Horses on Parade! San Jose, Costa Rica

Ready for the Tope

The day after Christmas is the date of a major event here in Costa Rica. That's the day hundreds of horses and their riders converge on the capital city of San Jose for the huge annual tope or horse parade down Paseo Colon, the broad boulevard that runs through the middle of the city. This year the day was a little cloudy and cool for what is, after all, summer here in Central America but I'm sure the horses liked it. With silver-concho'd saddles on their backs and fancy bridles on their heads, their silky manes and tails flowing, the handsome steeds were ready to prance down the main street to receive the adoration of the Tico masses.

Reading the headlines in A.M. Costa Rica that morning, I learned that the tope was being held that day and, according to the report, would start at 10:00 a.m. Being the inveterate horse lover that I am, I decided Layne and I should bus into San Jose and join in the excitement of watching all those horses do their thing. Taking the 9:00 a.m. San Jose bus would get us into the town right at 10:00 a.m., which should be time enough, given how these sort of things tend to run on "Tico time," i.e., as much as an hour late.

Female policia patrol the street

Ha! Little did we know the news report was wrong. After exiting the bus, we discovered the parade was not actually scheduled to begin until 12:30 p.m. So with some time to kill, we wandered down Paseo Colon where people were already beginning to reserve spots along the street. Ticos love to party and this kind of event is a great excuse to bring out the lawn chairs, a cooler full of drinks and settle down for a festive day of socializing with friends and family.

Large elevated platforms filled with chairs were located in front of some businesses along the street. We stopped at one such place to ask if the chairs could be rented. Yes, indeed, we were told. Only $50 per person for the seating -- but that included alcohol! We said no, thanks, and walked on, thinking, "that's a lot of alcohol!"

Enterprising salesmen were hawking plastic chairs or folding stools up and down the street, while others carried big stacks of cowboy hats for sale, the de rigueur wardrobe for the day. We passed on the sombreros but decided a couple of plastic stools might be a good investment: it was going to be a longer day than we had expected. We parked ourselves in a shady spot right by the retaining rope along the boulevard, bought a sandwich and a few beers and proceeded to people-watch for a couple of hours.

As the crowd grew it became clear that this is a popular event, one Ticos plan for carefully. Some pickup trucks were parked on the sidewalks end-to-end, tailgates almost touching and young people spilling out laughing and flirting and taking pictures of one another. Music blared from boom boxes or car stereos, each musical offering loud enough to drown out the next one a half a block away. Entire families settled down on blankets spread out on the avenue, toddlers crawling into the street, young couples dancing impromptu and moms offering food to all.

Abrazos Gratis!

A group of young women dressed in t-shirts with the words "Abrazos Gratis" emblazoned across the back created quite a stir as they generously offered free hugs then sprayed a hand sanitizer on the lucky recipient. Later a group of handsome and studly young men came along with the same routine: a hug or a photo with one of them and you got a quick spray of the hand cleanser. A clever marketing technique for the sanitizer company.

Just as the policia had cleared the roadway and it seemed the parade might be imminent, an single older gentleman dressed in Mexican garb and toting his guitar came boogieing down the middle of the street, offering the crowd some low-energy Latin dance, apparently hoping for donations to his basket.

Eventually the parade began and the street soon filled with horse clubs and other organized groups of riders. Many different breeds were represented. Large and small, paints, greys, sorrels, bays and chestnuts, with high-stepping Paso Finos making up the largest group.

There were singing cowboys who slowly urged their horses along while they serenaded the crowd, followed closely by vans carrying their sound equipment. As they were well received by the audience, we guessed they might be famous singers here in Costa Rica.

But for whatever reason, there were huge gaps between the groups of horses, long empty spaces with nothing going on. With our bottoms getting tired of the hard plastic seats, we wondered just how long this parade might take. By now it was nearing 2:30 in the afternoon and we were hoping to catch the 3:00 p.m. bus back to Atenas. So even through there was more parade to come, we picked up our chairs and slowly made our way through the throng of people toward the big bus station known as Coca Cola, where the Atenas bus departs.

