San Jose Zoo

After I finished with the group I spent a couple of days in San Jose. On our previous trip we didn't spend any time in the city so I thought I'd check it out. I stayed in the Gran Hotel Costa Rica which is right on the pedestrian street and beside the Plaza de la Cultura. It's in a historic 1930's building although the interior is modern. I was missing my coffee shop time and enjoyed both Alma De Cafe in the National Theatre next door and Tizate Coffee Shop a few blocks away. Tizate had an upstairs seating area that was seldom busy and I could hang out and drink coffee and work on my photographs.

Despite being in the city, I still looked for nature. I spent the first morning at the Simón Bolívar Zoo and Botanical Garden which was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel. I like to get to zoos and aquariums at opening time to avoid potential crowds. When I arrived there was no sign of anyone but I was five minutes early so I waited. But 10 minutes after opening time, there was still no one around. The gates were wide open so I wandered a little way inside and took a few photos of nearby stuff. A truck drove by and the driver yelled at me (in Spanish). I assume he was telling me they weren't open yet but I thought it was humorous he was pointing at his watch since it was well past opening time. I went back outside the gates and continued waiting. Eventually someone showed up to open the ticket booth.

Close to the entrance there was a pond with turtles. I'm not sure what kind they were.

And various wild birds were hanging around the pond as well. It looked like this Green Heron was sitting on a nest. And the other one was perhaps its mate?

I spent quite a long time sitting on the ground by the ocelot enclosure. I was lucky there was no one else around. As always I have mixed feelings about such animals in captivity. But it is amazing to see them up close separated only by a pane of glass.

I also feel sorry for the primates. It's anthropomorphism, but they often look sad, or at least thoughtful.

Maybe the crocodile is also thoughtful?

Certainly the Green Macaw is.

And maybe the Black Vulture

It's tricky to get photos of snakes through the glass, in dim light but this one turned out ok.

I always like the unofficial residents of zoos. (Like the herons above.) I assume they are attracted by sources of food and lack of predators. Although they need to be tolerant of humans. This iguana was hanging around near the entrance.

Along with a noisy grackle

Of course, there were spiders and insects as well. (But I'll leave the butterflies for another post.)

And some interesting plants and flowers.

Walking back from the zoo I came across this lizard on the sidewalk. I approached slowly and once it got used to me, it didn't seem to mind being photographed.

See all 42 photos in this batch