Travel Blog Costa Rica

From the people of Costa Rica only 1% is indigenous. Costa Rica’s history has presented the Indigenous people with lots of hardship. Many tribes, who dominated the entire region between Guanacaste and the Talamanca mountains in pre-Colombian times, are now pushed back in the twenty-two Indigenous reservations distributed all over Costa Rica. Six Indigenous languages have survived: Maleku, Cabecar, Bribri, Guayami and Brunca. From the remaining Indigenous tribes the Maleku are the smallest, with only 500 people, but also the one with the richest culture. It still is using their native language and their culture includes storytelling, songs and dance and other preserved customs. The Maleku Indigenous tribe lives in the area north of the Arenal Volcano in the Province of Alajuela and are open to receive foreigners to learn them about their culture, knowledge of medicinal plants and rituals. The Chorotega is an Indigenous tribe originating from the Northern part of Central America and have roots that lead all the way back to Mexico and therefore is different from the other tribes who originate from tribes that worked their way up geographically from South-America. They are now living in the Province of Guanacaste in the region of the Nicoya peninsula around the towns of Guatil and San Vicente. Although their original Indigenous language is not used anymore, they still master the traditional way of making pottery, including the use of ancient ovens. The Burucas live on the South-Pacific coast of Costa Rica in the Province of Puntarenas and are a mixture of several tribes once living in this area and decimated by the Spanish Conquerors. It is believed that the forefathers of these tribes produced the mysterious and stone spheres of Costa Rica. They are famous for their copper and gold handicrafts in a unique style called Diquis. The women are excellent weavers and make colourful textiles which are used for wide range of modern items, such as bags, hats, placemats, etc. On Indigenous festivals you can see the Buruca men perform the more than 400 year old Dance of Devils, depicting the struggle with the Spanish invaders, personified by a bull, killing members of the tribe. One of the Buruca Indigenous reservations is close to the city of San Isidro de El General. The Ngobe tribe is the only nomadic tribe and live in an area crossing the border into Panama. This Indigenous tribe prefers an existence in isolation and have preserved their culture well. Special arrangements have been made between the Panamanian and Costa Rican authorities to enable them to cross the border freely, especially in the coffee picking season when they are looking for jobs. The few villages that are left are found close to the Osa Peninsula and near San Vito. The Ngobe women still wear their traditional, colourful dresses and excel in the making of bright, beaded accessories. The Bribri, Teribe and Cabecar Indigenous tribes reside in the Talamanca Region in the south of the Province of Limon and share more or less the same culture. The Bribri tribes originally lived in the lowland areas on the Caribbean Coast, close to the towns of Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo, while the Cabecar have their territory higher in the inland mountains. After the arrival of the first colonist and the Afro-Caribbean people imported to work on the railroad, settled in the coastal areas, the three tribes were pushed more inside. Nowadays the town of Bribri is the centre of these Indigenous tribes, from where the more isolated communities can be reached.

Costa Rica situated on the Central American isthmus between Nicaragua in the north and Panama in the south is a very remarkable country. The overwhelming rainforests, its sustainable development, astounding biodiversity and friendly people make it a very attractive holiday destination that has many attractions to offer. The friendly nature of its people is crafted by the intriguing pre-Colombian and more recent history. Starting off in pre-Colombian times the entire people of Costa Rica consisted of a wide range of interacting Indigenous tribes. After Columbus (Colon in Spanish) landed on the Caribbean beaches of Limon, things started to change gradually. The Indigenous tribes were pacified after their surrender and today Indians form only a meagre one percent of the entire population. When you compare the people of Costa Rica to those of other countries in Latin America it is very homogeneous. More than ninety-seven percent of the people is a mixture of native Indians and Spanish, the colonists and conquerors of Costa Rica. People with this mixture of blood are called ‘Mestizos’. Since the balance of the mixture tilts towards the European side, most people have a relatively white skin colour. After a contract was given away by the Costa Rican government in 1871 to construct the railroad from San Jose to Limon, they needed more people to work on it than there were available in Costa Rica. In the last three decades of the 19th century Afro-Caribbean people were recruited off the Caribbean islands such as Jamaica. Mostly settling in the Province of Limon, these people give the towns of Limon, Cahuita, Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo its famous Caribbean flavour. Afro-Caribbean people add up to two percent of the entire population. The indigenous people have taken the biggest hits during the economic development and only in 1977 a bill was signed to establish indigenous reserves. They had to wait till 1994 to get the right to vote. Today six Indigenous tribes survived living in twenty-two reserves distributed all over Costa Rica. How many people in total live in Costa Rica is not certain. Probably there are over three million people, but the flow of illegal immigrants, mainly from Nicaragua, cloud the statistics. The people of Costa Rica are peaceful, there hardly have been conflicts that needed to be settled by armed forces, so Costa Rica could afford the luxury to abolish the army in 1948. Compared to other Central American countries Costa Rica has a progressive social program, upholding minimum wages and a social security system, that created a huge middle class. Since education is free, illiteracy is low. With reason the people of Costa Rica are proud of their achievements which reflects in a enthusiastic form of patriotism, showing the Costa Rican flag, from bumper stickers to buildings and homes.

In the Central Valley in the Province of Cartago, no more than 20 kilometres from the town of Turrialba you find one of Costa Rica’s most impressive pre-Colombian archaeological sites: the National Monument of Guayabo. The 218 hectares of the site of Guayabo became a national protected area in 1973 and is one of the most important and largest site in Costa Rica where you can see historic remains of the once dominant Indigenous culture that inhabited the region from the Province of Alajuela in the North all the way to Colombia, Venezuela and parts of Ecuador. The site of Guayabo has been populated for more than 2,400 years during the period of 1,000 before Christ to 1,400 AD. During those 24 centuries a number of constructions has been built in Guayabo; roads, aqueducts, water basins, statues, monoliths and stairs. The area of the archaeological site measures around 20 hectares and only a small part of it has been excavated. You will be in for some amazing discoveries. There are stone hills, with a circular foundation with a diameter between 10 and 30 metres and a height up to four and a half metre. Roads were built out of stone and also containe drainage channels used to collect and redirect rainwater. The network of roads in Guayabo stretches out for miles in different directions. Covered aqueducts would carry the water where needed and storage was provided by building rectangular storage tanks. Stone terraces with steps were constructed to overcome the distances in height of the site. On various stones you can find beautiful engravings. All the archaeological findings in Guayabo point in the direction of a highly developed Indigenous society like the Maya’s, Inca’s and Aztecs. It’s a pity that there is little known of the people who lived in the ancient city of Guayabo, because the site was abandoned for unknown reasons before the arrival of the Spanish conquerors in the 16th century. Although the most attractive aspect of visiting the National Monument of Guayabo are the historic reminders of an ancient culture, there is more to explore. The area around the site is an evergreen pre-mountain rainforest with a dense lush vegetation. Not only a perfect spot for bird watching, but it also contains a multitude of special botanic marvels. The artefacts that were found in Guayabo are now on display in the National Museum of Costa Rica in San Jose, 85 kilometres from the place were they were found. The small town of Santa Cruz, just outside the protected area of the National Monument of Guayabo is a perfect place to make stop. Not only on the visit to Guayabo, but also the close by National Park of Turrialba with the impressive volcano.