“Pura Vida”

Throughout our visit to Costa Rica, we took bus tours and boat tours in cloud forests, rain forests, dry forests, and farmers' fields growing sugar cane, coffee, and fruit. We drove past many farmhouses and villages, with shop fronts and houses often painted with vivid murals depicting rural life. An important image is that of the beloved ox-drawn cart, a century-old (or more) tradition in the Costa Rican countryside. While motorized transport is now the principal way, some of these carts are still in use as they work well on rough back-country roads, with solid wheels that are effective in rutted muddy terrain. I saw several of these carts stored on porches near farmhouses, and also saw some in tourist places such as hotels and souvenir shops. A few images:

Each cart is hand-painted with unique designs.

A toy ox-cart decorating a salad bar.

Farm-cart magnets for sale at a souvenir stand. (I didn't buy any.)

Another decorated cart -- in the background is a modern version, not painted and with rubber tires.

An oxcart in use from a mural at the coffee plant we toured.

Also at the coffee plant -- you can see the bags of coffee being readied for shipment.

Costa Rican Spanish, we are told, doesn't differ much from the Spanish spoken in the rest of Central and South America -- except for one thing. "Pura Vida" is an expression that summarizes the upbeat way that people think here. When everything is ok and you want to end a sentence on a positive note,
you end with "Pura Vida." Literally it means "pure life" but that's not a good translation. I think “Pura Vida” is especially appropriate as a summary of the Costa Rican love of their traditional farm carts.

This post is copyright © 2019 by mae sander for maefood dot blogspot dot com. If you read this blog at a different location, it is a pirated version. For a more complete history of Costa Rican ox cart traditions, see: https://www.guachipelin.com/blog/en/story-behind-tradition-oxcarts-costa-rica/