Travels to Cartago
They walk carrying rosaries, folding chairs, cameras and wishes. Some walk from the most removed parts of the nation, some walk carrying giant crucifixes on their shoulders, some walk on their knees, but they all walk towards the same thing: “La Negrita” or the Virgin of Los Angeles.
They are the pilgrims who make up nearly half the population of Costa Rica and who journey to the basilica in Cartago every year on August 2nd.
This year, I joined them for 10.5 miles of their romería, a Spanish religious pilgrimage. The basilica in Cartago was built to …
Location: Cartago, Central Valley »
Activities: Historical Sites »
It was 5 a.m. and still dark outside when my alarm clock, our neighborhood rooster, roused me from sleep. I gulped down my morning café. The transition from night owl to morning person complete, I was now raring to go, ready for my second tour with Expediciones Tropicales. Today we were sightseeing in Cartago Province, a part of the country I knew little about, and home to Irazú Volcano, the Orosi Valley and Lankester Botanical Gardens.
My journey began at 7:30 a.m., as I was the first guest to be picked up by our Expediciones Tropicales …
Location: Cartago, Central Valley, Irazu Volcano »
Activities: Bird & Wildlife Watching, Botanical Gardens, Historical Sites, National Parks & Reserves, Volcanoes »
