Some years ago the Parque Nacional de Diversiones open a contest for people to go and take photos of the park. For reasons I don’t quite remember I missed the deadline for submitting the photos.

Anyway, this photo, in particular, is from a vintage store inside the park preserving the memory of the once ever-present “Pulperias” Grocer’s shops that use to populate every town in Costa Rica.

Usually, owned by a family the Pulpería used to have everything you need for your day-to-day consumption. Mostly focus on food and essentials for the houses.

If you grew up in the 90s or before. You have some nice memories of these places. Looking for the everyday “mandado” a quick trip to the Pulpería to buy something needed at home. And using the change to buy some sweets or ice cream as a due payment for the Odyssey.

Although you can still find some Pulperías here and there. In the city and towns, they are almost gone. Most have been replacing by supermarkets and the “Chinos” also call “Minisupers.” A bigger version of the pulperías usually own or administered mostly by Chinese immigrants.

About the Park

At the beginning of the 1950s, there was no institution in Costa Rica in charge of dealing with diseases in children. In 1954, Costa Rican doctors Carlos Saénz Herrera and Roberto Ortiz Brenes created the Asociación Pro-Hospital Nacional de Niños.

The park is administered by the Asociación Pro Hospital Nacional de Niños (The Foundation Pro National Children Hospital)

As a result of an exhaustive fundraising effort, on May 24, 1964, the Children’s Hospital was inaugurated, located on Paseo Colón Avenue and 20th Street in San José. In 1970, the members of the Association for Children’s Hospital thought of creating a permanent financial aid mechanism for the hospital’s budget, an idea that would later become an amusement park. The amusement park was inaugurated on December 18, 1981,