COSTA RICA: Day Eleven – History

After breakfast, commence volunteer work as directed.  Lunch provided then back to assignment.  Another day of volunteering means an opportunity to discuss the interesting history of Costa Rica. 

Pre-Columbian Pottery

In Pre-Columbian times the Native Americans in what is now Costa Rica were part of a cultural complex known as the "Intermediate Area," between the Mesoamerican and Andean cultural regions.

Remembering Spanish Influence

The colonial period began when Christopher Columbus reached the eastern coast of Costa Rica on his fourth voyage in 1502.  Numerous subsequent Spanish expeditions followed, eventually leading to the first Spanish colony, Villa Bruselas in Costa Rica in 1524.

Artwork Depicting Independence

Costa Rica joined other Central American provinces in 1821 in a joint declaration of independence from Spain.  Costa Rica became a state in the Federal Republic of Central America.  The capital was moved to San José in 1824, followed by a violent rivalry with Cartago.  Although the newly independent provinces formed a Federation, border disputes broke out among them, adding to the region's turbulent history and conditions.

An era of peaceful democracy in Costa Rica began in 1889 with elections considered the first truly free and honest ones in the country's history.  Costa Rica has avoided much of the violence that has plagued much of Central America.  Since the late nineteenth century, only two brief periods of violence have marred its democratic development.

Dinner and overnight stay with host family. 

Let me know your thoughts!  Volunteer with Go Mo Places