Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
tions of
costa rica
(the 'rich coast') that gave the region its lasting name. At least, that's
how the popular story goes.
Anxious to claim its bounty, Columbus petitioned the Spanish Crown to have himself
appointed governor. But by the time he returned to Seville, his royal patron Queen Isabella
was on her deathbed, which prompted King Ferdinand to award the prize to Columbus'
rival, Diego de Nicuesa. Although Columbus became a very wealthy man, he never re-
turned to the New World. He died in 1506 after being worn down by ill health and court
politics.
To the disappointment of his
conquistador
(conqueror) heirs, Columbus' tales of gold
were mostly lies and the locals were considerably less than affable. Nicuesa's first colony
in present-day Panama was abruptly abandoned when tropical disease and warring tribes
decimated its ranks. Successive expeditions launched from the Caribbean coast also failed
as pestilent swamps, oppressive jungles and volcanoes made Columbus' paradise seem
more like a tropical hell.
A bright moment in Spanish exploration came in 1513 when Vasco Núñez de Balboa
heard rumors about a large sea and a wealthy, gold-producing civilization across the moun-
tains of the isthmus - these almost certainly referred to the Inca empire of present-day
Peru. Driven by equal parts ambition and greed, Balboa scaled the continental divide, and
on September 26, 1513, he became the first European to set eyes upon the Pacific Ocean.
Keeping up with the European fashion of the day, Balboa immediately proceeded to claim
the ocean and all the lands it touched for the king of Spain.
The thrill of discovery aside, the
conquistadors
now controlled a strategic western
beachhead from which to launch their conquest of Costa Rica. In the name of God and
king, aristocratic adventurers plundered indigenous villages, executed resisters and en-
slaved survivors throughout the Nicoya peninsula. However, none of these bloodstained
campaigns led to a permanent presence as intercontinental germ warfare caused outbreaks
of feverish death on both sides. Since the area had scarce mineral wealth and indigenous
laborers, the Spanish eventually came to regard it as the 'poorest and most miserable in all
the Americas'.
For an investigation of Costa Rica's mysterious stone spheres, visit World Mysteries at
