Number 16      

Sarchí, Costa Rica

Artisan Quint Town

Roger and I had heard about Sarchí, Costa Rica. So today we decided to find a bus that takes us there. 

Riding into San Jose with my new "Do"
You knew I'd get this picture in somehow.....

 We took our usual bus to downtown San Jose, where we immediately got lost trying to find the exact spot for the bus to Sarchí  So as we are standing on the street looking lost, a taxi driver asked if we needed his help. Predictable story, he says he will give us a discounted trip to Sarchí.  So we take the easy way out and get into the back seat of the taxi and off we go.

Located on the slopes of Costa Rica’s Central Mountain Range at the eastern edge of the Central Valley, the quaint country town of Sarchí is 46 kilometers from the nation’s capital city of San Jose, or about an hour’s drive. Or in other words, an hour to practice my Spanish with the driver.  To my amazement I understood about 70% of his words.  Another point, if you don’t understand, just say Si, and you’ll be ok.

Original wheel from an antique cart

Sarchí, is most well-known for the hand painted oxcart. Decorated in their entirety by hand, these oxcarts have become something of a national symbol for Costa Rica. Their initial use dates back to over a century ago. Back in the day, wooden carts pulled by a pair of oxen were the main mode of transportation in the mountainous country, especially to transport coffee beans to markets. Originally each region of Costa Rica had its own particular oxcart design, which identified a driver’s origin by the painted patterns on his cart’s wheels. The largest and oldest oxcart factory is also found in Sarchi. The Joaquin Chaverri Oxcart Factory was built in 1902, and is considered to be the birthplace of oxcart handicrafts in Costa Rica.

In the center of Sarchí, is a beautiful park with the “World’s Largest Oxcart” – built in 2006 to get the town’s name into The Guinness Book of World Records –the Central Park is in front of the main Catholic church

Largest Ox cart in the world

Besides the beautiful handicrafts, another reason to visit this charming town is for its unusual church that is painted pink and blue. Built in the 1950’s, this two-towered church sits on a hill overlooking the town. A small fact that I learned during my Spanish lessons is that the Catholic Church always faces East and West.  The door to enter the church is at the West, and the alter is at the East end of the church.  Umm, maybe I should have known that already, but oh well.

Besides the oxcarts Sarchí is well known for all of the handmade wooden furniture.  Sarchí, Costa Rica is a busy place on weekends since many Ticos visit to purchase home furnishings.  So I am glad we made our trip on Wednesday.  OK, Sarchí is a tourist trap with tons of over- priced souvenirs.

Lots of souvenirs 

But, it is so quaint that the trip is well worth the drive up the long winding roads which are often very narrow and are not marked clearly. The route to get to Sarchí passes through picturesque countryside and some of the largest coffee and sugarcane plantations in Costa Rica.

I had read very good reviews for Restaurant “La Finca”.  To be honest we never would have found this place if we didn’t have a guide.  It sits down a very narrow road which looks like a driveway.  But when we got there, the owner was our waiter and he spoke English.  He asked if we would like the house special, a grilled steak with vegetables.  We closed the menus and said yes!  The meal was huge and delicious.  It’s worth the effort to find La Finca.

View from our table

One happy man

Costa Rica has 2 seasons the dry and the green.  We are now in the green season whichI will translate for you “rain”.  Luckily we were eating until the rain and hail passed.  Our ponchos would have done us NO good.

  

Side note to Costa Rica...you are putting way too much fruit in your pastries.
 This one is pineapple, OMG so good.

So our lesson for today is everything works out the exact way it is supposed to…we never would have taken a taxi, but in retrospect, we never would have seen so much.  It is not a walking town.  Hills are steep and things are spread out.

Gracias a Julio tanto para llevarnos a Sarchi

Hand-made small ox carts for the home

The artist hand painting trays that were for sale

 These 4 pictures take you thru
each step of making an
Oxen Yoke.

