Editor Pick
Guayabo National Monument
- August 10, 2000
- Rated 3 of 5 by
Tate from Santa Barbara, California
Take a bus to from San Jose to Turrialba, and then catch another bus from Turrialba to the town of Guayabo. Afterwards, you're going to hike, hike, hike up a long road (I hitched a ride with a guy named Hector driving a milk truck) for about an hour and a half until you hit the entrance to the country's only archaeological reserve, Guayabo. Guayabo is an indigenous ceremonial site and probably an old village of some sort, it's still a little unknown because archaeological work is more focused on countries a bit more to the north, such as Honduras and Guatemala. At any rate, there is excellent birding, a cool nature trail to follow, and you can take a guided tour if your Spanish is good enough. There are obvious remains of cobblestone streets and an irrigation system; it's very cool and shrouded in mist (high elevation, almost in a cloud forest).
When I was there, I was lucky enough to be intercepted by a group of students running a survey. They were from San Jose, and after we talked for several hours, they offered me a ride home with them so I wouldn't have to mess around on the buses. So we talked, went out to dinner, and I got back to San Jose right when I thought I would.
From journal Misty Rainforest Adventures