In 1997 I succeeded in what I could not do on two previous attempts: to visit the amateurs of Costa Rica.  Before every trip, I try to find people in the country I intend to visit, to help me contact active hams.  I always write a bunch of letters to the radio clubs and amateurs I had QSOs with, and received their cards. On the first two occasions I wanted to make a tour of several Central American countries, but I gave up because I did not receive solid leads.   On this third occasion I wrote to Costa Rica, Nicaragua and El Salvador and I received an answer only from the first one, so I decided to go only there.  Besides, I could not find a week when both in Nicaragua and in El Salvador, the army and the rebels, who ever they are, were not showing their anger at each other.  Costa Rica is a stable democracy;  its army was abolished in 1949.    In one of the countries where the civil war is a national pastime, a diary of a soldier was found:
   “July 1.  Today we threw the rebels out of the forest.”
   “July 2.  Today the rebels threw us out of the forest.”
   “July 3.  Today again we threw out the rebels of the forest.”
   “July 4.  Today again the rebels threw us out of the forest.”
   “July 5.  Today came the forest ranger and threw everybody out.”
   In the same country, a man goes to the office of revolutions asking for a pension because he was wounded.  The clerk checks the big register and is asking for the date.  The man gives “May 1, 1995.”  The clerk finds the date and is asking: “Oh yeah, May the 1st.  The morning or the afternoon revolution?”
   But let me get back to Costa Rica.  Ricardo TI2MEN was the one who replied sending me an E-mail, and consequently answered most of my follow-up questions.  From the radio club I got an E-mail just before my flight day, and a letter that arrived after I already left.  It is possible that some of my letters did not reach their destination, because as in some other countries, the dishonest postal workers, addicted to the color green, open letters looking for dollars.  The mail to and from Central America is very slow; many people and businesses use alternative mail addresses, usually in Florida.
   The U.S. has a reciprocal operating agreement with Costa Rica so it not difficult to get there a license. There are three categories of licenses: A, B and C.     From various sources I was given different versions of these privileges; it seems that nobody knows them exactly and nobody really cares about them.
   I borrowed all the books about Costa Rica I could find in the public library and read them carefully.  I was prepared.  Being the rainy season, what the travel guides call the green season, because it sounds more attractive, I took along a plastic poncho to keep me dry.  I never used that poncho, not because it did not rain, but because when I had it with me it was nice and sunny.  When I left it in the hotel I experienced real tropical downpours.  Anybody wants to buy a well traveled but never used (not even on Sundays) plastic poncho?
   A friend once spent a week in a tropical country and he said that it rained only twice: first for four days; then only for three.
   I read that one should be aware of pickpockets.  I was prepared for them also.  I bought a vest, the kind used by fishermen and hunters.  It has 28 pockets; big pockets and small pockets; visible ones and hidden ones; outside pockets and inside pockets,  even pockets in other pockets, and pockets in places I never imagined they could be.  I put my money in one pocket, and stuffed the others with newspapers cut to size; let the pickpocket find his way through that.  I even added to every bundle of newspaper a bilingual note:
   “Dear Thief, perhaps you are prettier than I am, but I am smarter than you are.”
   “Caro Ladron, capaz usted es mas amable que yo, pero yo soy mas habil que usted.”
   Of course, if they would have taken away my vest,  then they would have been smarter too.
   The only trouble I had with this vest was in a store when I had to pay for a purchase, and I could not find my money.  The salesman looked suspisiously at this old gringo who kept pulling out bundles of cut papers from his various packets but no real green stuff came out.
   On this trip I took along my daughter Diane KB2KLV who is working on her doctoral dissertation on forest conservation, and is interested in rain forests.  I have no interest whatsoever in muddy jungles but I went with her on some of her field trips and saw caimans, crocodiles, iguanas, sloths, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and all kind of birds.  Caimans and crocodiles I prefer to watch on television.
   Diane came with me when I visited and photographed the hams, and being an inactive ham herself, dormant like most of the volcanoes in Costa Rica,  she started to like visiting the people and practicing her Spanish.

