Rainbows and Pottery

Costa Rica with its mountainous spine and oceans on both sides has a remarkable variety of microclimates as well as varying character of place. (For better or worse, one of the main differences with the latter is how much gringo influence there has been. But that’s mostly another story.) We’re staying along the northern Pacific coast in Guanacaste, in dry tropical forest, within a stretch of small beach towns with beautiful, uncrowded public beaches (see some in previous posts). According to what we hear, and what we’ve experienced, ours is one of the most laid back parts of the country. Many of the roads are gravel and dirt, so that helps keep the pace down.

Recently we decided to take a weekend trip with our visiting friends to one of the best-known mountain regions, Monteverde, a cloud forest and ecotourism destination. And because it would be on the way, we also chose to stop and visit an indigenous town called Guaitil, which has kept alive the Chorotega pottery legacy that goes back a millennium or more. The name, Guaitil, comes from the guaitil tree that provides dye for the pottery. Historical designs and skills have been handed down through generations of families, many of whom have a kiln on their property. In a model sustainable process, all tools and materials are made locally. Around the charming little town green and beyond, we found small pottery shops with demonstrations underway of stomping barefoot on the clay to knead it, throwing pottery, and painting it. It’s not far from Santa Cruz in Guanacaste and well worth the trip. Here’s a good, more extensive dive into what’s special about Guaitil.

As with our travels to the capitol town, San Jose, the drive up into the mountains to get to Monteverde was gorgeous and at times, harrowing. It helped that we had rainbows as well as stunning views for most of the trip. The cloud forest is a kind of variation on a rain forest with the moisture provided by heavy mist more so than rain. Even during what’s the dry season where we are, everything was lush in evergreen Monteverde.

One highlight was a guided night hike through the forest, during which we saw three different birds balled up and sleeping on tree branches, including a toucan. Another was climbing out onto an old strangler fig tree that had been trained to bridge a river. Down below, we hiked along the river while getting bathed in sunlit, rainy mist. A blessing.