Today, as we drove through the mountains and the ocean I’m reminded of what I thought of Costa Rica prior to arrival.
As we initially drove out of Heredia we saw a lot of what I now think of as Costa Rica. A well developed high way, lots of traffic. I might be mistaken to think I was back home for a second.
Then BOOM. Within the hour we’re seeing what I had previously thought of Costa Rica prior to coming. Extremely rural with weathered houses, overlooking beautiful views. Even when we passed by the bay, it matched up with how I previously thought about Costa Rica. A small Bay Area with lots of massive Cargo ships to export goods.
On the mountains I saw lots of Lizards and other wildlife I had never seen before.I was surprised how different these parts of the country were. I thought changes this drastic could only be achieved over great spans of area, but no only about an hour outside of Heredia there they were.
To me now it seems clear that what I thought of as “Costa Rica” prior to coming was just Costa Rica outside of the Central Valley. While we are in the Central Valley, I feel as though it were any part of America, modern with lots of traffic and people. Outside of that valley, is a beautiful countryside with lush forests. It seems crazy to me how much different the country side is only a few miles from Heredia.
I look forward to exploring this area of Costa Rica more. Especially given that much of the diverse wildlife appears to be out of the Central Valley.