Limon is a coastal port town in Costa Rica on the Caribbean Sea. Ninety percent of the country's exports depart from here. Costa Rica lies south of Nicaragua and north of Panama and it has a tropical climate with temperatures ranging in the mid 20C and mid 30's throughout the year. The wettest months are from November to January so we arrived in the "dry season."- or the less wet season. It was quite muggy and warm and overcast with "rain clouds" when we left the ship at 8.30 am and throughout the day we experienced some very short sudden downpours but this did not deter the three different excursions we experienced. A walk around the town and port.
A trip to the rainforest, way up in the cloud-covered mountains, to go zip-lining.
A river cruise on a small barge to spot the wild life.
Yes it was a full on day but we had a great time.
The population of Costa Rica is referred to as a mestizo; a Spanish word for mixed ancestries. These include Spanish, white and black Americans, indigenous Americans, Portuguese, Chinese, Jamaican, various indigenous peoples living near Costa Rica's borders as well as European descendents from Germany, France, Ireland and Poland. Limon is the most multi-racial province in Costa Rica. Many of the people in Limon are Afro-Caribbean who have descended from the thousands of Chinese and Jamaican slaves who were shipped to Costa Rica in 1871 to build a railway link between Limon and the productive coffee plantations of Costa Roca's central valley area. Coffee and bananas are exported all over the world from Limon's port. Costa Rica is one of the largest banana producers in the world. Banana plantations are found throughout Costa Rica but 80% of these plantations are found on the mountains of Limon.
Limon town was formally founded in 1854 so it is a relatively young town. Prior to this period most of the country, the surrounding bays and Atlantic Coast were unexplored and uninhabited though pirates frequented the bays and shores to hide out their loot or to take advantage of the scarce maritime traffic by mounting surprise raids on unsuspecting trading ships that passed by. This history provided some great inspiration for the movies 'Long John Silver" and "The Pirates of the Caribbean".
Whilst walking around the streets of town's centre which is not very large we noted the Afro-Caribbean influence seen and appreciated in the architecture, music, food and the layback vive of Limon. One thing we noticed immediately was the heavy police presence in every street and on street corners. Like many South American cities drug peddling, assaults and pick-pocketing are common but we felt reasonably safe with the police patrols and that we were walking in the daylight rather than night time but nevertheless, we stayed alert as we explored the streets of Limon.
The locals however, were very friendly, relaxed and "chilled-out" and we enjoyed greeting them as we wandered around the market stalls, park and seashore.
The sounds of calypso music could be heard from buskers, hawkers and small home-spun musical bands playing in the streets and some coffee shops. Much of the town has been built in an architectural style known as Victorian Caribbean. These once elegant, but now rather dilapidated buildings, with wooden balconies and ornate iron balustrades are nestled alongside traditional wooden houses once brightly coloured but now faded by the tropical heat.
It was sad to realise that Limon's long-ago colonial prosperity is now a faded memory of a different world when the American United Fruit Company injected thousands of dollars into an economically poor and undeveloped Costa Rica by establishing its tropical fruit plantations and other infrastructure throughout Limon's pristine jungle landscape.
We looked for historical landmarks and monuments but found them 'a little thin on the ground'. The first landmark we came across was in the Parque Varga. This park situated by the sea, was commissioned by the United Fruit Company which was instrumental in setting up the Limon town. The park is filled with many stately palm trees and other tropical plants. Around its' perimeter several tableaux of sculptured statues adorn the sea-side promenade wall. The statues portray a visual history of the working -life of people who have lived in Limon over the past 150 years. Themes include an indigenous couple and a series of people from different cultures, engaged in various occupations
These people were brought to Limon by the United Fruit Company, as the workforce for setting up fruit plantations, building roads, a railway and the colonial buildings that stand here today.
The Park was opened in 1905 with an octagonal gazebo as its central structure but sadly it too has been neglected in recent years, and the jungle has overgrown many of its benches and the gazebo structure is cracked. Comment: This happens often when countries are given an initial boost from foreign investment but after many years the infrastructure begins to deteriorate because the original investors no longer provide funds for restoration or refurbishing of the infrastructure.
A bit of history: In 1899 the United Fruit Company (UFC) was formed. UFC was an American corporation, trading mainly in bananas and other tropical fruits, grown on Latin American plantations. UFC dominated the trading of fruit with a virtual monopoly in Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala. UFC controlled vast territories and transportation networks across these countries, which became known as banana republics. UFC provided cheap housing for its many workers, built schools, churches and other infrastructure and opened up what was once a primeval wilderness with almost no human habitation. The company built roads, railways, a port and imported trucks, cars, trains, ships and many workers from a variety of countries to run its enterprises. However, over the years the company has been accused of destroying the natural habitat and fauna in its pursuit of the mighty dollar. In areas where the soil became less productive because of overuse, the company would abandon the sites and set up in new pristine areas, cutting down native trees and planting bananas and new housing for the relocated workers. In the mid 1900's changes came when the Costa Rica government declared that all remaining pristine rainforest areas were to be made National Parks and that no forests should be lost to plantation expansions. This was the beginning of the demise of UFC. Other factors working against the mighty monopoly company included several crippling strikes by the poorly paid, dissatisfied workers, disease plagues on banana crops, some interference by communist supporters and storm damage to crops. The company was forced to close some of its plantations. But added to their woes several government investigations found that UFC had been offering bribes to politicians to lower tariffs, and that they were also involved in the smuggling of arms to terrorists organisations. Heavy fines followed and when banana prices dropped, due to cheaper competitors' prices, the United Fruit Company was bought out in 1990 and is now operated under Chiquita Brands International.
Looking at the park in its forlorn state and at the once proud edifice in the centre where bands performed regularly in its' heyday, we could not help but ponder on Ecclesiastes 1:14 "I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind."
Continuing our walk around the town, we wandered through a market area where locals have set up small enterprises, selling locally produced fruits and vegetables. The produce looked fresh, healthy and inviting and the tropical smell of watermelons and mangoes filled the air. Then unexpectedly, we found ourselves outside Limon's Town Hall.
It is a large building with many arches. The guide book refers to it as an idiosyncratic architectural style boasting glaring blue arches so we didn't recognise it at first. Until recently it was a gaudy blue colour (as older google photos show) but the building is now painted in delicate cream tones, having recently been refurbished.
As we were photographing the statue, a tourist told us that there were sloths high up in the trees in Varga Park where we'd been earlier, but we had not noticed them at the time. At this point, light showers began to fall so we headed for our mini bus to begin our Zip-line tour, noting that we would have to revisit the park later in the day, if we had time.