   When we arrived to the San Jose airport, Rodrigo TI2RAO, the president of the Radio Club of Costa Rica was waiting for us holding up something like a license plate with his callsign.  At the airport I exchanged money and I received 234 colons for a dollar.  At the information booth I received some flyers and addresses of a couple of medium priced hotels and I have chosen Hotel Doral at $33.00 for a double room with private bath, breakfast included.  There the staff was really helpful with much good advice.
   San Jose is at 3,770 feet above the sea level.  In Costa Rica the are no addresses as we know it, with street and house numbers.  Checking the TI amateurs in the Callbook, which by the way was not updated for years, one can see that most hams have post office boxes, which are not good enough if one tries to find them.  Others have addresses like: “200 metros Norte del edificio ICE” meaning “2 blocks north of the ICE building” so one first has to know where the ICE building is, then check out half a dozen buildings.  If he is looking for a Jimenez or a Ramirez in an large apartment house, he may find six of each, and then he has to figure out which one is the “radio aficionado.”  Some have something like: “Calles 3 y 5, Avenida 8” which translates: “between 3rd and 5th streets, on 8th avenue.”  Others are even more vague giving only the section and the city like: “Aranjuez, San Jose.”
  Street and avenue signs are rare and few locals go by them.  Once when we tried to return to our hotel,  at an intersection we asked a group of four people in which direction is “avenida 4 and calle 8.”  All four, helpfully and convincingly, pointed to different directions.  When exasperated I said that is not possible, all four changed their minds and pointed to opposite directions, still to four different ways.  The “Ticos” as the Costa Ricans are called,  are always trying to help a stranger but they are not quite good in giving directions.
  First we dropped our luggage at the hotel and then we started the visits.  Rodrigo TI2RAO took us to Carlos TI5KD, ex TI2KD, nicknamed Keko, who lives outside San Jose.  Carlos, a native of Minnesota, has several calls: KD4ZNB, YN1KDM and TI9W.  His wife Sophia is TI2IY.  Both have the highest category “A” licenses, and both have QSL cards.  Keko owns and runs a communications company, building towers and antennas.  He has several of them.  On a 110 feet tower he has a 2 element Yagi for 40 meters, a 6 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, two vertical wire dipoles for 80 meters, an inverted L for 160 meters, and an inverted V also for 160 meters.  Keko said that he had to keep his 110 feet tower “short” because of the proximity to the airport.
   Keko’s second tower is 75 feet tall and holds a 3 element Yagi for 12 meters, two 6 element Yagis for 10-15-20 meters, both rotatable but during contests are set at different directions.  The third tower is a 60 footer and has a 5 element Yagi for 17 meters.  A fourth tower is on the top of his three story building, with VHF antennas at 45 feet from the ground.  To photograph Keko’s large antennas I had to go to a neighbor’s chicken farm where a big bad dog was watching my every move.  Perhaps because I look like a Gypsy chicken thief.
   Keko told me that is running about 1 kW but seeing two big amplifiers in his shack, I thought he was just modest.  He is a contester and a DXer; he is the first TI station to get the 5BWAZ; he has the 5BDXCC and satisfied the conditions for the Honor Roll.
   Next, Rodrigo TI2RAO took us to the Radio Club of Costa Rica (established in 1953), in the Zapote district of San Jose.  The club has its own building; the telephone is (506) 224-40-35; the members meet Tuesday evenings.  There they have a modest 100 Watt station with wire dipoles; the call is TI0RC, and TI1N during contests or on special occasions.  The club has QSLs and answers them when receives requests.  The QSL bureau is handled by Rodrigo TI2RAO.  Not all the Costa Rican amateurs are members of the club, and thousands of QSLs arrived to the bureau are not picked up, thus not answered.  I saw big piles of cards addressed to a ham who often operates from Cocos Island, the senders can wait forever for that elusive “new one.”
    Most of the TI hams do have QSL cards and many answer them eventually, however lots of requests for QSL are not received because of the above mentioned pilfering by postal employees.
   At the club we met William TI2WGO, TI1G in contests, the club’s secretary.  He works in the engineering department of an electronics company, attends evening courses at the University, and is teaching electronics in a high school.  Busy little fellow.  William TI2WGO is nightly on 7.015 to 7.025 MHz, and he does QSL.
   We also met Francisco TI3FCO, an assistant manager for a bus company.  Francisco lives in Cartago, east of San Jose, he is in the club’s “junta,” and he also QSLs.