Sorry the images are
not clear.But it all starts with
a very large piece of wood

Number 15

Train Crossings in Costa Rica

In the US, there is so much talk about safety at train crossings.  We hear about train vs car/truck/bus/people accidents all the time. The outcry is usually something like this…”something must be done these crossings are just not safe enough”.   According to the Federal Railroad Administration, there were a little under 12,000 total accidents/incidents in 2014 with total fatalities of over 800 (stay with me here).  In the US, there are lights, crossings bars and bells to signal an approaching train to a crossing.

There is no equivalent to the Federal Railroad Administration that I could find in Costa Rica.  What is amazing is that in Costa Rica there are no crossing bars that come down as a train approaches a road crossing.  There are no bells.  Most crossings don’t even have lights.

This is a typical railroad/road intersection.  Cars stop on the tracks until the traffic moves. 

  

It has fascinated me that there is not a car/train accident daily in Costa Rica.  Maybe the people of Costa Rica have figured out that an accident between a car and train…The Train Wins.

Number 14   

 Jam Packed Weekend of Fun

Costa Rica is a tourist’s dream.  There are so many things to see and do it’s hard to know where to start. Roger and I had a great opportunity this weekend to become tourists for 2 days. Thanks to James Michael Tanzini, Kimberly Jo and especially Guido for a weekend to remember.  We never would have done so much without our personal “tour guides”. 

Saturday began with a trip over to the Pacific coast (which is a little more than 1 hour drive from San Jose) and a visit to the seashore town of Jaco.  Jaco’s climate is normally humid, with a high relative humidity so we felt like we were back in Florida.  This was our second trip to Jaco.  We had previously drove there in October but we just looked it over and left.  It is amazing how much more you will see when you travel with someone that knows what the area has to offer.  In October, we drove over a bridge and saw people lined up on the bridge looking over.  We said, “What the heck are these people looking at”, well now we know.  Along the entire river’s edge are crocodiles. It is worth a stop to see them.  

We left the car at a small tourist stop just before the bridge in Tarcoles.  They make the most incredible smoothies.  They encourage you to try the smoothie with a couple of shots of rum.  Roger did, I didn’t, but fresh smoothies at worth the stop.

We made our way into Jaco and pulled down a road that ended facing the Pacific.  James and Guido wanted to boogie board so they were left to play.  I got my first opportunity to put my feet into the ocean.  The water was extremely warm.  But I will say I was not prepared for the temperature of the sand as I ran back to the car bare footed, yikes it was hot.

Kimberly, Roger and I made our way to the Croc’s Casino and Resort that has been open for just 2 months.  It is a full service casino with lots of slots and the usual table games.  Yes, I did try my luck at the slots (which only take Dollars).  The casino has people to help you understand the game you are playing.  I had a young man that was most eager to help.  After I turned my $20 into $50, he even told me to stop and cash out.  So I went home a winner.

On Sunday, we started off early for La Paz Waterfall and Gardens. La Paz has over 70 acres of wildlife and forest to explore.  It was Guido’s Birthday present from his parents.  The road trip was a typical driving adventure.  I know one thing for sure, Roger and I would still be driving those roads and asking Ticos for directions.  The people of Costa Rica want nothing more than to help.  So if they do not know the correct directions, they will “help” anyway.  We stopped 4 times, the first man suggested we go all the way back to San Jose and start again.  We found it but we are convinced we might never be able to find it a second time.

Admission to La Paz is priced at $40 per person, it is expensive but well worth the experience.  There are hiking trails and clearly marked paths to follow.  Before you get to the waterfalls there are several live exhibits of animals of Costa Rica.  It is very interactive so you go inside the exhibits and are part of the habitat of the animals.  There are houses that have birds, butterflies, monkeys, hummingbirds, snakes, frogs and jungle cats.  Then you can make your way up to the Waterfalls.  The paved trails allow you to walk above, below and right next to 5 waterfalls.

 After a long, great day of experiences, we made our way home to an early bedtime. Pura Vida.