A Parting of Ways, and Unexpected Reunions!

I mentioned in an earlier post that our group would be splitting, with about half the group continuing their tour for three more days, visiting a resort down on the Pacific coast, near Manual Antonio National Park.  We were to spend the morning together, and after a final wonderful breakfast buffet in Monteverde, we piled onto our bus for one last trip together.  We drove for about two hours, slowly winding through the pastural landscape and downward to the Pacific plain.  We joined the famous Pan American highway, which stretches from Alaska to Chile (with on small marine portion between Panama and Colombia), and ended up at a large rest area.  Here we met another Gate1 bus, with a new driver and a new guide for our last day.  We said our somewhat tearful goodbyes to Gio and those continuing on to Manuel Antonio, before shifting to our new bus and heading eastward, back up the valley, toward San Jose.

Our guide was a woman in, I guess, her late 60's, who talked for most of the 90-minute drive back to the capital.  They must be used to such a hand-over, as everything she shared with us was new, with no repetition of what Gio had covered heretofore.  I had been wondering about their politics in Costa Rica, and she covered that, and it was timely, as their presidential elections were being held in under a week.  We had seen political posters in various towns, as well as some cars flying colorful banners which we learned belonged to the various political parties.  She explained that there were 53 -- yes, 53 -- candidates for president, and that the highest vote-getters in the first round, would continue to a second.  Their system has been incredibly stable, and she said that the differences between the candidates -- even with that many running -- were relatively minor.  There appears to be universal agreement that they want to continue their green initiatives, as they've paid off in economic and touristic prosperity, and then overall economic well-being.  They have been dealing with tariffs imposed by Trump but have not pushed back hard, so as to keep off his radar as much as possible.  She also told us a lot about Costa Rica's short-lived civil war in 1948, which resulted in a ceasefire which abolished their military.  Aside from a national police force, they have no standing military, and they cite this fact for their political stability, especially compared to their Latin American neighbors.  As military coups have been the most common form of government and regime change in Central and South America, the lack of an army has prevented military takeovers.  For marine protection, they partner very closely with the U.S. Coast Guard and have a very long-standing joint counter-narcotics treaty with the United States.  

Pacific Ocean

We entered San Jose on a different highway than we departed, and this one would not have looked out of place anywhere in the United States.  We passed large malls and shopping centers, to include Walmarts, Targets, Home Depots, etc.  We saw many hospitals and medical practices, most of which had signs indicating that they accepted Medicare and U.S. insurances.  All of this reflects the still-growing population of American retirees in the country.

Our guide had called ahead to our hotel and made sure our rooms were ready for our early (noon) arrival.  We had returned to the same Hilton at which we had stayed when we arrived, and where we "survived" the earthquake.  We had enough time to settle into the room, accept our luggage, and then grab lunch on our own before we left on a formal city tour of San Jose.  When we were in the room, Anna said our new guide -- Monica -- looked familiar, and she speculated that she might in fact be the same guide she and Jane had had during their visit 14 years prior.  She said the woman had the same build and vocal cadence, but she couldn't be sure.  

A Couple of Lunch Pina Coladas!

K and Anna boarded the bus before I did, and before I did, I took the opportunity to ask Monica if she happened to have previously worked for Caravan Tours, to which she said “yes.”  I mentioned that Anna and her grandmother had been on a tour and she had a memory of her, Monica immediately said, "Oh wait, she was traveling with her grandmother and she played softball back home!"  Anna was into softball then and Monica remembered her.  She immediately went into the bus, went up to Anna, and then gave her a huge hug.  As we departed the hotel, Monica shared the small-story coincidence with our fellow travelers and there were so many nice comments made, and sentiments shared.  I later sent a picture of Anna and Monica to Jane, who immediately recognized her!

Aside from being the capital city and the surprisingly cleanliness, San Jose as a city does not have many highlights.  We toured the downtown area, to include where the major ministries of government are located.  The parliament, judiciary and presidential compound are all built in Brutalist style, of which none of us are real fans.  At the end, we did visit the neoclassic Opera House, which was fashioned on the Milan Opera, but otherwise, San Jose will win no prizes for architecture.  We did spend about an hour in the Museum of Pre-Colombian Art, which was very enjoyable.  There was a huge display of gold artifacts, but they reportedly pale to what is found in Mexico or Colombia, which have far more substantial gold deposits.  The museum was also built in the Brutalist style and was built down into the ground.  The entire time we commented that we felt like we were in the DC metro.

San Jose's Main Cathedral

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Costa Rica's Parliament Building

Monument Commenorating Overthrow of William Walker -- an American Who Declared Himself President of Nicaragua in 1856.  United Central American Countries United and Killed Him

Hive for Newly Evolved "Stingless Bees" in San Jose

President's House (in Yellow)

Anna and Monica -- the Guide From Her First Trip to Costa Rica

San Jose's Opera House

Inside the Opera House

As the sun lowered in the sky, we met back up with our bus and made a short drive to a small bistro, which had been rented out for our farewell dinner.  We had preordered our meals from a decidedly non-native list of choices, which was welcome at this point in the trip.  It was Italian/French fusion and we all really enjoyed our meals and the farewell conversations.

Setting for Our Farewell Dinner

We had formal farewells with Monica before heading to our rooms, but we knew we'd see everyone else at breakfast in the morning, so we held off on those good-byes.