A fun outing in the center of San Jose is to go to the Gold
Museum, now called the Central Bank Museum, below the Plaza de
la Cultura. It had been years since I had visited the museum,
but it remains still one of the highlights of touring Costa
Rica’s capitol city. Located conveniently under the Plaza de la
Cultura’s east end, just behind the National Theatre and the
Grand Hotel, the museum is a cool refuge of culture in a
concrete jungle. This year celebrates the 30th anniversary of
the museum. In honor, one of Costa Rica’s most noted wildlife
species is featured in a phenomenal temporary exhibit called
“Felines in the Archaeology of Costa Rica.” The country’s six
species of wild cats – jaguar, puma, ocelot, margay, jaguarundi
and tigrillo — are represented in 50 objects of stone, gold and
ceramic, showing off the crafts and cultural traditions of the
area’s native peoples from 300 B.C.E. to 1500 C.E. The exhibit
is very interactive, featuring real-life photos of the different
cats, a video on wildcat protec