Experiencing the simple life of an indigenous people is a true blessing and learning experience!
Live a simple life; you will own the most beautiful treasures of the world!
~Mehmet Murat ildan
¡Pura Vida!
Lunch at Watsi Village
Bribri Watsi Waterfall
This stop reminded me of growing up in Arkansas with natural swim holes on streams with and without waterfalls and cliffs that teens love to jump off. This is the kind of swim hole rural people everywhere enjoy, including the indigenous here. We were there on the weekend so lots of local kids and whole families were there enjoying these wonderful swimming holes and of course I enjoyed getting shots of the kids jumping (3 different sequences below – watch as slideshow), most are indigenous Bribri kids, though other local Ticos come here too! The adult man ran a little snack stand at the top of the hill by the parking lot where we ate cold watermelon. A cool, old-fashion summer experience on Rio Dos Aguas near the Bribri village of Watsi. I’m the luckiest man in the world to live where I can enjoy these kinds of experiences in nature. ¡Pura Vida!
I suspect every one of the above teens felt something like this:
“I nodded, pretending to be a hundred times more courageous than I felt. But that was the thing about courage. Sometimes you had to fake it to feel it.”
― Lisa Tawn Bergren
¡Pura Vida!
Chocolate!
One of the most intriguing things learned from this indigenous people was about the process of chocolate, in a similar way as with my visit to the Bribri Yorkin village 3 years ago.
In brief, the cacao seed grow as more than a dozen inside a fruit shown in the slideshow. The seeds are surrounded by a white jelly-like substance that you can suck off the seed and it is very sweet! The seeds are not! The seeds are removed from the fruit and allowed to ferment for 5 days during which time all the white substance goes away (not shown in slides). Then the dark brown seeds/beans are spread out in the sunshine to dry out for 22 days (not shown in the slides.) The seeds are then roasted (shown here in pan on wood fire). Then they are ground up into tiny pieces (shown here with old-fashion stone grinder by hand). Then they are winnowed or the shells are separated from the seed meat by tossing in the air (shown here by woman). Then without the shells they are ground some more until they turn to a creamy paste (shown here with a hand grinder though can be done with the same stone grinder).
Aaron then took half bananas sliced lengthwise and spread with the chocolate paste and we ate the little banana-chocolate sandwiches (not shown here, sorry). Then the woman had boiled some water into which she put some of the chocolate paste, a little cinnamon and some brown sugar. She stirred it well and gave us each a coconut shell cup of hot chocolate (see photo of one in my hand). It had no milk, so tasted a little different that the hot chocolate Americans are used to, but was good, if a little stronger chocolate taste than usual. The slideshow includes many of the above activities. After all this I don’t understand why chocolate is not more expensive than it is! 🙂 It is a labor intensive process! And reminds me of coffee production here.
We need to return to learning about the land by being on the land, or better, by being in the thick of it. That is the best way we can stay in touch with the fates of its creatures, its indigenous cultures, its earthbound wisdom. That is the best way we can be in touch with ourselves.
~Gary Paul Nabhan
Bribri Indigenous Village Watsi – 1st Stop: Shaman
Yesterday I joined an all day tour Terraventuras Bribri Culture, where me and two ladies from Spain spent the day in an indigenous village near Puerto Viejo including first the Shaman, then medicine man (I got herbal medicine for my
diarrhea), a plant study hike in forest, chocolate harvesting and production demonstration, indigenous lunch of boiled root vegetables and chicken, and a visit to the local teen hangout waterfalls where I photographed local teens jumping off the falls into plunge pool. A cool day! I will present in installments.
First is a slide show of our visit to the Shaman, their spiritual leader and trainer of the medicine man. We got lots of knowledge about the Bribri culture and their use of the conical structure for spiritual and history training of the children and various ceremonies. Then we were “cleansed” in their cleansing ceremony where we had a leaf heated over the fire whisked over our bodies with some Bribri words uttered.
If people can’t acknowledge the wisdom of indigenous cultures, then that’s their loss.
~Jay Griffiths
¡Pura Vida!
More from Manzanillo
More photos from Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge visit yesterday:
Did you notice the quote on the entrance sign to this refuge? It is . . .
“The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.”
― Charles Darwin
¡Pura Vida!
Explored Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge Today
Many more photos from today to share tomorrow after I visit an indigenous people reserve village. Staying busy and loving it! Omar Cook, my guide today is pictured here and he was fabulous! I’ll share more scenery and animal photos tomorrow. I’m exhausted now! A lot of walking!
I’m making too many photos to keep up with while here, but when I get home I will continue sharing. This less popular and less visited tourist area of Costa Rica is still one of my favorites! Simple and natural!
¡Pura Vida!
Surfing Cocles Beach Today
And yes, there were red flags out today, meaning dangerous riptides or undercurrents, stay out of the water! Surfers are young invincibles who ignore such warnings. And the rasta guy falling above had nothing to do with riptides! Oh well, makes good photos for me and good fun for the kids! 🙂 And fortunately no one was swept away while I was there.
“The best surfer out there is the one having the most fun.”
– Phil Edwards
¡Pura Vida!
The most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or touched, they are felt with the heart.
~Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little Prince
¡Pura Vida!
In the Caribe!
Yep! That little landing strip above is what we landed on, right on the beach south of Limon, parallel to the Atlantic Ocean (or South Caribbean Sea). I got here early before my room was ready, had breakfast, arranged 3 tours, walked the beach to “downtown” Puerto Viejo, photographing people and street scenes before visiting an art gallery then taking a taxi back to the hotel where my room was ready with the best deck view of all the rooms; the only one with a view of the beach. A snack, little nap, on computer and will soon go for my 4 PM relaxation massage, then dinner. Tomorrow I hang out here with tours the following 3 days and then return home.
¡Pura Vida!
“De Cabin in de Wata” Next Week
Next Thursday I’m back to the most laid back part of Costa Rica, Caribe Sur! That’s the South Caribbean and my favorite hotel there, Banana Azul (in their best room overlooking the beach!) And now there is a new video about the town it is located in (best seen fullscreen):
And the first song (De Cabin in de Wata) in that video is an original Costa Rica Caribbean and not Jamaican like so many of the singers there use. I immediately thought of the theater movie Güilas, which I wrote about earlier that used this same song in their Limon Province story. The song also has its own video that’s as good if you like more nature instead of people and this one includes the words on the screen:
And the same Costa Rican singer, Walter Ferguson, also has this nice song:
Everything is very relaxed and authentic on the Caribbean side. I try to go every September or October when rain is lowest there and will go again in February to another favorite place, Tortuguero. Part of my . . .
¡Pura Vida!