Next year we'll plan to spend the day. We already have our stools!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!

(PS - As a holiday gift to my readers, Layne's novel MORAL TURPITUDE is available for FREE through January 31st. (NC-17 but not erotica.) To download it, click HERE to go directly to the book page; then click Add to Cart. You will have to register but it's very simple and you will get no spam. At the Cart page, enter Coupon Code QN77G, then click Update. The price will change to $0.00. Enjoy!)

Hiking Palmares, Costa Rica

Eroca, Marcial, Seidy and Layne

Here it is almost time for another Sunday outing for the Santa Eulalia gang and I have yet to share last weekend's day trip with you. Compared to some of our strenuous excursions, this one was more a sightseeing trip than a hike. As unofficial leader of our hiking club (or as he likes to call it, "a drinking club with a hiking problem"), Marcial thought a bus trip up to Palmares to explore downtown might be fun. With an eye to the early Sunday bus schedule, we got our exercise by hurriedly huffing up the long hill to the Palmares intersection, or cruce, where we just made the 7:15 a.m. bus. The thirty-minute trip took us up and over the Aquacate mountain range that separates Atenas from Palmares and curved through some charming barrios, twisting along hillsides of coffee and sugarcane plantations and verdant tropical jungle. Topping the ridge we looked out over the picturesque valley of Palmares, a town that boasts perhaps the biggest two-week fiesta grande in the country. Beginning in mid-January each year, the small town is transformed into party-central with a big tope or horse parade, rodeos, dancing, concerts and fireworks. Cabelleros and their finest mounts come from all over Costa Rica to ride through the streets showing off their fancy gaits and colorful costumes.

Toros a la Tica, the Costa Rican-style of bullfighting, is one of the highlights. Unlike the Spanish tradition, these bullfights involve hundreds of Ticos who become bullfighters-for-a-day, jumping into the ring to taunt the bull but not to kill him. All it takes is a lot of nerve and a willingness to test fate by joining the rather comical event.

Our day in Palmares was less exciting than a bullfight but fun nevertheless as we wandered through the Parque Central where large iguanas lounge in the trees and reddish-brown squirrels vie with pigeons for treats left by local citizens. Like most Latin countries, the park is adjacent to the Catholic Church, which was just ending Sunday morning mass when we arrived. 

The capricious fountain 

Eroca, the juggling gringa

As the church emptied out, we were amused to watch one hapless gentleman stroll across the plaza and get showered by the fountain as it turned on in a seemingly random schedule. In another entertaining moment, Eroca showed off her juggling skills to the surprise of a Tico juggler who was suitably impressed by the bold gringa.

A squirrel enjoys a snack

Lazy iguana taking the sun

The church itself made an imposing photogenic subject for Eroca, Seidy and me. Seidy is a budding photographer taking photo lessons from Stephen, who taught photography back in the US. Although Stephen and Bonnie were not with us on this outing, having gone up to Monteverde for the weekend, Seidy was dutifully working the camera in anticipation of her Monday class. 

Seidy doing her "homework"

Eroca tries to capture stained glass

Inside the grand church

According to Marcial, each stone of the large building had been hand-hewn and lovingly installed to construct the church. Inside we photographers gazed at the vivid stained glass windows and tried to capture the dramatic colors in our cameras.

From there we ambled over to the Central Market for a coffee and some tamales, then headed out for a short exploration of the local community, enjoying beautiful flowers, lovely homes and the activities on the soccer field along the way. 

One of many nice homes

Plantain in a front yard

Community soccer field is always busy

But we soon had to mosey back to the bus stop for our return trip to Atenas and the afternoon potluck by the pool at Bonnie and Stephen's who had by then returned from their weekend trip.

Just another wonderful day in the life of pensionados, enjoying Pura Vida in Costa Rica!

