To Costa Rica, a Conservation Hotspot

Located in Central America, Costa Rica is a country that abolished its army in 1949. It also established its image as a conservation hotspot and a destination of eco-tourism.

It was rather an impulsive decision to make a trip to Costa Rica. I wanted to witness the country with my own eyes, especially because I was interested in becoming a conservationist one day.

It was June 2005 when I first visited the country.

My friend and I hopped in a long-distance bus from San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica.

San Jose --> Palmar Norte --> Sierpe

After we left San Jose in the afternoon, we traveled through the country down to Sierpe within the same day. When we arrived at Sierpe, it was pitch-dark outside.

Though we were struggling to communicate with Ticos (= Costa Ricans) in Spanish, we were eventually relieved to learn that we could pay the fare right on the bus. My friend and I found two seats separately and I thought we were good to go for the next 6 hours or so.

There were no more seats available, but more people got on the bus.
A man showed his ticket to me and insisted on the spot. Another man took my friend's seat also. We paid the fare, but were not given printed tickets with seat numbers on. Because of our poor Spanish, we could not argue with them and only gave up our seats as told.

We ended up sitting on the floor...

The bus speeded along the rough road and bounced us up and down.
A heavy squall came down, and it made me think "I finally came to a tropical country".

I was so tired that I was falling asleep when a nice, cute boy offered me to take turns sitting in his seat. He was from Panama, a country bordering Costa Rica. In spite of my poor Spanish and his very limited English, we could converse a little, and it certainly made my long bus journey more enjoyable.

This encounter opened up my eyes to Panama and triggered my interest to go there one and a half years later.

I became a little curious about the country where the boy was from.
That was enough reason for me to pick my next destination.

Because of some random events, the next destination is decided.
Because of some random encounter, new perspectives are added to life.
I like such flexibility and easiness.

Feeling like a trip?