   The Radio Club of Costa Rica is member of IARU and FRACAP (Federation of  Radio Amateurs of Central America and Panama).  The club occasionally publishes a little bulletin named “QRM” which is mailed to its members.  Many of these bulletins are returned because the addressees moved and did not notified the club.  There is a constant effort to increase the membership by attracting active amateurs, and qualifying new ones.  The test for amateur radio licenses has two parts: one theoretical with questions in electronics and regulations, and a practical one, operating a station.  Telegraphy is not part of the test.

   From San Jose my daughter Diane and I took a bus (costs 120 colons, about 50 cents) to Alajuela, about 12 miles north-west from the capital.  At the terminal we met David TI5RLI who drove us to the nearby Bella Vista.  David is a Californian with several other calls: KJ6P, TI9X and TE9RLI (for satellite) from Cocos Island, CT1BLF, YN1RLI and OA7ADJ, and he does have some really nice QSL cards.  David is a broadcast consultant for the Seven Day Adventist Church, and has an A class license.  His brother Daniel is also a ham.  David’s wife Joy is a teacher and has appropriately the TI5JOY call (and QSL cards), as well N6LOU.  Joy’s father Paul is N6LWQ, and her brother Jim is also an amateur.
   David’s location is 4,000 feet high.  One of his towers is 160 feet high (built by Keko’s company) and has the Force 12 antennas: a 2 element Yagi for 40 meters and a 2 element Yagi for 80 meters (!!!).   His second tower, a 65 footer, has a 3 element cubical Quad for 10-15-20 meters.  He also has a sloper for 160 meters.  With this setup there is no wonder that Dave TI5RLI in on the Honor Roll.
   I saw some very exclusive neighborhoods with beautiful, large houses, protected by high security iron fences.  The streets were labyrinthine, with armed or unarmed guards at some intersections.  I heard that a thief stole there a car and was caught shortly after, because he could not find his way out of the maze,
   David took us to Alajuela to see Roberto TI5RSH, the former president of the local radio club TI0ARA.  Roberto’s wife Gabriela TI5GGT is the secretary of TI0ARA.  Their station is in the back of their auto parts store.  They are on packet and use mostly 2 meters.  Roberto has QSL cards, Joy does not.  I found similar situation in many amateur radio families: only the macho husband had cards and used most of the air time.  The wives talk on 2 meters mostly, and in some cases exclusively, with their husbands while they travel around.  In such occasions, indeed,  there is not much need to send a QSL card.
   Roberto TI5RSH and Gabriela TI5GGT used to have an apartment above the store but the 1990 earthquake, when the Poas volcano erupted violently,  destroyed the building.  Since then, they rebuilt the store and built a new house.
   Costa Rica has about 100 volcanoes; seven of them are active.  The rich volcanic soil is excellent for farming and the population is used to frequent earthquakes.  On the day of our departure, the Irazu volcano (elevation over 11,000 feet), near Cartago, east of San Jose, showed its strength and it was felt even in our hotel.

   Next morning Rodrigo TI2RAO took me from the hotel to one of the many bus terminals to get to Turrialba, about 34 miles east of San Jose.  There are several bus companies and most of them have their own terminal.  The ticket was 250 colons, and the trip took over 2 hours because of the bad roads.  On this trip I went alone because my daughter Diane went north to see the scientific work done similar to hers at La Selva, where the Organization for Tropical Studies  has a biological research station, near the Sarapiqui river.  Turrialba is at an elevation of about 2,000 feet.  There Olbert TI3OMY was waiting for me and took me to the house of Gerardo TI3GGS and his wife Kattia TI3KRE.
   Gerardo TI3GGS, licensed in 1969,  is an electrician and a mechanic.  For now he is using a wire dipole but I saw in his backyard a huge tower ready to be put to good use.  Kattia TI3KRE, licensed in 1995, is a dressmaker.  They use a 100 Watt transceiver and a computer.  Gerardo’s callsign TI5GGS is on their red Volkswagen.
