Tomorrow I set out for an all day trek to Cartago. Cartago is city about one-half hour south of San Jose. Did I mention I’m going by foot? In fact an estimated 500,000 to one million people in Costa Rica walk to Cartago every year from almost every town in the country, hoping to arrive on August 1st or 2nd for the celebration of “La Virgen de los Angeles.” People leave from their home in hopes of finding a miracle, a cure, or to state how grateful they are just to be alive.

The legend is that on August 2, 1635 a little girl was playing by a river. She found a piece of rock that looked just like the Virgin Mary cuddling a child. Of course the girl thought it a toy, so she played away the afternoon and later took it home. The following day, she went back to play in the same place and found a rock that looked just like the one she discovered the day before. She brought it home to add it to her collection; however, the first one was gone. Same thing happened the third day. So one thing followed another and the little girl brought the priest to the river. He took it to the church and locked it up. But the next day, guess what? The case was empty and the statue reappeared back at the river. Naturally, the priest saw this as a sign to build a church on the site.

As with any legend, there’s a few holes in the story. So, I’m off to see what the people have to say. With a million people all walking in the same direction, it’s going to be fascinating. When we arrive at the church, we’re supposed to walk on our knees to the end and say a quick prayer - the line is long. Some believe this pilgrimage protects Costa Rica from natural disasters, some look for miracles. I am sure there will be a few stories to tell once we return from paying our respects to “La Virgen de los Angeles.” And once my feet have recovered and our clothes have dried out, I’ll be the first to let you know about all the miracles that have come to pass.