San Jose - Costa Rica - photos of sightseeing in San Jose on Worldisround

San Jose - Costa Rica

by Tim May

Most trips to Costa Rica's natural wonders begin in San Jose, the capitol city. We spent a few days there. San Jose is a working and living city and not specifically a tourist destination. There are many things to see, but it is clear that this is a city of the people. It had a wonderful pulse. We stayed outside town but went into the city several times.

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Hotel Nuevo
I was interested in the lines and colors in this photo, and in how...

Protest
While we were in San Jose there was a protest march of the telephone workers.

At the Spirogryra Jardin de Mariposas 1
We visited a small butterfly garden. The next few pictures are from the garden.

Spirogryra Jardin de Mariposas 2
I suppose that the green helps with the camouflage.

Pre-butterfly
My wife was pleased that I also took a picture of a caterpillar.

Butterfly on net
The entire garden was covered with this netting to keep the butterflies in.

Spirogryra Jardin de Mariposas 5
I love the detail on this butterfly.

Spirogryra Jardin de Mariposas 6
Wing detail. I like the red and black.

Spirogryra Jardin de Mariposas 7
This is the previous butterfly from a different view.

Moth
I understand that the big black dot is supposed to appear as a eye so that...

Spirogryra Jardin de Mariposas 9
Unfortunately this butterfly is dead. It did, though, make it easier to focus.

Spirogryra Jardin de Mariposas 10
Another butterfly.

Yellow and Blue
This is one of my favorite shots. I like the texture and color.

Teatro Nacional - Chandelier
The Costa Ricans are justly proud of the Teatro Nacional which is one of San...

Chandelier Close-up

Cart Wheel
The brightly colored carts are a part of the Costa Rican historical tradition.

Cart
A pull back view of the cart.

Back View of a light display
We didn't see this lit, but it must have been quite pretty at night. This...

Bullet Holes
This building is pock marked with bullet holes from the 1948 civil war. This...

Not a Ghost 1
I took this picture inside the Museo Nacional. It is a glass negative.

Glass Negative
The Museo Nacional is on a hill. The city of San Jose is seen through the...

Negative and Positive
I used Photoshop to invert the negative into a positive.

City View
I took this photo outside the Museo Nacional. I loved the colors.

Distant View of Spirogrya Jardin
This is a view of the butterfly garden. It was taken from the Museo de Jade...

Courtyard and Roof
Taken from the 7th story.

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view all 30 photos

article published 6/7/2003

Comments

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Love CR
I'm Costa Rican and I hate yand love different things of my country (as anbody might say, I guess), but I've visited hundreds of places, I've worked in 3 cities, I travel every day long distance to my job and I haven't been mugged or assaulted a single time. Ellie Robb, may be your chose a very very bad source for your post
— Marlon Saborio, February 4, 2008

Nice photos..do you have any pictures of the nice parts of San Jose? Seems you only take pictures of the slums. Good work though!
— BobBy, March 15, 2005

Everything is so beautiful. Thanks for sharing them. I'm sure there is more to come. Isn't photography fun. I'm kind of a nut myself but without sophisticated equipment.
— Jacqueline Webb, October 31, 2004

This butterfly makes me happy!!!!
— Lauren, February 4, 2004

Thanks for your wonderful photos, esp. butterflies and oxcart wheels! I was in C.R. in the 1980', visited some Americans living there: they told us one cannot leave one's home, even for a moment, or thieves will break in!! They even will take off a corner of the roof! so, I guess if one wants to live in C.R., best to live in a guarded apartment! That accounts for all the wire, around the place. too bad.
— ellie robb, June 22, 2003

Kind Words
Thank you, Margrit, for your kind words. They mean a lot to me as it is YOUR country and city which I photographed and I hoped to do a good job of getting some of the spirit of San Jose.
— Tim May, June 21, 2003

my lovely country
Tim the photos are just great, they really express the vibration of the moment i would love to have such of great shots for my city tour lecture.
— margrit, June 21, 2003

Wonderfully diverse imagery
Hi, Tim. Thanks for posting these photos. You often are able to turn ordinary subjects into extraordinary pictures through abstraction, texture, color, and shape. I particularly enjoyed the glass negative, which when photographed against a window appears to be a ghost.
— Phil Douglis, June 8, 2003

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