World’s Largest Oxcart Monument
🔍 La Carreta Más Grande del Mundo 🎨 📍 Sarchí, Alajuela, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 Hand-painted by artisans of the century-old Eloy Alfaro workshop, this oxcart earned a Guinness World Record in 2006 as the largest ever built.
Category: Costa Rica
Pabellón de Niños Hallway | Sanatorio Carlos Durán
🔍 Pabellón de Niños Hallway | Sanatorio Carlos Durán 🏥 📍 Tierra Blanca, Cartago, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 Once the children’s ward of a 1918 tuberculosis sanatorium, this corridor now sits abandoned — its walls layered with painted handprints left by decades of visitors.
Gazebo | Pueblo Antiguo
🔍 Gazebo | Pueblo Antiguo 🏛️ 📍 La Uruca, San José, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 Tucked inside Parque Diversiones’ “Pueblo Antiguo,” this ornate two-tier kiosk pays tribute to the Victorian-style bandstands found in Costa Rica’s town squares — rooster weathervane and all.
Goldfish Plant
🔍 Goldfish Plant | Columnea sp. 🌺 📍 San Isidro de Grecia, Alajuela, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 Shaped like a curled goldfish, this epiphyte dangles from mossy branches, luring in hummingbirds with its fiery, speckled throat.
Four O’Clock Flower
🔍 Four O’Clock Flower | Mirabilis jalapa 🌸 📍 Oreamuno, Cartago, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 This bloom only opens at dusk and wilts by dawn — a fleeting nightly show staged just for moths.
Wax Begonia
🔍 Wax Begonia | Begonia cucullata 🌸 📍 Alajuela, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 Wax begonias keep blooming almost non-stop — one plant can flower year-round in the right climate, which is exactly why they’re a garden favorite in Costa Rica.
Red Ginger
🔍 Red Ginger | Alpinia purpurata 🌺 📍 Orosi, Cartago, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 Those vivid red “petals” aren’t petals at all — they’re bracts, with the true flowers being tiny white blooms tucked between them.
White Buttercup
🔍 White Buttercup | Turnera subulata 🌼 📍 Sarapiquí, Heredia, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 This flower blooms for one morning only, closing by early afternoon — a fleeting show most people never catch up close.
Chicharrones
🔍 Chicharrones 🥓 📍 Puriscal, San José, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 In Costa Rica, chicharrones aren’t the thin fried pork rinds you might picture — they’re chunks of pork belly fried until crispy outside and tender inside, usually piled high with tortillas, yuca, and pico…
Rangpur Lime
🔍 Rangpur Lime 🍋 📍 Grecia, Alajuela, Costa Rica 🇨🇷 💬 Despite the name, it’s not a true lime at all — it’s a mandarin-lemon hybrid, prized for its tart juice and often used as hardy rootstock for other citrus trees.