The small town of Bribri in the Province of Limon carries the name of one of the largest remaining Indigenous tribes in Costa Rica; the Bribri Indians. Bribri is a very small town, located just 15 kilometres inland from Puerto Viejo de Limon on the Caribbean coast in the Talamanca region and is surrounded by banana plantations that cover the valley all the way into Panama. Beyond the town of Bribri in the dense jungle of the Talamanca hills there are several indigenous reserves and several isolated, hard to reach communities. The town of Bribri has a bus terminal, several stores, small local restaurants that serve typical food and communal services such as town hall, clinic, police station, courthouse and schools. The Talamanca area is the region where the Bribri Indians survived the foreign influences of the Spanish conquerors thanks to its isolated location. Since pre-Columbian times Costa Rica was the territory of several Indigenous tribes. At the time of the arrival of the Spanish invaders it is calculated that more than 250,000 indigenous people lived in Costa Rica. The Indigenous tribe of the Boruca’s on the Pacific side in the Province of Puntarenas suffered great losses resisting the conquerors and the few remaining Boruca’s now live in a reserve close to the village of Buenos Aires. The Bribri’s were more fortunate to live in the hostile Talamanca mountains and could preserve their traditions and way of life. It is estimated that 5,200 Bribri Indians live nowadays in the in area between the Talamanca Mountains range and the north of Panama. The Bribri’s are truly one with nature and live of cultivating, rice, corn, plantains and cacao. More than 120 different plants are known to be grown for medicinal purposes. Their traditional handicraft is very attractive to the visiting tourists and is sold in and around the town of Bribri, which can be easily by bus or car. From the Grand Terminal del Caribe in San Jose direct buses depart for Puerto Viejo de Limon and Sixaola. It is a short drive from the Caribbean coast from towns like Cahuita, Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo to Bribri, so even a ride by taxi is affordable. By car coming from the direction of Limon, instead of going straight ahead at the junction of Hone Creek, take the right exit towards Sixaola. From Bribri you can reach the nearby town of Bambu (it’s a bumpy, rough road) where a boat takes you further inland to the Indian reserves. Those kind of tours need to be organized upfront, because the Bribri clans has to have a meeting, where will be determined whether to receive you or not. But once your set, you will have a very interesting encounter with their social structure, fascinating religious beliefs and the way of life in perfect harmony with nature of the Bribri Indians. A well preserved culture that goes back thousands of years, but takes some effort to discover.