Cruising From Coast To Coast In Costa Rica
From my 1980 Diary




Scot Walker




  © Copyright 2026 by Scot Walker
National Cathedral, San Jose. Photo courtesy of the author.
National Cathedral, San Jose.  Photo courtesy of the author.

 DECEMBER 1980

December 12 Friday. The flight from DC to San Jose was uneventful but there were hundreds of people milling around but lucky for me, there was a man standing there who was welcoming all Americans. There were two lines, one for groups and the others for individuals. I must have been manic, because I went right to the line for groups—telling myself that I was a group of one but went through customs faster than the proverbial Jack Robinson. I arrived at my hotel around nightfall and decided to eat at the hotel and get a good night’s sleep for my journey ahead knowing I’d spent time both here in Costa Rica and in Guatemala.

December 13 Saturday. San Jose is a large, friendly city. My only mistake was that my travel agent booked me a hotel that was at least a thirty-minute bus ride to city center. The interesting thing about the buses was that you whistled when you wanted the driver to stop. I explored the downtown area and Morazan park. I saw Pelin at the National Theater in San Jose. The theatre is gorgeous, very Victorian in style with gold and details everywhere. I sat in Box #2. When I went to the lobby for intermission and ordered a coffee, the woman took my money without hassle. Later, I realized I should have paid the cashier first, but the polite woman did it for me. I found this was often the case in Costa Rica. What a Great Country!

December14 Sunday. San Jose, Costa Rica. I ate at Kentucky Fried Chicken Restaurant on the day Colonel Sanders died.—I hope I wasn’t the cause!! Then I visited the Cathedral and the National Museum with some of the most glorious Mayan artifacts. The National Museum was a former watchtower and reminded me of a Norman Tower in London. After that I went to the top of Irazu, the volcano, but it was so foggy I couldn't see anything, in fact I almost fell in, but my guide pulled me back in the nick of time. Later, I saw old and new Cartago and Central Park in Heredia. Cartago is in a beautiful valley. Old Cartago reminded me a lot of the ruins in England and Europe—stately cathedrals that have crumbled. There was also a windmill. Next, I visited the Basilica of the Lady of the Angels, where the Virgin Mary was seen on August 2, 1635. The cathedral was very Gothic in style. I also saw the Church of the Agony, Alajuela—which was quite lovely—very Costa Rican in design—very Spanish.
December15 Monday. I took a side trip to Puntarenas on the Pacific. Puntarenas is a beach town—but not developed. I remember the drive from San Jose as we climbed up and down the mountains on narrow roads—it seemed that each bend had a cross where someone went over. To his death. When we arrived, I bought a coconut for five cents and drank the milk—the first time I’ve ever had one straight off the tree and it was marvelous! Then I went to the ox cart factory where I bought a model of a small cart and several other souvenirs. I took pictures of real oxen pulling carts and of the coconuts growing in the coconut trees.

December16 Tuesday. San Jose, Costa Rica. I explored the city, shopped, walked, talked, took pictures and saw Flash Gordon. I was impressed by the fact that the Costa Ricans had digital watches with hourly alarms and were so well behaved because last we season when I visited Mexico and went to a move, the audience there smoked rampantly during the show and many of them spit on the floor. Such a difference—so refined and cultured are these Spanish from their northern neighbors.
Author drinking from his five cent coconut.
December16 Tuesday. San Jose, Costa Rica. I explored the city, shopped, walked, talked, took pictures and saw Flash Gordon. I was impressed by the fact that the Costa Ricans had digital watches with hourly alarms and were so well behaved because last we season when I visited Mexico and went to a move, the audience there smoked rampantly during the show and many of them spit on the floor. Such a difference—so refined and cultured are these Spanish from their northern neighbors.
December 17 Wednesday. Today, I took the tour to Port Limon, on the Atlantic, where I saw a million bananas where everything was mechanized, the picking machines hung right over the bananas and dropped them onto the railroad cars. Port Limon was 100% opposite from Puntarenas. Puntarenas was a resort—with the potential to become a great beach community. Port Limon was 100% port for the exportation of bananas.

December18 Thursday. I spent a final day exploring downtown San Jose, riding the bus that took forever, went to the park and took pictures of the people and places. When I got back to the hotel several of the men my age were outside and kept asking “Aleman? Aleman?” well I had no idea what that meant until later—Aleman means German.

December19 Friday. I left for Guatemala City, Guatemala, and I’ll write more about that trip soon.



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