March 08, 2003
Photos - Costa Rica and Carnaval
Howdy from Pedasí, Panama. Hope all is well in the "Homeland" and that our insane President hasn't declared war on anymore developing countries without armies. The folks in Panama are just waiting for him to roll into the canal to take it back for another hundred years.
Stats:
Miles from Home - 6435
Days on the road - 85
Quarts of alcohol consumed during Carnaval - Still Calculating...
When I arrived in Cosat Rica I went to visit ICADS, the organization I studied with six years ago. They invited to me to join them the next day on a field trip to a banana plantation. Women in the packing house work all day cutting, cleaning and packing the bananas.
They pick the bananas 4 weeks before they are ready to eat, so they don't spoil before getting to the states. Once packed, they are sprayed with fungicide. Mmmmmmm....good!
Young men work the plantation, making between 5 and 15 dollars a day.
"Mulas" (mules) hang the bananas on cables and run them from the fields to the packing house. They run because they are paid by the load, not by the hour.
Cesar moved down from Nicaragua last year to work on the Bananeras in Costa Rica. In Nicaragua he was making $1.50 a day. With the six bucks he's making in Costa Rica he can pay for beer and still send some money home.
On the way up a steep shortcut to Monteverde in the Cloud forests of the Costa Rican highlands, the bike decided to lay down twice. Aside from draining all the fluid out of the battery and leaving me stranded in Panama four days later, I broke the rear footpeg bracket on the right side. The only aluminium welder within a days ride charged me $15 for the fix. Ouch!
Mi Padre Tica. When I was hear six years ago I lived with Rigoberto Brenes and his family in San Luis south of Monteverde. They had since moved north, but I tracked them down on their new fabulous dairy farm in La Florida.
Rigo's farm is like a slice of heaven in the high Costa Rican mountains. The streams are lined with dense forest, and the hillslopes are covered in lush tall grass. Sometimes it's hard to tell there is any grazing at all.
Blub blub blub. The mud boils of Rincon de la Vieja National Park in Costa Rica were a little to hot for a facial mud treatment.
Riding south around the east side of the central highlands, Volcán Arenál is the most active volcano in Costa Rica. Hotels around the volcano offer specials on night hikes where you can get spectacular views of the spewing lava.
Carnaval in Las Tablas, Panama. Unlike their Rio De Janiero counterparts, CArnavales in Panama are smaller and more family oriented. You hit the streets with your family and get completely wasted. They also coronate two queens for each town, frmo Calle Arriba and Calle Abajo, basically the two sides of the tracks. This is the Queen of Calle Abajo.
Part of the queen's scary looking court.
The floats are elaboate and brightly lit. Note the little angels taking a break on the lower left.
The traditional attire for the women of Panama is the Pollera Dress.
During the day, the city turns into a wet, slippery mess with hundreds of thousands of gallons of water pouring into the streets from water trucks lining the plaza.
After a good soaking, everyone revels in the streets in small bands drumming, singing and dancing.
Kiké (pronounced Key-KAY) is one Las Tablas' most renown folklore experts. He had a crowd of a few hundred around him singing replies to his call and response chants.
I ran into this Cop with one of four of Panama's BMW 1150 RT Police Bikes. He let me take a picture, but wouldn't let me take a ride. Maybe it was the rum and coke in my hand, I don't know.
If you've never seen or heard 100,000 firecrackers go off at one time in the middle of the street, it's a sight and sound to behold. Just don't breathe, ok?
The last night, the entire entourage dresses in traditional Polleras and drives the parade route until 3:00 AM. From 3 to 7 the crowd drinks itself into a frenzy for the final firecracker blast and dance of the Queen at sunrise.
The Queen of Calle Abajo allowed me to join her on the top of her float to snap a quick photo. She danced continuously on top of one float or another in one uncomfortable dress or another for FOUR DAYS straight. Even after all that, she wore a convincing enough smile.
Posted by Sully at March 8, 2003 09:43 AM