Day 13 - Lankester Gardens

First thing today, we visited a church in the city of Cartago where the Virgin Mary performed miracles. Every year thousands of people make a pilgrimage here to ask God for help. This year the pilgrimage is canceled due to the H1N1 (swine flu) outbreak. People leave small charms that show what was cured and the church has a gallery filled with these things. It was interesting to see...

We headed from there to Lankester Gardens, famous for it's extensive orchid and bromeliad collections. We all wandered the gardens and took in all the beautiful plant life. They are creating a Japanese garden there and working on some water features. Chuck saw a snake about 6 feet long after that I couldn't concentrate on taking great photos!

From there we headed to lunch in a restaurant overlooking the Orosi Valley. We ate at a place that grows it's own fruits, veges, milk, cheese, eggs and chickens. All done organically, they even capture the animal feces and create methane for a power source. The food was good, the view amazing and the green attitude was wonderful!

--P