Goodbye, rich coast...

From Monteverde, we caught the early morning bus to the city of Alejuela, just outside of San Josè.  We had been expecting the bus ride to last over 5 hours, but we made it in less than four, which is always a treat.  We walked around for the afternoon, and found it to be pleasant and comfortable, if not particularly exciting.  There was more William Walker story to fuel my obsession however.  The town has a museum and a nice statue of Juan Santamarìa, the young man who is credited with the defeat of William Walker and his filibusters in Costa Rica by setting fire to the building where they were hiding, forcing them out into the open where they were killed or captured (or fled).  The statue depicts the young man with a long rifle in one arm and a flaming torch in the other.  Though he was killed in his efforts, he is still remembered and venerated today.  (In fact, the international airport is also named after him.)

And suddenly, our time in Costa Rica, and Central America, had come to an end.  The plan had originally been to go to Panama, but somehow we ended up on a flight to Lima, Peru.