Calm in the Orosi Valley

Children play in the street and business goes on as usual Thursday in the quiet, rural town of Orosi, Costa Rica. The Orosi Valley, in the county of Cartago, is a lush, fertile area full of coffee plantations and various other crops. Some consider the Orosi valley the most beautiful valley in Costa Rica.


Two girls try to gain their balance on a bicycle while riding down the street in downtown Orosi.

Anti-CAFTA in Paradise

As the Oct. 7 referendum approaches, anti-Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) sentiment is spreading to the hills across the Costa Rican landscape. It quite literally is written in the land in a town called Paraiso (Paradise).

— Christopher

CAFTA Graffiti

A man walks past a wall near the Legislative Assembly building in downtown San Jose, Costa Rica Tuesday. Many walls around the government buildings are covered with mostly anti-Central American Free-Trade Agreement (CAFTA) messages — this one stating "Mesoamerica (Central America) in a fight."

Costa Rican voters will decide the fate of the extremely controversial trade pact with the United States in a referendum Oct. 7.

Cemeteries

Tres Rios Cemetery with the city of Tres Rios in the distance. Cemeteries throughout Latin America consist of tombs built above ground. Hundreds of the tiled tombs are adorned with flowers, crosses and statues of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.


Rows of tombs in the Tres Rios Cemetery in Tres Rios, Costa Rica.


— Christopher

La Feria de Tres Rios

A woman totes a cart filled with fruit she bought at the feria (farmers' market) Saturday in the San Jose suburb of Tres Rios, Costa Rica. Hundreds from the surrounding neighborhoods flock to the center of town to buy and sell fruit, vegetables and arts and crafts. Young boys are seen pushing wheel barrels down the street to to carry home their food.


A vendor sits at his booth along the street Saturday in Tres Rios.


Among the produce and arts and crafts sold at the feria are various types of fresh pressed or squeezed juices. This juice vendor actually has a sugar cane press, which is right next to the containers of juice, that they use to extract the sugar for the drinks. Guarabana juice is a popular refreshment throughout Costa Rica.


A customer, left, inspects some produce while the vendor arranges his products at the feria in Tres Rios Saturday. Among the plethora of fruit and vegetable vendors are a handful of vendors who sell flowers.


A man sets up shop away from the main crowd, but near the central park, to sell bananas out of the trunk of his car Saturday in Tres Rios.

Cartago Ruins

These church 100-year-old church ruins draw tourists to the city of Cartago, about 24 kilometers southeast of the Capital city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Before construction was finished, church was destroyed in the 1910 earthquake. This is where, last Friday, president Arias, news crews and hundreds of residents gathered to participate in pre-Independence Day festivities. That included the torch bearer lighting the cauldron at the main steps of these ruins.

— Christopher

Rainy Season in San Jose

Workers try to install a drainage pipe on a second-story gutter Sept. 16 in downtown San Jose as torrential rains turn the streets into rivers. The rainy season is here and recent downpours have caused serious damage across the country, including sinkholes and major flooding.

— Christopher

Day Trip to Irazu

Julie, Chris and David spent the weekend bumming around — we actually only work 40 hours a week or less, now. On Sunday, we took a bus from Tres Rios to Cartago and waited at the 500-year-old church ruins for the bus to the top of Volcano Irazu. The bus took us up through the hills and past small farms overlooking Cartago to just over 3,400 meters (11,000 feet). From there, we spent about two hours walking around to view the two craters.


As we approached the fenced-off edge of the walking area, the faint odor of sulfur wafted up from the base of the crater below. To one side was an open field of black volcanic sand. To the other side a fence, and then, a drop off.


Down below lay the calm green water of the lagoon 300 meters (almost 1,000 feet) down. This is the largest crater, which is more than a kilometer across.



It was cloudy, and a bit chilly at that altitude, so we meandered along the fence, waiting for a break in the clouds or looking for any new views down into the crater before heading to the cafe for a snack and a "cafe negro." Before entering the cafe and gift shop, we stoped to take pictures of the tentative, but friendly coatis.


They were searching for food in the parking lot, the garbage cans, as well as any hands extended with bits of food. The five of them moved like they were on a mission, moving like agents searching a home for evidence. Coatis are actually a lot like racoons — they're related — but they have the ablity to hang from or support themselves with their tails.


We finally made it to the cafe and gift shop to rest and kill time before the bus left for Cartago. It's not that we would have bought trinkets or anything if the prices were good, but it was the most expensive gift shop I have ever been in. We drank our coffee and ate our snacks. Then we sat. Waited. Talked. Watched the clouds roll by. And then, we walked around the parking lot for a bit and got on the bus to return to town. It was a fun trip, one of hopefully many more here in Costa Rica.


— Christopher

Independence Day Celebrations in Cartago

Demonstrators chant against the the approval of the Central America Free Trade Act Friday during pre-Independence Day celebrations in Cartago, Costa Rica, east of San Jose. Costa Ricans will vote in a referendum Oct. 7 to approve or reject the controversial trade pact with the United States.


Costa Rican president Oscar Arias watches pre-Independence Day festivities Friday in Cartago, Costa Rica. He later gave a speech, highlighting Costa Rica's 186-year Indepencence from Spain, as well as the upcoming CAFTA referendum, Oct. 7.


— Christopher

Downtown San jose, Costa Rica

This downtown pedestrian street runs for about four blocks through the center of San Jose´s governmental complex and near the National Museum. I take the bus to work every day and walk through this to get to the office of the Tico Times.


Temperatures stay between 75 and 80 here in winter (it is early winter right now), and every other day, more or less, we have torrential rains for an hour to two hours.



- Christopher