2008 Costa Rica Southern Skies Fiesta, Volcanos & Rainforest

Feb 9, 2008 – Saturday – La Ensenada “Star” Lodge to San Jose, Costa Rica

We spend our last morning at the Lodge comparing observing notes from the night before. Several of the group pulled all-nighters, since the sky was so wonderful. I think it was perhaps the all-time best observing evening I’ve ever experienced. It was warm, the magnitude 6 sky was steady and crystal clear, and of course the temperature was very comfortable at about 25 Celsius. The bonus was virtually no mosquitoes. I don’t know where they went, but it was a welcome relief.

During our time here, I visually observed more than a dozen southern sky objects visible from this latitude of 10 degrees north. Observing from here has driven home the point that I must travel to the southern hemisphere (South Africa, New Zealand or Australia) sometime in the near future. Observing from those locations will reveal a whole new sky to me. After my trip to New Zealand and Fiji in 2004, I’m convinced that the southern hemisphere has more than its fair share of superb celestial objects, and I must add some of them to my observing log within the next few years.

Before leaving the lodge, we have a group photo taken with our guides and lodge staff, settle our bills, leave some tips for the staff, and then climb aboard the bus bound for San Jose. It is a long drive over the mountains, however we stop for lunch at Sarchi. This is also the tourist trap: t-shirts and caps, knickknacks, and the painted ox carts and furniture Sarchi artisans are famous for. After we check-in back at the Courtyard Marriott in San Jose, it’s nice to have a hot shower and get the dust washed off. It’s also wonderful to connect to the Internet, catch up on the news, and post to my JoeTourist travelogue.

We attend a farewell dinner at the nearby Laguagua Cuban restaurant this evening. It is very noisy with a band playing and the service is slow, but it’s nice to have one last meal together before most of the group return home. Some of us are staying in Costa Rica for a few more days to continue on with the Volcanoes and Rainforest tour (starting tomorrow).