   Turrialba is one of the five cities in Costa Rica where there is a radio club; the call is TI0TRC.  The members meet at the local fire station.  The president Olbert TI3OMY, licensed in 1980, is a lab technician collecting and analyzing blood.  His wife Mary TI3AMY, licensed also in 1980, is an architectural draftsperson.  They have a his & hers type QSL card.  Their station is similar to Gerardo and Kattia’s: a 100 Watt transceiver and a computer.  Olibert and Mary are using a wire dipole for 15-20-40 meters, and a 12 element, vertically polarized Yagi for 2 meters.
   My visit to Turrialba was due to a QSO I had from my home in New York with Sergio TI3SMT who gave me his phone number.  When I called him from the hotel he asked me if I would come to his town.  I said that I would, if there are enough hams to photograph, and so I did.
   I met Sergio TI3SMT in front of a school where he has the food concessionary, and we went to see his station.  Sergio, licensed in 1996, is a contester and a DXer, and he does have a QSL card.  On the top of his 40 foot tower is a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, an inverted V for 40 meters, a 4 element vertically polarized Yagi for 2 meters, and a vertical for the same band.  Sergio displays his callsign TI3SMT on the windshield of his car.
   Next to visit was a family of three hams: husband Jose TI3AMT, licensed in 1985; wife Lorena TI3LAT, licensed in 1995 ; and daughter Nazira TI3MNO, licensed also in 1995.  They own a clothing store attached to their house, and workers were just adding some rooms to it.  Jose TI3AMT works for an insurance company and he is the most active on the air.  Lorena TI3LAT runs the store, and Nazira TI3MNO is a university student.  They have a very nice station with a 5 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters and a wire dipole for 40 meters.  Only Jose TI3AMT, the head of the family, has a QSL card.  All three, like most of Costa Rican amateurs, operate only on SSB.
   Next to see was another family of three amateurs: husband Francisco TI3JFB, a mechanic; wife Nuria TI3NPE, a housewife; and son Christian TI3CBP, a university student majoring in geography.  They have a good station with a 6 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, and antennas for 2 meters.  Francisco TI3JFB is the most active in the family and he has QSL cards.  They use only SSB and talk only with Spanish speaking hams.
   In the evening I attended a ham gathering in the house of Alexis TI3TRB, up on the mountain side overlooking Turrialba, elevation about 3,280 feet.  Alexis, a native of Panama, is an agricultural engineer working for the National Institute of Instruction.  Alexis TI3TRB, licensed in 1997, has a very small 2 meter rig (and a CB station), and a home made tower with a 5 element Yagi for 2 meters, but because of his excellent location he is getting out all right.  Alexis does not have a QSL card but his callsign TI3TRB is big on his car’s windshield.
   At the party was plenty of food and soft drinks but no alcoholic beverages.  Besides the host and his family, it was attended by Olibert TI3OMY and his wife Mary TI3AMY, Gerardo TI3GGS and his wife Kattia TI3KRE, Sergio TI3SMT, Walter TI3WMJ, and a bunch of kids.
   Walter TI3WMJ is from Germany; he owns a 95 acre “finca” a cattle farm because, as he said, he always wanted to be a “vaquero.”  Impressed by American westerns, in which the cowboy always gets the girl, he even got a young and pretty Costa Rican wife, Elvia TI3CSE.  At the latest count, Walter owned 180 cows but every time he counts them, instead of having more, he has less.  In the industrialized countries cars are stolen, here is the cattle.  Instead of being disassembled in chop shops, they quickly find their way to slaughter houses.
   Walter TI3WMJ, the German cowboy, is using 100 Watts with an 8 band vertical antenna.  In the car he has a 2 meter rig.  His wife Elvia TI3CSE talks on the radio only with her husband, JAWOHL!
   On the nearby Turrialba volcano, at an elevation of 11,000 feet, the radio club has two solar powered repeaters on the top of a 100 feet tower; one for packet and the other one for communications.
   I spent the night in the house of Gerardo TI3GGS and next morning Walter TI3WMJ came to take me back to San Jose, and the trip took 1 1/2 hours.
    I have to mention that the Costa Rican have a very nice and useful saying: “si Dios chiere” (God willing).  When agreeing to something but they don’t want to be tied down, they place the responsibility on a higher authority, so if they can not keep a promise it is because God was not willing.  Another often heard saying and greeting is “pura vida” meaning good life, and indeed they can enjoy it to the fullest.

