Before the boom in Costa Rican tourism, deciphering the bus timetables and fighting your way through the crowds at Coca-Cola terminal in San Jose was a rite of passage for the uninitiated traveler. As little as three years ago, getting to the beaches on the Peninsula de Nicoya took determination, patience and depending on the state of the Costa Rica’s dreadful roads a little luck. These days however, an increasing number of travelers are getting their first glimpse of pura vida Costa Rica at Liberia’s own Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport, which is roughly the size of a Wal-Mart parking lot. Previously, the sunny capital of Guana¬caste served as a transportation hub connecting the capital with both borders, as well as the standard bearer of Costa Rica’s sabanero culture. Even today, a large part of the greater Liberia area is involved in ranching operations, and still much enamored of Clint Eastwood movies, cowboy hats and machetes. However, as more and more gringos are stumbling off their international flights and seeking out the nearest cerveza in broken Spanish, Guanacastecos are starting to realize how lucrative the tourism industry can be.
