The excursion crew: Stéphanie and Georges from France, myself (left) and our 4x4 pick-up.

"Cerro de la Muerte" means "Mount of Death". When the first settlers of European origins started to populate the southern zone of Costa Rica about 150 years ago, coming from the Central Valley around the (nowadays) capital San José they had to cross the Cordillera de Talamanca. That was a dangerous and exhausting treck by foot or on horseback which took them several days. While they stayed in the cold and adverse climate and high altitudes some may have died.

About 60 years ago the Panamerican Highway was extended to Panamá. Meanwhile the road is paved and every day several thousand motorcycles, cars, busses and heavy trucks use the Interamericana, as it is called here. These days the main risk to die in the mountains comes from a traffic accident with one of those monsters on the road.

Marvin is one of the technicians that maintain the plenty of antennas on the peaks of Cerro de la Muerte. He lives four weeks in the solitariness of the mountains and then returns for four weeks to his family in the lowlands.

Marvin's mountain: one of the peaks of the Mountain of Death covered with antennas.

Cerro Chirripó, thirty kilometers from our position:
Almost on eye level with Costa Rica’s highest peak (3820 meters).

Paramo flower: “Paramo” is the low growing vegetation on high altitudes in the tropics.

Blossoms in a harsh climate: burned by the sun at day, sometimes freezing in the night.

Flowers are small, but there are many of them.

Volcanos stick out of the clouds:
Volcano Turrialba (3328 meters) on the right, from our position in a distance of 50 kilometers to the north;
volcano Irazú (3432 meters) on the left between the close peaks of Cerro de la Muerte.

This restaurant was founded when the Interamericana was built in 1947. Birdwatchers come here to see the famous quetzals, the most beautiful birds in this area.

For a tropical country it is cold in the mountains! On a sunny morning 18 centigrade only. Sometimes in the night temperature drops below zero.

Breakfast at “La Georgina” – served for humans as well as for hummingbirds.

These huge leaves are called “Poor man’s umbrella”

On the road to San Isidro.

The Interamericana is the main highway in Costa Rica. It connects Nicaragua with Panamá.

In a larger scale the Panamerican Highway connects Alaska with Tierra del Fuego - in theory. In reality there is a missing link in the jungle between Panamá and Colombia where the road has never been built.

High noon on a quiet Sunday in San Isidro. This little town is the "capital" of the south of Costa Rica.

Here we leave the Interamericana and continue south-west towards Dominical.

Delicious mangos. Tropical Costa Rica has an abundance of fruit all year round.

What a beautiful ...ehh... fruit juice!!
Refreshment at the last stop before the beach.

I live exactly in the center of this U-turn, about 50 meters above road level. When you pass here, I may hear your car. But I cannot see the road nor can you see my house.

Finally arrived on the Pacific coast near Dominical.

Dominical beach on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Totally overpopulated ...

Going west: From here it is only 16.000 kilometers to the Philippines ...

... if you continue on the same latitude and do not happen to hit one of those tiny islands of Micronesia ...

...but you may be wetting your trousers.