   We met Minor TI2YO in the town, I said “auf wiedersehen” to Walter TI2WMJ, the cattle baron, not foreseeing that indeed I’ll meet him again at the airport, on my way back to the states.  Then I went to see Minor’s station, which is well equipped but his 6 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters was not installed on his tower.  He has wire dipoles for 40 and 80 meters.  Besides TI2YO, Minor has several other calls: TI9YO for Cocos Island, TE2M for contests, YN0TI and HT7YO in Nicaragua, where, he said, is easy to get a license.  He has several types of QSL cards.  Minor is a communications technician; he installs and maintains repeaters and mobile communications systems.  He has a couple of transceivers and two computers.  Minor TI2YO works on SSB and RTTY, sorry no CW, is a contester, is on 2 meter packet, and has DX cluster.  He has 270 countries confirmed and the first and only DXCC on RTTY in Central America.  During his 1992 DXpedition to Cocos Island operating as TI9YO, Minor was the first to work on RTTY from that location.  He speaks a usable English and has E-mail: [email protected].
   Minor drove me to Ricardo TI2MEN who was very helpful to me during the preparation of my trip, giving me information through E-mail.  Ricardo is running a large family hardware and machinery store.  His wife Cecilia TI2CPM is a housewife; both were licensed in 1980 and speak perfect English.  Ricardo has two stations  (two is better than one, isn’t?), one at home and the other one at his office.  At home Ricardo has a couple of transceivers, a 1.5 kW amplifier, a 100 foot tower with a rotatable dipole for 40 and 80 meters on the top, a 7 element Yagi for 10-12-15-17-20-40 meters below it, and a sloper for 80 and 160 meters.  At the office he is using a 4 element Yagi for 10-15-20-40 meters, as well as Yagis for 2 meters and 70 cm.  Ricardo is a contester and a DXer; has 238 countries confirmed.  He runs 24 hours a day two packet stations and DX clusters, both from home and office.  Ricardo TI2MEN and Cecilia TI2CPM have “A” class licenses, and his & hers type QSL cards.
   Next to visit was Armando TI2AEB, an electrical engineer working for the telephone company.  He lives in a very nice house, in a select neighborhood.  Armando was licensed in 1971 but he really started in amateur radio in 1955 as the second operator of his father who was TI2AB.  Armando TI2AEB has a tower with a 7 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters.  For satellite operation he is using a 14 element Yagi for 2 meters, and a 40 element Yagi for 70 cm.  He worked over 70 countries via satellite, and he does QSL.  Armando speaks a very good English.  He is a builder, prefers digital communications and automatic operations.  He is one of the few Costa Rican amateurs who works on CW.  Armando has three computers: one controls his stations; the other one is for BBS; and the third one is for ... fun and games.
   From Armando, Minor took me to the house of Rodrigo TI2RAO, an attorney and the president of the Radio Club of Costa Rica.  Rodrigo has a 50 foot tower with a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a vertical for the same bands, a wire dipole for 40 meters, and a 5 element Yagi with vertical polarization for 2 meters.  Rodrigo TI2RAO, has an A class license, is using 100 watts, and is computerized.  He is a contester, a DXer, works SSB and RTTY.  Rodrigo has a nice QSL card and he does answer requests; it’s his double obligation considering that he is running the country’s QSL bureau.  Using his vertical antenna he operates also via satellites.  His wife Alia TI2LYM works only on 2 meters.  Rodrigo was very helpful during my stay in Costa Rica, arranging most of my visits, both in the capital and in the other cities.
   Next to see was Mel (from Manuel) TI2MEF, licensed in 1954, a civil engineer specialized in environment protection.  Mel also lives in a very nice house surrounded by beautiful tropical vegetation, planted by himself.  He studied in the United States and speaks perfect English.  Mel has a 70 foot tower with a 4 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a G5RV wire antenna for 10 to 80 meters, and verticals for 2 meters and 70 cm. His favorite bands are 17 and 40 meters, has a A class license. works only SSB and has QSL cards.
    I asked Mel to go on the roof so I can photograph him near his antenna.
   “Oh my God! On the roof? Oh my God!” he said.
   “Yes, please, on the roof.”
    Mel climbed up on the roof but because I did not have enough room to take both Mel and the antenna I asked him to climb up on the tower.
   “Oh my God! On the tower? Oh my God!”
