3 Hours To Go 90 Miles - La Fortuna to Liberia - Costa Rica - Day 5

This 3 foot lizard greeted us at the pool. He did not say anything. 

After spending 2 days exploring the Arenal Volcano and the town of La Fortuna - we steered our rental Nissan west toward Liberia. Although the winding road going over the Great Divide was well-paved and very smooth - it was pretty slow. It had no painted lines on it - and you really miss them. There was little traffic - but drivers tend to use the middle of the road. It would be extremely dangerous in bad weather. 

As we got over the top of the main mountain backbone - there was a noticeable turn from bright green foliage to a drier looking brown. With the drop in elevation - our temperatures went from 75 degrees to 93 degrees. We are now down to 450 feet - for every 1000 feet you come down - the temperature goes up 4 degrees. Bluntly - this is the first really tropical weather we have felt - 93 degrees - 30% humidity - 15 mph breeze - clear blue sunny sky. Since we are just north of the equator - the sun passes directly overhead. To live here permanently - you must really protect your skin from UV rays.  

We arrived in Liberia around noon. This town has about 56,000 people. It was settled as a crossroads on major land routes. They have an international airport - we are staying there. We have only seen 3 planes from noon to 7 taking off. This is as far north in Costa Rica that we will go. Tomorrow night we stay on the Pacific Coast. 

We went into Liberia downtown to see the major museum. We found the building - and old city administration building. We walked around inside - it seemed abandoned. Our Waze tour app said it was open. We had a nice dinner in town. We stopped at a Walmart for some groceries. 

It is so nice traveling with an iPhone. Our T-mobile carrier has kept us connected most of the time. The Waze travel app is very good - because even if you are not getting an iPhone signal - the GPS in the iPhone works for you - so you do not get lost. I did get 2 calls from home - a lot for me - they sounded loud and clear. So - Apple iPhone - T-Mobile - Waze - all get my approval. Lulu is a great navigator - she sets the course and calls out the turns. I brought along my regular Garmin GPS - but without a special set of maps - no luck. Lulu also shops for hotel rooms. She reads reviews and is very good at landing nice hotels for good prices - tonight we are staying in a Hilton for free using Honors points.

A black bird with a big red spot

The German Bakery out in the middle of nowhere - was disappointing

Homes are not strongly built - because hurricanes are rare. A roof is a frame of furring strips - no sub roof - shingles attached to the strips. It makes for an elegant frail frame covered by usually a tin roof. 

We bought a couple buns - they were dry

They have electricity like us - 120 volts - 60 cycles - their plugs look like outs. They make their power by hydro power - geothermal - wind - solar. You often see exposed wires here. 

There is a lot of wood to burn. This is an old wood cooking stove.

Liberia has Vegas climate - hot - dry - but all year around. When it is 93 - 85 degree water is cold. 

This greenhouse was on our Hilton property. I was rooting around.

Our hotel had one electric car plug. We have not seen an electric car anywhere. We filled up with gasoline - it was $4 a gallon. They have lady attendants pumping it. Most of the cars are small Nissan's - Hyundai's - Toyota's - Suzuki's. They are good for the winding narrow road. 

We were in the old museum in downtown. Door was open but no one was around. We could not find anything to look at. 

The museum was in an old city building that seemed like a fort. 

This was supposed to be an open museum.

We bought a local beer - we seldom drink - but it said Costa Rica

This was the from our lunch restaurant in Liberia. 

They use local rock to make a very white concrete. 

Walmart - one dollar equals 600 colones.

A favorite of mine here is the Suzuki Jimmy 4WD.