Costa Rica: Museo de Los Ninos

The Museo de los Ninos, or Children's Museum, is a converted prison

Space Cadet in Training

Did you know there was a Costa Rician astronaut?

Jungle with live animals

Tour guide David

Banana Plantation

Sometimes you just need sleep, so we planned a lazy. Morning. I chose to sleep, eat breakfast and sun by the tiny pool. There were birds playing by the water, and sunshine peeking through the hazy cloud cover.  This isn't the bright sunshine of Mexico, but it warm enough and he breeze is strong.  There isn't a much better way to wake up unless I could figure out the coffee machine.

Once the crew was mobile, we opted for the Museo de Los Ninos. This is the children's museum that was created out of an old prison. We were among the first to experience their new program of tour guides. Each guide is a university student, and some are good with English too. We had Adrian, a tourism student. The girls were fascinated as we explored themes of space, Costa Rican life, banana plantations, the jungle, music, dinosaur and aviation. We had 3.5 hours there and it was nowhere near enough time to see everything. There are inter actives everywhere and lots to play with an explore. There was no time to sit and relax unless you stole it while the children were engaged in play. I have to say, we were very impressed with the staff and the exhibits. All for the price of 8400 colones...can you beat that?  It was very warm in there so I can't imagine a scorching hot day being a good idea.

Airport traffic...took us 45 minutes to do 6 km.

So, thanks to gps (seriously do not even consider driving yourself anywhere without one), I get to relax by the pool, do some laundry and think about supper plans at the resort. We have a tour booked for tomorrow, so should be fun!

San Jose on Dwellable

Southern Alberta: Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump and Bar U Ranch

Alberta has some amazingly quick roads for travel. Sometimes, road trips are wonderful. When in Southern Alberta, I can strongly recommend two intriguing stops for exploration and fun.

First let me introduce you to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. The name says it all. You have to go just so that you can say that you have been to "head smashed". This is a World Heritage Site. Off the beaten path a little bit, it is a two hour drive from Calgary. I was on a bus tour, which had a fortunate stop at Tim Horton's in Claresholm. I say that as the cafeteria at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump is your only other option once you are there.

Once there, you should really go to the very top and walk out to see the Buffalo Jump cliffs. The views are splendid over the rolling prairies and the drop illustrates the purpose to which the cliffs had in days gone by. From there, the museum that is built into the hillside winds you back through five floors of exhibitions and interactive activities. They have an amazing educational center with a small cafeteria and gift shop. I loved the teepee displays and the original artifacts lovingly preserved.

While here, I also took time to wander the trails. These were ominously marked to watch for wildlife but other than people, I didn't see any. Instead, we saw kites flying that were there courtesy of the Art Project. This project sends kites to artists from the First Nations communities to have them painted. They are then flown at Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump.

This was only a two hour stop for us and then we headed back north and west to the Bar U Ranch. Again, this is not on the roads most traveled but is completely doable as part of a day trip. I think that I had more fun here as they had a preserved ranch site. They had the wagon rides and horses. We were able to try our hands at roping (I was terrible) and could visit the chuckwagon for tea and stories. There was the cattle round up and demonstrations along with lots of exhibitions and interpreters to help you out. This is a Parks Canada site so it is well maintained and the fresh baked goods were terrific. The drive to get here is beautiful too. This stop was even fun in the rain!

Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump

The art project

Bar U Ranch learning to rope

Chuck wagon tea

Turner Valley on Dwellable

Calgary's Heritage Park 2014

Heritage Park Spending the day at a museum is something that I love to do, especially when on holiday. Add to that working for museums and life is pretty spectacular. Sometimes, field trips can provide wonderful insight and professional development. Better yet, they provide a window into the history of our past.

While in Calgary, I had the opportunity to explore Heritage Park. Heritage Park is a museum that functions as living history site. What does this mean? It means that the museum is set up to engage the visitor. From costumed interpreters, to the smell of baking, horse drawn wagon rides and the whistle of the steam train, you are invited to go back in time. There are gardens to walk and houses to visit. In each place, you might be greeted by the ladies of the house or the gentleman attending to business. At the fur trading post, you can discuss furs and at the teepee, there might be the opportunity to chat to the Blackfoot people.

My favorite part of visiting Heritage Park is the live theatre performances on the streets. They have short skits that engage visitors into following the stories of old time residents. This year, it was all about black gold and trying to strike it rich. They are also experimenting with cell phone technology to add interpretation into buildings like the school house. Everywhere you go on site, there is something to do and someone to talk to. If you are there before 10:00, you can have breakfast, or you can go the bakery and have a cinnamon bun or try your hand at making ice-cream.

