My beautiful Costa Rica--how it has changed. I've commented previously on the inevitable and sometimes lamentable changes (lamentable at least to me) that have occurred in "mi segunda patria," Costa Rica. The traffic (lamentable) was one of my observations, and this is a little paradoxical to me. The bus system appears to be alive and well, even as automobile traffic has increased. My unscientific observation would be that the population has increased (duh), and maybe the person-to-car ratio is close to one-to-one, as in the states. Who knows.
The buses used to be called "cazadoras," or "hunters," and still were called that when I first stepped foot in that remarkable country in 1970. I'm not sure, but I don't recall hearing them called anything other than "bus" while I was there this year, so that distinctive name may be a thing of the past, too. "Hunters" was perhaps a slightly outdated name even in 1970, as the moniker referred to the routeless system of days gone by that had buses driving around "hunting" for passengers until full. I imagine that even in the wild days of Costa Rican buses, there had to be a general direction for each bus; I can't imagine a people so carefree as to get on a bus and pay for a who-knows-where destination.
Along with their colorful name, the Costa Rican buses during my first visit still had the vestiges of that earlier era--each bus was a former American school bus uniquely painted and decorated on the outside, and personalized by the owner/driver on the inside. Surrounding the driver might be an homage to the Virgin Mary or Jesus, lights, colorful fringes across the windshield, ribbon-wrapped steering wheel and gearshift knob, risqué cartoons and decals...you name it.
Not anymore. The Costa Rican buses today are modern homogeneous monsters that are luxurious compared to the small, hard-seated, grade school accommodations of the older models. No personalization in the cockpit, either. About the only remnant of the old days that I saw was some graffiti scrawled on the backs of some of the seats.
Money is now collected at the door. In my day, a "cobrador" would come by sometime during the trip and collect. This collector would have Colon notes folded between his fingers and coins in his palm. He would jingle the coins, alerting passengers to pay up. On my second visit in 1972, one friendly driver allowed me to be an honorary cobrador. There was a lot of wide-eyed wonder from passengers as this tall, blue-eyed, fair-skinned American kid walked and jingled coins from the front of the bus to the back, collecting and awkwardly making change.
Life goes on. My memories live inside me and I cherish them. I know that I sound older and older as I make these casual observations about the past and the present. On our last visit to Costa Rica, I mentioned to a young lady the train trips to the coast that I took in 1970 and 1972. This 22-year-old smiled at me and informed me that the trains haven't been running for a long time.
[Sigh]
Hey, Robb, this is an interesting story about the first bus between Escazu and SJ. http://historiadeescazu.blogspot.com/2002/10/de-escaz-san-jos-en-cazadora.html. It took an hour and the passengers had to push the bus up the hill once they passed the Los Anonos bridge.
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There are still school buses running and not all the other buses are modern, although they're not supposed to be more than 12 years old. There are a couple of lines that have seats 5 across. Hard for me to squeeze in -- my knees end up under my chin.
Even back in the 70s, the Station Wagon line from Alajuela to SJ had vans. Wondering if they originally had station wagons.
I remember the cobradores, winding their way down the aisle packed with people or jumping out the front door to run to the back door to collect money.
The trains stopped running when President Figures (the son, Jose Maria Figueres Olsen, not the man who banned the military) allegedly closed them down so they would not compete with his trucking business to bring merchandise up from the coasts to the Central Valley. At least, that's what I've been told repeatedly in the years I've lived here.
ReplyDeleteWant to encourage the trains to come back (at least in the CV)? Join this FB group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=116197755087741
Steve--thanks for expanding on my casual observation. I do remember the Station Wagon system, too (known there as "estachon"). I remember wondering why they called them that if they were vans. Speaking of cobradores, the intra-city buses in Guatemala are similar to the old-school Costa Rican buses. It wasn't too many years ago that my brother-in-law observed a cobrador there having to climb across the tops of the seats to get to the back, it was so packed with passengers. And just when you think a bus there is as full as it can be, they try to squeeze in one or two more. Good times!
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