Liberia

My last day in Liberia was for going out to Parque Nacional Santa Rosa. Fuelled up with my regulatory coffee, I headed to the bus station. After a pleasant half hour bombing along the highway, I got dropped off at the park entrance. By now, it was searing hot and I was rethinking my decision to walk the 7kms to the area of the park I wanted to visit. I instead chose to get a lift with an Australian guy and his Finnish girlfriend who were driving to where I was heading.

This National park visit was for an entirely different purpose. Santa Rosa used to be a sprawling hacienda of cattle ranching and agriculture, before being turned into a national park in 1971 to protect the surrounding tracts of dry tropical forest. This hacienda, however, was not just any old hacienda. The hacienda casona was the site of three important historical battles which shaped the future for Costa Rica. Unfortunately, this overachieving homestead was burned down by arsonists in 2001 but was rebuilt due to its historical significance.

These days La Casona houses a museum dedicated to the most important of those three battles; the 1856 Battle of Santa Rosa. The 1850’s saw the rise of filibustering, which is basically trumped up US citizens deciding they would try take over a foreign country by way of military and political interference. The most famous of these was William Walker who had grandiose ideas of taking over Central America. He actually did manage to wheedle his way into power in Nicaragua which he then used as his base to try conquer the rest of the region.

Costa Rica picked up on Walker’s dodgy deals and declared war on Nicaragua. The two sides met at the casona in 1856 and after a ‘blink and you miss it’ exchange of 14 mins, Walker’s army were sent limping back to Nicaragua. This was the beginning of the end for Walker as Costa Rica organised the other Central American countries to rise up against his regime and run him out of the region. Walker eventually got his comeuppance when the US government handed him over to the Hondurans for execution. Now he lies beneath Honduran soil for all eternity.

At the rear of the casona is a steep hill where a monument to the heroes of all three battles is situated. It is a lovely, peaceful place with views overlooking three of Costa Rica’s impressive volcanos. Sitting there in the shady serenity, it was hard to imagine at three times the casona just metres away was the site of intense battles. Hopefully, those days are now well and truly over as Costa Rica cherishes its peace and freedom from conflict.

Down past the original stone corrals and cattle dipping station, I found the little Sendero Indio Desnudo. This short trail winds through the forest back to the main road with a natural trail branching off mid-way. I turned off onto this trail and followed it around. I heard the sound of something large moving in the bush and turned just in time to see a white-tailed deer disappearing into its depth. I had actually seen one of these majestic animals from the car on arrival into the park; startling it on a path. Continuing on, I found a small cave which of course I had to check out. It was small and low with hundreds of bats pouring out as I interrupted their slumber. Not wanting to disturb them any further, I backed out and left them in peace.

By now it started to cool down and I was happy to walk the 7kms back to the main road to await my bus. There was very little traffic on the road, so ample opportunity to spot all manner of birds and small mammals en-route. I also came across another deer who went crashing into the bush when detecting me.

About half way back to the road was the Mirador Tierras. This beautiful little lookout took in vast vistas of the surrounding countryside; now forested due to fire control, wind and animal seed distribution. It’s the second largest tract of dry, tropical forest in the world; surpassed only by Kakadu National Park in Australia.

It was dusk by the time I reached the highway and totally dark when my bus finally arrived 45 minutes later. Then it was a pleasant 30 minute ride back to Liberia for my last night there.