Day 16 - San Jose, Our Last Day in Costa Rica

Before we left Tortuguero this morning, they had a surprise for us. The turtle conservatory was putting a tracking device on a turtle who laid her eggs last night, which meant we could see her during the daylight and take pix! Poor thing had to wait for the glue to dry before they'd release her, and it takes forever for anything to dry in that humidity!

We flew out of Tortuguero on a small prop plane. It was a cool, new experience for the kids - though Kate thought it was loud. We had a scenic 25 minute flight to San Jose. Seeing Tortuguero from a bird's eye view put the area into perspective - the beach/coast is an island! As you can imagine, Costa Rica is a pretty country to fly over. We flew past Turrialba Volcano. At 10,000 feet high, it's quite large. It is active, with a recent ash eruption last month.

We had a tour of the capital city, San Jose. Then we went to Sibu, an artisan chocolatier. It was as enjoyable as a private tour of a winery, except we were sampling and learning about gourmet chocolate - followed by a gourmet brunch. The kids got to make a chocolate bar.

San Jose is a good place to end a trip - there is no remorse about leaving the city. No more jungle. No more howler monkeys to greet us. I must admit though, it was fun sampling rum in the grocery store (why don't we have that back at home?!). However, leaving is a sweet sorrow. Saying goodbye to new-found girl/friends but esp Glenn and Lisa, who got up at 4am to see us Californians off.

Costa Rica is a wonderful country. Without a doubt it has amazing beauty but the people are equally enriching. They are friendly, genuine, caring and helpful. I very much enjoyed speaking my limited nonsense Spanish with them! "We wait for your family to return!" Pedro said to me.

Now I know the true meaning of Pura Vida!