   “Higher, please.”
   “Oh my God! Higher? Oh my God!”
   Still not being able to get the entire picture even with a wide angle lens, I asked Mel again:
   “Even higher, please.”
   “Oh my God! Even higher? Oh, my God!”
   So in order to get a good photo, Mel kept climbing and praying.  What wouldn’t a ham do to get his picture in a magazine?
    Mel has a large collection of (smoking) pipes and pipe tobaccos from all over the world.  His wife Marta TI2TY used to be active on the air, but nowadays she enjoys more ... going on shopping sprees.
   The last amateur to visit was Victor TI2VVR.  Licensed in 1976, Victor is a math and physics professor at the University of Costa Rica.  He is DXer with over 300 countries confirmed, works on SSTV, SSB and RTTY.  Victor has a A class license (the highest) and a nice QSL card.  His tower is 82 feet high, has a rotatable dipole for 40 meters on the top, a 4 element Yagi for 10-15-17-20 meters below it, a sloping dipole for 80 meters, and a long wire for 160 meters.
   In the evening my daughter Diane returned from La Selva research station so the following trips we did together.  Next morning we went with Minor TI2YO to Braulio Carrillio national park.  It is a very big place and includes also the Brava volcano.  I tried to follow Diane and Minor on the slushy trail but climbing up on the muddy and slippery trail was too much for me.  Diane said:
   “Isn’t this fun, dad?”
   “Yes - I said - it is lots of it but I don’t deserve so much fun!” and I turned back, waiting for them at the ranger’s station.  There is also a shorter trail, much easier to do, and I have done that.

   Next morning Rodrigo TI2RAO took us from the hotel to the bus going to Ciudad Quesada, in the province of San Carlos.  The 68 miles ride costs 530 colons (about $2.26) and lasted about 2 1/2 hours.  In Costa Rica, with the exception of portions of a couple of main roads, it is pothole after pothole.  Trying to avoid them the cars change continuously from one lane to another.  On a two-lane road that means that  they are often on the opposite lane.  Even with the low speed limits of 45-90 km/hour (28-56 miles/hour), it can be frightening seeing cars, trucks and big buses coming towards you on your lane, then 50 feet before reaching you shifting back to their lane.  The speed limits are much lower than in the states, probably because of the bad roads.  I saw posted even 25 km/hour what is about 15 miles/hour, exactly the speed many new-yorkers go through stop signs.  At nights, cars go faster than during days because the drivers not seeing all the potholes do drive through them; the cars shake and bounce a lot, affecting shocks and passengers, but go faster.
    Arriving to Quesada, we waited about 10 minutes at the bus terminal until Minor TI5MLS, William TI5WMC and Manuel TI5MMB showed up.  I wore a tee shirt I got from the Turrialba radio club, and a tag with my call on it,  so they recognized me easily.  We walked to the house of Gustavo TI5GCO, a university student licensed in 1995 with a B class.  On the top a tall tower he has a 3 element Yagi for 10 meters, and Yagis for 2 meters.  Gustavo has a factory made transceiver and a computer.  He does not have QSLs.
   Next to see was William TI5WMC, a TV cameraman, licensed in 1995, also with a B class.  On the top a mast mounted on the roof, at a height of 33 feet, William has a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a Yagi for 2 meters, and a wire dipole for 20 and 40 meters.  William TI5WMC operates on SSB and SSTV.  He has 7-8 different types of QSL cards, I don’t know if he sends any, but he has plenty.  To photograph William near his antenna I had to climb on the roof covered with thin corrugated sheet metal.  A wrong step could have landed me below on the kitchen table, among pots and pans full of white rice and black beans, and I would have just hated that.
   In Quesada there is a radio club called Ecos del Norte, and the call is TI0AEN.  They don’t have a club building; the amateurs meet occasionally in the members’ houses.
   We also saw the station of Minor TI5MLS, licensed in 1995, with an A class.  Minor is teacher.  His wife Sonia TI5STL, licensed in 1997 is a librarian, and the 13 years old Minor Jr. TI5CGO, licensed in 1997, is in school.  They have a 10 element Yagi, a 3 element Yagi and a vertical, all for the 2 meter band.  For 10 meters they use an inverted V.  They have packet and operate only on SSB.  Only Minor TI5MLS and his son Minor Jr. have QSL cards; Sonia has nada.  The TI5MLS call, with big letters, is on the windshield of their family car.
