Manuel Antonio – San Jose
Monday morning in Manuel Antonio was hotter and steamier than even Sunday was. So a lazy morning, a short stroll to lunch with a view and an afternoon lazing around the pool and swimming. Plus a small amount of travel planning for the Yucatan Peninsula leg of our Mexico trip excursion, in the latter part of the trip. All followed by dinner at a local charcoal grill place with most of the group. Where we did find out that you can actually have too much barbecued squid 🤔.
Tuesday was the penultimate day of our G- Adventures/ National Geographic tour. The main event was simply the drive back to San Jose.
We were gifted a rare late start of noon, so a sleep – in and leisurely breakfast was appreciated. The trip back to San Jose was in two parts – north again back up the Pacific Coast, then North East across the ranges into the central valleys and onto San Jose.
The drive was interesting, but uneventful. A particularly interesting part was seeing ‘Barrio Mexico’ on the way into central San Jose – we didn’t take any photos out of respect for the people who make their homes there. Nonetheless, it is always thought provoking to consider how lucky and well off we are in Australia compared to some other people in other places. The barrio was reminiscent of the architecture in the Cape Flats, Soweto or outer Maputo.
The tour ended upon arrival back at the hotel and check in. We had the proverbial ‘fond farewell’ with our great guide Cesar , who had another hour’s journey to get back to his home in the central valleys.
Most of the group were departing on Wednesday, while we were staying until Thursday as that was when the best flight to Mexico City was available. The group had a few farewell drinks in the bar and then bid each other goodbye at breakfast on Wednesday morning.
We spent Wednesday checking out downtown central San Jose. The town itself isn’t the flashiest looking place – it has a slightly ‘worn’ look that reminded Mark of downtown Maputo in 1999. That said, there were also all the usual ‘Western’ branded stores and junk food takeaway outlets.
In the morning we went to the ‘pre-Colombian Gold Museum’. This covered more than just the use of gold in Costa Rica and Central America prior to the arrival of the Spanish. There was a whole lot of interesting material about art more broadly, housing , culture, music and indigenous life and language. Unfortunately most of the displays were behind glass panels, making photography a challenge.
After the museum we went for a stroll around downtown before heading to the National Theatre ( or ‘Teatro Nacional’) which opened in 1897. This is essentially an over the top place built at the direction of the 19th Century Coffee Oligarchs to bring a bit of ‘culture’ to San Jose . It was interesting, but served perhaps to highlight some of the inequalities in Costa Rican society at the time .
There is an interesting story about the last panel photo artwork. It’s actually on the ceiling of the upstairs lobby. It was done on commission by an artist in Milan on the basis of a description sent in a letter from the Oligarchy. It supposedly depicts life on the coast in Limon Province on the Central Caribbean coast. There are a few interesting inaccuracies and misunderstandings/ misinformation presented which were pointed out by our guide :
- White women didn’t pick coffee as depicted in the painting
- Coffee isn’t a low grounded bush
- They don’t and can’t actually grow coffee on the coast in Limon Province
- There is an electric street light depicted. Limon wasn’t electrified until the late 20th century
- The dude holding the bananas in the centre of the painting is holding them upside down – something that apparently you can’t do as they all fall off
Apart from that , a great, accurate depiction of life in 1890s Costa Rica. Or not.
Another ‘fun fact’ learned on the tour – our guide suggested that San Jose was the third city in the world to be electrified… the first two perhaps seem more obvious ( New York City and Paris).
After the tour we grabbed a lovely lunch at the Theatre cafe , checked out the central plaza and grabbed an Uber ‘home’
Ness’ and Mark’s Wandering 