  

Costa Rica Fun, Food and Friendship

Our community of fun and fun things to do just keeps growing here in Santa Eulalia. Nowhere else in our two years in Costa Rica have we lived in a neighborhood in which we found so many kindred spirits, new friends, both Tico and Gringo and entertaining things to see and do around every corner. Even our almost-daily walks offer new vistas in recent days as cornfields and sugarcane fields have been  harvested and left bare, opening up distant views. One day this week we hiked down a side road toward the waterfall, passing empty cane fields that revealed trees standing tall above sheer canyon walls. In the distance we could see Barrio Los Angeles, where we used to live, and even spied our former landlords Odie and Eduardo's red roof.

But today was special for me. I just returned from a truly magical experience: riding a beautiful Paso Fino mare in an arena about a 15-minute walk down the road from us. A shiny bay with a luxurious long black mane and large, dark intelligent eyes, she was spirited, but responsive and obedient and attentive to every shift of my weight in the saddle or slight adjustment on the reins. Controlled only with a rope halter, she easily stopped, backed up, turned and picked up her incredible quick-step Paso gait with only subtle signals from me. That gait is so different from what I'm used to; no posting to the trot, you just sit quietly as the horse moves smoothly beneath your seat. It was an absolute joy to be on horseback again. I was so excited to be riding such an exquisite animal, I forgot all about taking pictures. But Talia looked much like the bay Paso pictured here.

Photo courtesy of ParadisePasoFinos.com

Equally wonderful was the new Tico friend I made in horse owner Francisco, thanks again to our estimado amigo Marcial, who had arranged this ride for me. After watching me ride awhile, Francisco complimented me on my riding skills then announced I could come ride anytime I wanted. Smiling, he said, "this is your house now," basically offering me the opportunity to ride his horse like it was my own. As we talked more, he also invited me join him and some of his friends on a trail ride soon. It is a dream come true for this horselover, as I miss being around horses and especially my own sweet Mojave, rest his horsy soul.

This introductory ride was arranged by Marcial after he had mentioned to me the possibility of my riding in an upcoming "tope" here in Atenas. As I understand it, a tope is a horse parade, usually part of a bigger festival, in which riders come from all over the country to show off their beautiful steeds and prance down the streets of town in colorful traditional finery. A Tico friend of Marcial's was looking for ways to involve some of the Gringo community in Atenas in the planned tope and since Marcial knew I had owned a horse in the United States, he asked if I'd be interested in participating. Would I?!! You bet! Just get me a horse, I said, and I'm there. But I also asked if he thought I could do some riding before the parade to get my "seat" back, and from this conversation came the ride today at Francisco's barn. We feel very lucky to be friends with such good-hearted and generous people.

Last night was another good time, this one a pool party and dinner at Bonnie & Stephen's house just down the hill from the horse barn where I rode today. I threw together a big salad made from organic lettuces, arugula, tomatoes, beets, cucumber, green onion and chili dulce before Layne and I hiked down the road in time for a leisurely swim in their incredible "pool with a view." As Bonnie said while we gazed out over the edge of the pool at the verdant jungle scenery, "I sometimes wonder if I'm at the Beverly Hilton or maybe I just died and this is heaven." It was pretty heavenly and lucky us, Bonnie & Stephen have thrown the door open to us as well, inviting us to use their pool anytime we want. 

Felipe, aspiring photographer

The handsome young Felipe, Marcial and Saedi's 23-year-old son was there, continuing his lessons in photography from the former instructor and accomplished videographer Stephen, as was Bonnie & Stephen's charming Filipino landlord Dave. When Marcial and Saedi joined us at the swimming pool a little later, we all stared in awe as the magnificent full moon rose over the treetops and highlighted the blue water in the pool. We left the periquitos del amor, as we laughingly called the "lovebirds" Marcial and Saedi, to their evening swim as the rest of us headed down to the house for a glass of wine. When they joined us in a while, we enjoyed a dinner of salads, mine and a yummy fruit, black beans, rice and more of that addictive Italian sausage. A most pleasant way to spend an evening!