Enga mellom fjella

Good day at Guayabo, Turrialba, Costa Rica

me:

The hostel was totally booked for tonight so I decided to go to the national monument of Guayabo and be patient until I got back ...hoping I'd get lucky.

It's been rainy so poncho and umbrella were essential. Four of us left on the 11:15 bus that cost us ¢400 (80¢). It took a good 45 minutes to crawl up the mountain and the bus was fairly packed.

A bit of a drizzle on the way up while I picked on Chris for being an engineer. We decided to hire a guide ($30) once we got there and Magaly was glad to take us around. She pointed out plants, ants, tombs, aqueducts, mounds, roads...

Guayabo apparently was a major crossroads and important center of the Chibcha culture for possibly hundreds of years. Remnants fled to the Talamancas. Relatives are found in Osa (the huge spheres of the Diquis) and Colombia.

The built with stone foundations, stone burials and stone roads. The houses were circular and domed. The had ceremonies but not the blood sacrifice of either the Maya nor the Aztec. They built Guayabo were any eruption from the volcano would go around them. Being on the slopes of the volcano meant fertile land, plentiful water (river and springs) and access to lowland and highland crops.

The aqueducts still run. The rock covered cisterns still collect potable water. The main road is 6 meters wide and runs 19 kilometers to Turrialba. Most of the site has not been excavated and may never be due to government priorities ...indigenous history isn't one of them.

There are over 150 sites in this one valley, over 3,000 in Costa Rica.

Magaly showed us plants use for medicinal uses, she showed Kate how the copey leaf that when "written on" can hold the message for a year before fading ...she put Kate's name on one. She also pointed out an anteater (oso hormiguero) and a black feline (manigordo). It was the first time she'd seen either in over a year and a half of guiding. she was just as thrilled as we were! We also saw the blue butterflies (el morfo) and leaf-cutter ants. She told us that the big soldiers were used to stitch cuts by making the ant close its huge pincers then twisting the ant off leaving only the head.

Tour cost us $30 as a group but it was worth it.

We ended the day by eating at the mariposario. Kate and I had the casado with fish (tilapia) while Chris and Evan had it with chicken.

Afterwards, Evan played with the puppy Cosi. Evan plays with all animals ...loves the cat at the hostel.

We even had a few moments of sun today! The trip went well ...about 5 hours in all. Got Chris' 6 am ticket to San José bought and went back to the hostel where Lisette had good news for me. There was an available bed ...the same bed.

A very nice ending to a very nice day spent with wonderful people.

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