 Things to note:
• Don’t assume this is a short visit. If visiting with children, plan to spend the entire day here.
 • Pack a picnic in a back pack
• Watch the street theatre
• Try the midway rides that are now free with admission
• Bring money for ice cream and the bakery. Yum.
• Wear comfortable shoes and plan your day around the train if needed. The Moyie is a nice quiet relax on the water too.
• Talk to the interpreters, they will make your visit special.

Royal Bank

Gasoline Alley

Talking with the Smithie

Street Theatre

View from the Midway

Best of all, go early so that you get the most out of your day.

Calgary on Dwellable

Los Cabos: Loafing and La Paz

Glorious sunshine streamed through the double deck doors and woke me up. So, the following day in Los Cabos became nothing more than a beach and pool day. The sand was warm on the feet and the bartenders were very attentive. By the end of the day, the skin was warm and the brain was relaxed. Just what I ordered!

We finished the day by wandering the streets of San Jose Del Cabo. This time, we did find the downtown and a very intriguing art district. The plaza was wide open with locals wandering in and across the roads. School children roamed the streets freely and we wondered about the school timetable. The vendors were inviting us in but laughed with us as we refused their almost free offers. Cheapo Phillipo was charming and fun, despite being over priced for our lowly budgets. Eventually we wound up at the Baja Brewery for supper after enjoying the street life. Fabulous food and a great outdoor eating area. What’s not to like?

Cheapo Phillipo (he tattooed himeself with the nickname)

Main Plaza

The following day we managed to snag a rental car for the day. Lesson learned: Either rent from the airport or the concierge. Do not rent from the travel desk as they were unreliable and not even apologetic. The concierge got us a great car price and size quickly and in the meantime, we had a cup of coffee.

The car was brought right to the hotel so we were able to complete all the paperwork from there. That was very convenient and so we set off for La Paz. Now, driving there was not that difficult. First thing to note is that speed limits seem to be guidelines, as are the stop signs and even traffic lights. In addition, with all of the construction they sometimes use real people and sometime cut out men with flags. The only road issues that were taken seriously were the Mexican military check stops.

In the meantime, we drove north through Cabo San Lucas on highway 19 through to Todo Los Santos. The rolling highway with the scenic blue ocean views added in with the mountains and tall cacti were spectacular. There were construction detours that required a bit of an adventurous spirit and I swear that neither of us saw the Hotel California (seriously – how did we miss it?).

The road to La Paz took about 2.5 hours. Once there, we decided to stop at Serpentario de La Paz. Outside the gates, we had some lunch and then wandered it. This place is volunteer run and can definitely use the visitation and funding to rescue animals. There were turtles and snakes, birds and an alligator, bunnies and more tortugas. I enjoyed the aviary where you could feed the birds. They were so trusting and landed willingly on arms and fingers. The bunnies were quite happy to be petted and even the large tortoise tried to get his share of the attention. However, the place isn’t that large so we headed out for more exploring.

 The little car bounced through the roads and we found ourselves down on the waterfront. So, we parked the car and walked towards the Marina and viewed the Malecon. Then, we found a delightful little museum tucked into a gorgeous building. There was art and views that took a bit of time to enjoy. From there, you can easily walk to the Cathedral Catedral de Nuestra Señora de la Paz to take in the lovely art works, the ambience and Lady’s chapel. I was amused to see a day of the dead Halloween style display.

Next up was the Museo de Antropología  where you can get a sense of the history of the region. It seemed to have some displays that were still being redone and honestly, it doesn’t take very long to go through. We were done in under an hour. In fact, by the time we found a coffee shop and had some coffee, we were feeling like La Paz didn’t really have that much more to offer. So, more adventures of road works and bumpy roads ensued. We twisted and turned our way to Bandaros Beach and that should possibly have been our first stop as it was stunning. From rock formations, to a lovely bay and gentle breezes, you can feel like you are in the middle of nowhere.

 The only hiccup we really had was our stop there meant that we were driving home in the dark and we took an alternate way back using Highway 1. You are warned to watch for cows sleeping on the road, but I never saw an alive one until much later in the drive. What was more alarming was the crazy speed bumps that signaled a village ahead that you couldn’t see until you were pretty much impaling your head into the roof. My poor co-pilot didn’t even have anything to hang onto. In the meantime, I will say that the roads minus the speed bumps are really fun to drive. I just think that perhaps daylight might have helped. All in all, it was a great day.