Category Archives: History

Historical background of a location we visit.

The Drive to Heredia – Part 2

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Continued from yesterday”¦ Not too long after we had checked the GPS, the road finally shifted to be both up and down, and while we had plenty of uphill stretches of road, we slowly but surely were losing altitude overall.

At about 1630, we rounded a bend a saw a huge city below. This must be San Jose. The road quickly descended and dropped us into the heart of the city. This was where we got totally confused. Lonely Planet has 4 detailed maps of San Jose, each of a different neighborhood, and we had a hard time finding the map we were on and figuring out how it connects with the map of where we were going to. Part of the reason we couldn’t figure out what map we were on was that we couldn’t find a street sign anywhere. Eventually, we managed to get oriented and had a vague idea of where we needed to go.

At one point, while the light was red, some street performers ran out into the intersection and juggled what looked like bowling pins until the light turned green. That was definitely amusing.

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We found the right street and followed it. It happened to be Continue reading →

History of the Republic of Costa Rica

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Costa Rica is located between Panama and Nicaragua, with coasts on both the Atlantic and the Pacific. It is only 51,100 kilometers square and has an estimated population of 4.25 million people. Human habitation can be traced back more than 10,000 years. Little is known of the cultures that existed pre-Spaniards, and the various histories we have consulted conflict greatly. What is known for sure is that the locals lived in about 20 autonomous tribes, all with distinct cultures and customs. Some sources say Costa Rica was a sparsely populated backwater with 20,000 people. Others say it had a flourishing population of 400,000, with some of the first pottery making villages in the Americas, and was part of an extensive trade network amongst the Americas. None of the impressive stone architecture that characterized the more advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica to the north and the Andes to the south has been found, and only one historical site has been found that indicates a large city (10,000 people). Some sources say the city indicates a once great civilization, other sources disagree.

Columbus and his crew were the first white men to arrive. Their ship had been damaged in a hurricane, and they made an emergency stop near Puerto Lim¢n on September 18, 1502. Columbus Continue reading →

Casco Viejo and the Panama Canal Museum

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This morning, Christi finally started on antibiotics. She realized that if it hadn’t passed by now, it wasn’t going to go away on its own. She also made some meals to freeze with the leftovers from our transit. At around lunch time we headed out. Our goal for today was to go to the restaurant the cab driver couldn’t find the other day. Today’s cab driver had never heard of the place, which we took as a bad sign, but managed to find it with no problem. Unfortunately, it was closed for remodeling.

We walked to another restaurant a few blocks away that was also recommended by Lonely Planet. They serve French/international fusion type of food and our lunch was awesome. We ordered three appetizers: jumbo shrimp spring rolls in a yummy tropical fruit sauce; pan carmelized octopus in a sweet soy based marinade and served with a delicious avocado cream sauce; and shitake mushrooms stuffed with pork confit, vegetable, and panko persillade.

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We shared one main course, grouper in a rich, creamy coconut milk and curry sauce with broccoli on the side. For dessert we got passionfruit mousse. Everything was so good. We had been craving a really, really good meal like that ever since we left Bonaire. We even asked to thank the chef in person for such a great meal.

After lunch, we went to Casco Viejo to go sightseeing. The taxi took us through a neighborhood of all high rises, then turned into a very third world part of town. This area was Continue reading →

Preparing to Transit the Canal – Paying the Fees in Colon

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Continued from yesterday — Needless to say, from when we first saw the cruise ship, it was only a few more twists and turns in the road before the jungle abruptly ended and there was a massive concrete structure in front of our face. The light was red for us, so we stopped at the intersection. On our right, the cruise ship in the canal was creeping towards us ever so slowly, until it came to the barrier marking the edge of the lock and stopped. The portion of the canal the ship was about to be lowered into was directly in front of us, but the buildings and bridge blocked any view of the waterway we may have had. We wondered if a ship was in there right now, having just been lowered. Probable, considering we were stopped.

The light turned green and we moved forward onto the bridge, a little awed by how absolutely massive the lock is. The walls and gate are enormous. And we were even more awed by Continue reading →

Welcome to the Jungle

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Today we waited around for the boat measurer. Christi continued cleaning. Eric spent most of the day socializing, and Christi would join in now and again during cleaning breaks. At 1400, Victor told us if the measurer hadn’t come by now, he wasn’t coming today. Good, at least we could do something fun this afternoon.

At 1530, we went for a walk in the jungle surrounding the marina with Tom and Susan on the Nordhavn 40 from San Diego. Tom and Susan explained that the marina is situated in what used to be an American Navy base, Fort Sherman. The base was constructed in 1911 to protect the unfinished canal. It was abandoned in December 1999 along with all the other American military bases in Panama. The majority of the land that the base encompassed is undeveloped jungle, and it is was one of the primary military training centers for jungle combat training, particularly during the Vietnam era. When the Panamanians took over the land, they turned it into a nature preserve. Tom and Susan walk through the preserve often, and have sometimes seen Panamanian troops doing training exercises in the preserve.

We followed a walking trail behind the marina into the jungle. The trail runs up a gently sloping hill. The path is obviously frequently used, but it doesn’t look like anyone formally maintains it. On both sides of the path the plants tall, thick and dense.

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As we were walking along, we were mesmerized by the giant leaf cutter ants. There are zillions of them marching in perfect lines around the trail, most carrying big pieces of leaves much larger than they are. These ants are actually farmers. They cultivate a Continue reading →