Stage 16: Quepos - The End of a Journey

We can't really believe it yet, but today is our last stage of the Camino de Costa Rica. We have 23 km left to the Pacific. After one last Gallo Pinto for breakfast, we set off with our backpacks at 6:40 in the morning. Right at the beginning, we hear an unusual squawk and see three large keel-billed toucans sitting in a tree above us. We can hardly believe that we are still able to admire these beautiful birds in the wild on our last day. Next, we have to walk on the road again and pass by Villa Vanilla, a farm where vanilla, cocoa, and spices are grown and processed and where you can take tours and tastings. Unfortunately, our tight schedule doesn't allow us to do that, but we buy some delicacies as souvenirs from the adjacent shop. A few kilometers later, we pass through the town of Naranjito, where we finally have cell phone reception and internet again. Just as we are sending some signs of life home and checking our emails, a cyclist asks us for directions. After two weeks in Costa Rica, we apparently look very familiar with the area. Although it's only 9 o'clock now, the sun is already scorching and we have already sweated through our t-shirts. We treat ourselves to a refreshing ice cream in a small shop and continue on. We are just happy that we have finally turned off the asphalt road onto a more comfortable gravel path when the first van and motorcycle rush past us, leaving us enveloped in a cloud of dust. After another half an hour, we've had enough and read a sign indicating the restaurant and bar 'Rancho los delfines', which is perfect for a little break. First, we enjoy the great view of the mountains, but then we discover the on-site pool, which invites guests to take a refreshing swim. Faster than you can say 'Pura Vida', we put on our swimwear (how convenient it is to have everything important with us) and jump into the water. You couldn't imagine the last stage any better: swimming in the pool with a view of the stunning landscape, a refreshing pineapple juice is served to us, and the perfect feel-good music with Celia Cruz's 'La vida es un carnaval' is playing from the speakers. We enjoy this moment to the fullest and are delighted that we even have one last clean t-shirt with us, as yesterday we received our shirt for the final day from Urritrek, with the emblem of the Camino and the phrase: 280 km Costa a costa cumplidos (280 km coast to coast completed). After we continue walking, we eventually turn onto a road where palm tree after palm tree lines up as far as the eye can see. This area is used for palm oil production and was missing from our list of typical Costa Rican exports. Sometimes water buffaloes graze among the palms and there is a sweet scent of coffee fruits, the beans of which have already been removed and are used here as fertilizer. At the end of this area, we suddenly find ourselves back in civilization and cross a highway. However, the path does not become more pleasant as it continues to lead us through the outskirts of Quepos along a busy road without a proper sidewalk. Although the destination, the port of Quepos, is now so close, these last 3 km in the heat are truly exhausting. The only beautiful thing is the mangroves, whose branches we catch glimpses of here and there between the houses. Finally, we see the Pacific and the large letters of the town of Quepos, marking the marina of the city and the endpoint of the Camino de Costa Rica. We can hardly believe that we have made it and we embrace each other in jubilation. We have crossed an entire country and a continent under our own power, and we laboriously climb down the stones of the harbor to symbolically touch the Pacific Ocean. Now we can rightfully wear our t-shirt and take countless souvenir photos of this moment. But first, we have to go around the corner to Bar 506, because there is a book there where everyone who has successfully completed the Camino can sign. When we arrive there sweaty, we are loudly congratulated and handed the book in which we can also leave our mark. The book is still very new, but we are probably among the first 600 people to have walked this Camino so far. I write behind our names the quote from one of my role models, Alexander von Humboldt, which is more relevant than ever: 'The most dangerous worldview is the worldview of those who have not viewed the world.' After a hearty sandwich and a mojito to toast, we go to the post office because we want to send a little greeting from afar to our families. We bought two postcards in San José at the very beginning of the journey, which, due to lack of stamps along the way, have now made it here with us on foot to be sent to Germany. Quepos doesn't seem very interesting to us otherwise, and since we also feel somewhat unsafe with the many people, we hail an official taxi and drive the 8 km to our hotel in Manuel Antonio, the Manuel Antonio Park House. The owner there greets us friendly and says that he has been waiting for us. We apologize and explain that we walked from Esquipulas to Quepos on foot. After he hears our story, he calls out to the other guests in the lounge: 'Hey, these people just walked 280 km from the Caribbean coast to here', which even earns us applause and makes us answer a few questions. To end the evening, we sit comfortably in a cafe with a view of the sea and toast to a successful trip with a cocktail.