   We went to see the house and station of Manuel TI5MMB.  He lives outside the city, high up on a mountain, elevation about 3,000 feet.  Manuel TI5MMB was licensed in 1995, has A class; his wife Marlene TI5GTS was licensed recently in 1997.  Both have QSLs.  Manuel is a “vaquero,” has a cattle farm, as has his father and his brother.  Marlene takes care of the house and kids.  Manuel has a good station, a tall tower but his 4 element Yagi was on the ground.  Now he is using a wire dipole.  He works mostly with TI stations, and some DX, with Spanish speaking amateurs.  I operated his station for awhile as TI5 / WB2AQC but we were in a rush to visit other hams.
   Next to see in Quesada was Carlos TI5CET, an architect and interior designer, licensed in 1995 with a B class.  His tower is 23 feet high, and has a 3 element Yagi for 10 meters, a vertically polarized 2 element Yagi for the 2 meter repeater, and a wire dipole for 20 meters, which can be used, with an antenna tuner also for 40 meters.  Carlos TI5CET is on packet, is working SSB and SSTV, mostly local contacts, and is learning the code.  He has QSL cards.
   With Manuel TI5MMB we went to see Martin TI5RAI in the village of Santa Rosa.  Martin is an electro-mechanic, was licensed in 1996 with a B class.  He has a 60 foot tower with a 6 element Yagi for 10 meters and a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters.  Martin TI5RAI is a DXer but  only on SSB.  He has QSLs.
   From there, with Manuel TI5MMB and his family, and Gustavo TI5GCO with Minor TI5MLS and his family in a second car, we went to see the Arenal volcano.  After almost two hours of driving we arrived to La Fortuna to find out that the volcano, height 5,358 feet, was covered by clouds and the fiery eruptions could not be seen.  It was a  “feria” in the town with hundreds of people moving around.  After awhile Manuel and his company returned to their homes but Diane and I have decided to stay and next morning to take a boat tour on Cano Negro river to a lowland rain-forest reserve and wildlife refuge.
   We checked out various hotels and cabins but there were no vacancies.  Finally, a local woman offered us a room for 1,500 colons (about $6.50).  It was a miserable place with only one cot, so I slept on the floor.  If I would have been interested in bugs, I would not had to go outside to study them.
   In the morning we took a 90 minute bus ride to Los Chiles, near the Nicaraguan border.  On the road, long before we approached the border we saw police check points watching for illegal refugees from the still troubled Nicaragua.  We arrived to the point where we embarked on a motorboat and first went south watching for lazy caimans, slow moving sloths, iguanas, bats, various monkeys and birds, as well the luxurious tropical vegetation.  Some of the monkeys howled at us but I did not howled back; I just did not want to do anything with them, or to invade their already well marked territories.  If other people wouldn’t have been in the boat with me, I would have marked my territory too.
   When we got to a lake where Cano Negro meets Rio Frio, we turned  around.  Diane enjoyed the trip; I would not give up visiting an amateur for all the monkeys in Costa Rica but I pretended that I liked it, and once, when the boat finally turned back, I even managed to smile.  A fellow traveler asked the guide if it is not too boring to go always on the same route, day after day.  The guide answered that it would be, but in every group there is always a tourist asking the dumbest questions, and that keeps him going.  I overheard a sightseer telling his wife:
   “According to the Hindu religion, after death the soul comes back in a body of an animal.  I wonder if in my next life I could be a monkey?”
   “No, dear - said the wife - I don’t think one can be twice the same!”
   We got back on the bus, and after a long trip got off at Muelle and took a local bus to Quesada.  There, hundreds of people stayed on line to get on buses going to San Jose.  It was the end of a three day weekend.  We also managed to get on a bus and after 2 and half hours we were in the capital.  A taxi took us to Hotel Doral.
   During my trip I noticed that except for towers and antennas, virtually nobody was using home made equipment, and many hams had computers.  This shows a much better financial situation than I saw in eastern Europe.  Family involvement in the hobby is strong; the majority of stations I visited had more than one operators.
