We were all impressed by this pair of jugglers running a tag team effort for the drivers at an intersection in Barrio Amon in San Jose.
As the light turned red, the first fellow would run into throw pins, only collecting coins as the cars rolled through the intersection. During the next light, his buddy came out for his turn.
As we left the city many hours later, they were still at it. Jugglers these days really have to work for their colones.
This fellow is a mobile knife sharpener who plies his trade in Barrio Aranjuez, in San Jose. Here he is set up in front of a batido, or smoothie bar, where he gets the knives sharp enough to cut through prickly pineapples and thickly-husked watermelons.
Not long after we stepped into Galeria Namu, we heard a commotion then sirens outside. A car that had ran a red-light had crashed into a motorcycle. “This is how we keep the Costa Rican population in check,” quipped Deborah, the gallery’s owner.
She then filled us in on aspects of the Costa Rican character as only a native could. “Tell a tico not to stand there and he will walk over to see what you will do.” She admits that her people are easy-going but as soon as they get behind the wheel they go kind of crazy.
In discussing the upcoming election, she told us that the young people give her hope as she sees them engaging in politics for the first time in a generation. She is no stranger to politics telling us that her mother came to Costa Rica as a Cuban refugee, a “daughter of the revolution.” After years of teaching, she now runs a gallery that enfranchises the indigenous people of Costa Rica as well as Panama and Honduras.
At the fair-trade Galeria Namu, art and politics are inseparable.
Christian and Renaldo run Pizza del Sol on Paseo del Colon in downtown San Jose.
It was Christian who sold us on the place as we were walking by. He showed us the pizzas available but since they were all meat, we weren’t great customers. He offered to put together a custom extra-large pizza, which is about as large around as a bike tire.
The pizza was excellent – crispy outside and chewy inside – and the price was right.
This pair really wanted to know how we liked our dinner. They asked where we were from and how we liked Costa Rica. Christian is holding a bag of grated parmesan for the photo. He should have offered it when our pizza was served! Next time.
When we pulled into the central park in Naranjo to enjoy the picnic goodies that we had assembled over the course of the morning, Lionel greeted us, then, with an index finger to his eye, let us know that he would watch our car.
Though his reflective vest gave him an air of authority, he didn’t act very official, leading us to believe that he had bought the vest himself.
When Sylvia told him that we were from Canada, he asked “Alberta?” then burst into laughter.
He was more than happy to pose for a shot with Emerson. “Que muy guapo!” I told him. A handsome figure indeed.
Sarchi is famous for its handpainted oxcarts, and boasts the largest oxcart in the world at the town’s centre.
While visiting one of the town’s many workshops, I watched this man complete some of the detailed work of painting oxcart wheels. It reminded me of watching Buddhist monks create thanka paintings many years ago.
As much as we admired this handiwork, we resisted the urge to have our own cart shipped home.
Johann helps to run the Bio Thermales Resort, near Aguas Zarcas, the town that Johann calls home. He not only registers guests and directs traffic, but he makes things out of wood, such as the door that he is posing beside.
When we asked him about his carpentry training he replied, “Trial and error.” He elaborated, telling us that Bernie, the resorts owner, had asked him to make a door. “If I didn’t do it, he would just find someone who could.” His first door took three weeks. The one that you are looking at took four days.
The casita that we stayed in was exquisite, with a hand-crafted kitchen table and four poster bed made from locally gathered wood. Bernie let us know who was actually pushing the artistry. “Johann, he likes the details.”
When others at our lodge found out that we were going to Corcovado National Park, they immediately told us that we had to “get Roy” as a guide. He introduced himself on the boat that takes tourists like ourselves to the park, saying, “I’m Roy!” We just thought, “You better be.”
There were some large groups on the trails ahead of us. Roy won’t take more than eight. Also, when the big groups go left, he takes us to the right. Within minutes he told us that a troop of squirrel monkeys was on its way and to sit tight. Sure enough, a few members showed in the branches ahead, then more, until the whole troop of 60 were busy munching, tearing and leaping around us.
We could ask him to name a bird by sound or identify a mushroom, and he told us not only the name but what makes it interesting. He has been guiding for 17 years and is one of the few guides with a biology background.
When it started getting rainy on the water, he told his clients to put on their rainjackets. Roy peeled off his shirt instead, and laughing said, “This one’s for free.”
Gerardo is holding up a necklace made with local seeds that his wife made (and which my wife bought). He runs a gallery and workshop with his family in Hone Creek, on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica.
His family belong to the BriBri indigenous group and all of their handiwork is rooted in traditional techniques and local materials.
Gerardo was so animated as he told us about the woodcarving workshops that he holds where he teaches people mask carving and sculpture techniques passed to him from his family.
He made it clear that these are not massed produced souvenirs available at local shops. He sells them at the market or at his gallery only. He is not outsourcing this work to China. This is the real deal.
A
stay at the Koko Resort in Bocas del Toro, starts with Jack’s breakfast, which is served with stories, life lessons and an idea or two to ponder.
Jack grew up with his two brothers in an orphanage in New York State from the age of five. He told us that he started teaching young but after his first year he was given both an award for excellence in teaching and his pink slip. He moved on.
Lee taught political science in Ohio until seven years ago.
What this couple share is a disdain for anything that looks like retirement. There are hammocks on the decks, but you never see Jack or Lee in them.
Humans of Planet Earth 