Fraijanes, Alajuela
I decided some months ago to go to Fraijanes, after some years of not visiting the area. This is a trite idea aroud here in Alajuela, everybody knows the park of Fraijanes and for some it is a boring and decaying place.
But I still find it amusing in some way and has an eerie ambience if you get there in the right weather, which is not sunny.
The park is administrated by a state-owned company. It has seen better days but still has that charm for those mountain lovers and it is safe.
In the rest of this article, I would like to share what I saw on my last visit to this park and the town of Fraijanes.
Getting to Fraijanes
Since I did not have a vehicle, I had to get there by bus. It is actually very easy since the city of Alajuela opened FECOSA, a modern bus station where almost every bus service terminal is located. The bus I took is “Jaulares”. Funny enough, Jaulares is not a town or location, but a very famous bar that hosted dozens of suburban group bands for years.
The bar has been closed for years, but it became popular enough, so the place inherited the name.
The bus fare is about 900 colones which is like almost 2 USD dollars. Do not expect anything fancy from this bus service, be happy with getting a seat and arriving at your destiny. The road is not exactly dangerous, it is not Bolivia, but you can see some precipices and a beautiful view of Alajuela, San Jose, Heredia and most of the east Central Valley.
If this is your first time going there, just ask the bus driver to call you when arriving at the closest bus stop to the park. Or look in your favorite Map app “Laguna de Fraijanes”.
The trip was about 30 minutes, and I had some nice views of the coffee farms in the area.
In the Fraijanes Forest Park
The park schedule is from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 A.M. and they charged me like 1000 colones, like 2 USD. Be warned that if you are not costarican, the price will change as this park is partially funded by taxes paid by locals.
If you want to save a buck, you can try and tell the guy at the ticket counter to give you “local price”. Maybe he or she won’t care about you being from somewhere else. But the price should not be more than 6 USD per person.
First thing I noticed is they have changed the location of the sports’ area. They have extended them. There are soccer fields, basketball and volleyball courts. Also, the car parking lot is very spacious.
Ranchs are here and there but some commodities like sinks, seats and BBQ grill. Cool if you travel in groups.
I can’t tell if this is every day, but I noticed at least 3 security guards patrolling the area. I do not think this is because of thieves but since people can bring alcohol it is better to be prepared.
The Faijanes Lagoon
The lake or lagoon has seen better days, it has lost some water level, but maybe this was because rain was scarce that week. There is a concrete trail that goes around. It will take you like 5 to 10 minutes to go around. So, I decided to take my time and take some pictures of the lagoon, the ducks and the forest around.
The trails
The park is not that big, but trails are nice for people who are not used to hiking. Cool for family trips with the kids. Some routes have some steps here and there but those are not necessary to reach every corner of the park. The park is nice for a family trip because of this and the ranches. Update: Not all trails are pavement. In case you have a disability stick to the trails around the lagoon. Or go with friends who can help you.
The forest
This is the typical coniferous forest that is not kind of expected in a tropical country. Since I’m not a wealthy person I haven’t had the chance to travel outside of Costa Rica so for me it is cool since I got a glance of what a forest would be in a cooler country. Temperatures around are between 5 to 20 Celsius degrees.
Also some primary cloudy forest can be found on the edges of the park. In the farthest corner of the park, you can find the floor covered with moss, so watch your step. This was the part I enjoyed most as it has some fairy-tale ambience.
What did I do after the park
I stayed like 3 hours in the park but as I got hungry, I went to a supermarket that is just crossing the street. I bought some snacks with a bottle of water. It wasn’t expensive at all, as this store is intended to supply a small community that is near the park.
I walked up to the north, and I saw businesses like restaurants, fruit and local artisanal foods like honey, jam, cookies and torrejas (fried crunchy corn dough sprinkled with sugar).
Strawberries farms are common around there, so the stores with products use this fruit as main ingredients.
I reached the center of the town of Fraijanes and walked up to Poasito, a small milk producer community. There I took the bus to San Pedro de Poas, the main town of Poas canton. The locals were celebrating the recent remodeling of the town’s main park with a music concert. I stayed for a while, then I took the bus back to Alajuela.
Conclusion
I loved the trip, this part of Costa Rica is very unique, not only in the country but in Latin America. You won’t have this chance to be close to a tropical forest then going into a coniferous ambience in less than one hour.
My country has this benefit of having these beautiful mountains with cold weather yet close to hot beaches.
It is also cheap to go there, plenty of “pulperias”, small groceries stores, to big supermarkets like “Mega Super” big supermarkets in the center of Fraijanes. I fully support pulperias over big chain suppliers any day. I prefer to give my money to Costa Rican families than supporting some billionaire.
Below you can watch and enjoy a brief video of the trip. If you want to check more of my trips, take a peek at the main page.
Disclaimer: This article was written by an human being. No IA used.