Cartago and the Orosi Valley

Wednesday, April 3

Today we took our final exploratory day trip in Costa Rica - to the former Capitol, Cartago, and beyond to the Valle D'Orosi (Orosi Valley) and the Lankester Botanical Gardens. We hired a private taxi. Our driver, Sergio (pronounced Sehr- yoh), came highly recommended by our hosts, Xavier and Pilar.

We got off to a late start because Sergio got caught up in a huge traffic jam, due to an accident on the highway from San Jose. After he picked us up, we took back roads through Escazu and San Jose to avoid the snarl. It was a long and grueling drive through the city, and we were glad when we reached the road to Cartago east of San Jose.

We headed first to the Orosi Valley. The small town of Orosi is nestled in a basin surrounded by hills or low mountains. This valley is a prime spot for growing coffee, both on the valley floor and running up the terraced slopes of the mountains. The coffee bushes are planted under larger trees to provide partial shade. Sometimes banana trees are used to provide the shade. in this valley, larger deciduous trees are used for this purpose. At the far end of town, there is a coffee processing plant. Coffee-picking time is November through February, so we have missed the whole cycle from flowering to beans ripening to picking.

There is only one road running in and out of the valley. We drove into the town, took a quick look at the sweet church there, drove to the end of the town, turned around and drove back out. On the way out of the valley, we stopped at a couple of view spots. All this was captured in Bob's video below.

Franciscan Church, Orosi, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Trip through the Orosi Valley, Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

Our driver, Sergio, at view spot, Orosi Valley, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

 

Leaving the Valle D'Orosi, we headed back towards Cartago, stopping on the outskirts to visit El Jardin Botanico Lankester, a large garden maintained and operated by the University of Costa Rica.

Welcome sign, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Entrance, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

We toured the garden for almost an hour and a half. There are eight different sections to see. We lingered more in some than others. The first stop is the Orchid Collection. This is what the Garden is most known for. More than 1,000 species of orchids are grown here. There were some orchids in bloom, which show up beautifully in Bob's video:

Orchid House, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

The next section we came to was the Japanese Garden. This was my favorite spot, and we lingered here a while. The garden included two small buildings, a small pond with two bridges - one of stone, the other of painted red wood - a small waterfall, and stands of various kinds of bamboo. There is a lovely sense of tranquility here.

Bob at entrance to Japanese Garden, Lankester Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Red bridge and zig-zag stone bridge, Japanese Garden, Lankester Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Zig-zag bridge to house, Japanese Garden, Lankester Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

 

As we walked along the path through a section called the Secondary Forest, Bob spotted a fascinating surprise - a long, long, line of Leaf Cutter Ants carrying leaves to their nest. We watched these critters for quite a while. Bob shot a video, though it doesn't begin to convey the number of ants we saw or the length of their line. Very impressive!

Leaf Cutter Ants, Lankester Botanical Garden, Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

After this, we needed to move more quickly through the gardens in order to meet Sergio at our agreed-upon time. Here are just a few highlights of all that we saw:

Cactus Garden, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Birds of Paradise, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Heliotropes, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Secondary Forest, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Bob at water sculpture, Lankester Botanical Gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

Bob & Arica Palms, Lankester Botanical gardens, Costa Rica. (Photo by Connie)

 

We met up with Sergio and headed back through Cartago. We saw the ruins of an old cathedral and the more modern one that replaced it. We did not walk around, but instead headed partway up the mountain towards Irazu Volcano where we lunched at a typical Tico restaurant called Mi Tierra (not to be confused with a restaurant of a similar name in Heredia where we ate yesterday). Lunch was delicious and conversation with Sergio about his family and dancing and futbol (soccer) was fun and enlightening.

Then, we were homeward bound, with more San Jose traffic to contend with. We were happy to arrive back at the Casa for a siesta before dinner.

 

Posted with Blogsy