Costa Rica Guide
The Valle Central and the highlands
Monumento Nacional Guayabo
The most accessible ancient archeological site in Costa Rica, the MONUMENTO NACIONAL GUAYABO (daily 8am–3.45pm; $4; 
556-9507) lies 19km northeast of Turrialba and 84km east of San José. Discovered by explorer Anastasio Alfaro at the end of the nineteenth century, the remains of the town of Guayabo were only excavated in the late 1960s. Administered by Mirenem, the Ministry of Mines and Resources (which also controls Costa Rica's national park system), Guayabo today suffers from an acute shortage of funds, and only a small part of the site has been excavated. With the withdrawal of the annual US aid grant, the prospects for further exploration look bleak.
The site is visually disappointing compared to the magnificent Maya and Aztec cities of Mexico or Guatemala – cultures contemporaneous with Guayabo – though it's well to remember that civilizations should not necessarily be judged on their ability to erect vast monuments. Facing the considerable difficulties posed by the density of the rainforest terrain, the Guayabo managed not only to live in harmony with an environment that remains hostile to human habitation, but also constructed a complex system of water management, social organization, and expressed themselves through the "written language" of petroglyphs.
Archeologists believe that Guayabo was inhabited from about 1000 BC to 1400 AD; most of the heaps of stones and basic structures now exposed were erected between 300 and 700 AD. The central mound is the tallest circular base unearthed so far, with two staircases and pottery remains at the very top. The people of Guayabo brought stones to the site from a great distance – probably from the banks of the Río Reventazón – and petroglyphs have been found on 53 of these stones. Other than this, little is known of the people who lived here, though excavations have shown that they were particularly skilled in water conducting. At the northern end of the site you can see the stone tanque de captación, where they stored water conducted by subterranean aqueducts from nearby springs. It's also thought that this community was led by a chief, a cacique, who had both social and religious power. There are no clues as to why Guayabo was abandoned, though hypotheses include an epidemic or war with neighboring tribes.
At the entrance hut you can pick up a leaflet, written in the "voice" of Brül, a Bribrí word for armadillo, that points out orchids, a petroglyph and guarumo trees. Other than this, there's no official guided tour to help you interpret what can otherwise look like random piles of stone. You can, however, organize your own private guide; ask at your hotel or try locally-based Loco's Tropical Tours ( 556-6035, 
www.whiteh2o.com ) with guided trips to the monument for $55. You can also visit the small exhibition space that has fragments of pottery and a model showing how the city would have looked.
Daily buses to Guayabo from Turrialba leave from the main bus station at the western entrance to town (Mon– Sat at 11.30am & 5.15pm, returning at 12.40 & 4pm; Sun at 9am, returning at 4pm), though the inconvenient timetable means you'll have too much time at the site. Alternatively, you can walk back to the main road, a 4km downhill hike, and intercept the bus that goes back from the hamlet of Santa Teresita to Turrialba. It passes by at about 1.30pm, but you should double-check the times with the guardaparques or you might be left standing at the crossroads for 24 hours. If you're stuck, you can always bed down at the monument's small campsite ($2 per person). Driving from Turrialba takes about thirty minutes. The last 4km is on a bad gravel road; it's passable with a regular car, but watch your clearance. Taxis charge $12 from Turrialba.