I followed the museum with a bus ride to the outskirts of the town to the beautiful Zoo Ave, host to masses of local animals including macaws, peccaries, ocelots and quetzals. The park, run by an environmental group as a combination public awareness/animal rescue/rare species breeding/nature preserve, was littered with snarky pro-environment signs like this one below.

Will you keep torturing your mother?

At Zoo Ave, I finally achieved my goal of seeing a toucan. Too bad it wasn't in the wild.

Upon returning to Alajuela proper, I found a traveling hand puppet show entertaining the crowds in the central park. The main character, Juancito (below), fought off an Uncle Ghost, a Nephew Ghost and the Devil from the house of his girlfriend, María, by beating them over the head with a huge club.

So who needs the rainforest or the beach with a town like Alajuela? I'll take a toucan and a puppet show over those any day.

Pura vida,

Eric