   Most of the Costa Rican amateurs do not use CW.  They talk only with Spanish speaking hams because of the language barrier.  I do not speak Spanish but I overcame this obstacle by turning my antenna south and calling CQ DX in Spanish.  When I get an answer I say “muchos gracias” and I continue in English.  That is the old “bait and switch” routine, and I never lost a QSO.

   Next day Diane and I took another trip to a biological reserve, a transition zone between the rain forest and the dry forest.  It is south of Rio Tarcoles, near the Pacific Ocean.  There were two trails going through the forest, again with various animals, birds and tropical plants.  On the road colorful iguanas, resembling some prehistorical animals, looked at us with indifference, then slowly walked away. The mud was almost to up to our knees.  I tell you: if you saw one rain forest you don’t want to see another.  Unless you are like my daughter Diane.  The tour included breakfast and we had “gallo pinto” (was not bad), and for lunch we had “casado” (I had better meals in my days).  No matter how is called here a meal, it has white rice, black beans, and cooked green bananas.  However I liked the many kind of sweet tropical fruits.
   After the muddy “research” trip we went to a fancy hotel at Jaco beach on the Pacific Ocean; the prices for refreshments were even fancier than the hotel.  The ocean’s water and the air were warm, but the waves were very pushy.  I was looking for sea shells, I collect them.  I could not find a single one, neither in water, nor on land.  I saw only some little ones but they had hermit crabs in them and they would not come out.  Lots of people in the swimming pool.  In the ocean I saw only one couple, I think they tried to mate but the waves kept bumping them off.
   In the evening we returned to San Jose and attended a ham gathering at the radio club.  Many amateurs came, even from other cities like Heredia and Cartago.  There I met people I visited before, like Victor TI2VVR, Rodrigo TI2RAO and Minor TI2YO,  and a few I had QSOs with from my home station, like Martin HI4MBO.
   In Costa Rica and in special in San Jose there are many interesting things to see in order to increase one’s knowledge and education; there are several good museums but most of the culture hungry visitors are rushing first to Mercado Central to buy coffee, and to La Casona to get tee shirts and trinkets.  And so we better ourselves.
   And here is a trivial information: about 180 years ago the Catholic Church excommunicated everybody in Costa Rica because the country did not pay the religious tax, which was 10% of its revenue.  The excommunication was never lifted so no Tico will ever go to Heaven.  Amen.
   Related to the same topic, I heard about a cowboy who went to the village priest and said:
   “Father, I brought you the church tax assigned to me but you owe me the same amount for my work.”
   “But you never attended my cattle!” answered the priest.
   “That is true, but I never went to the church either” argued the cowboy.

   It is cheaper to get into this country than to get out because no visa is required ( for up to 90 days) but there is a $17.00 departure tax.  Both in the states and in Costa Rica I asked the airport security people to hand-check my film, instead of taking them through their X-ray machine, and they politely obliged.  That is more than the Austrians did last year when they preferred to argue for 20 minutes instead of doing a 2 minutes job.  They said that they are “just following orders.”  Where did I hear that before?  Our luggage was not checked, neither in, nor out of the country.  I could have smuggled out an entire volcano but I brought back only a dozen tee shirts and 4 kg of coffee, which for a non coffee drinker is unexplainable.
   It was an interesting trip, first time I took my daughter Diane with me since she left for Duke University.  She benefited from it professionally and enjoyed meeting the amateurs.  After years of taking Spanish in high school and in college, finally I saw that my money was not totally and irrevocably wasted.  It was just a poor investment.  I, of course, had a very good time meeting and talking (more of each guessing what the other one was saying) with the Costa Rican amateurs.
    In 9 days I visited 22 stations with 34 amateurs, I took over 360 photos, and we made several field trips.  And after every sightseeing we spent a lot of time looking for our hotel.
   Upon my return, my dear wife asked me what I brought her from Costa Rica.
   “A real piece of lava from an active volcano called Arenal, my dear!”
   “Gee - she said impressed -  a genuine volcanic lava?  Wasn’t that too hot?”
   “Yes dear, it was very hot (one time) and I had to blow very hard on it before I could put in my pocket, but I did it for you!”
   I think this was the cheapest way I ever got away with it.
   I do recommend a tour of Costa Rica but make sure you bring home a piece of a volcano; maybe it will work for you too.