I am a professional photographer in Costa Rica. The experiences on my tours are many since I never know what my group and I will happen upon. Let me tell you about one of these surprising events.
One of the destinations for my group in Costa Rica Photo Tours is the beautiful, pristine Osa Peninsula along the southern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, a place that National Geographic says is "the most biologically diverse place" on the planet. In order to reach this location by vehicle we drive through the tiny village of Ojochal, which is very near my home.
Let me tell you about a unique way to move that some rural Costa Ricans still use. One day, when my photography group was passing through the village, we noticed a most unusual way of moving. But, to help you better appreciate what we saw, let me provide you with some background on the man who was moving.
The fellow who was moving was one of my neighbours, Senor Wilson (real Spanish name, don't you think?), who has brought my wife and me flowering plants since we moved in. It was really funny the first day that he stood at the top of the driveway with plants in hand. He was so polite that he would not come down to the house without our invitation even though he was there to give us a present.
We were not sure what he wanted and after a "conversation" with him speaking Spanish and us speaking mostly English, I realized that he wanted to give us the flowering plants. I guess it was a sort of a house-warming gift from "the neighbours." You need to appreciate that the fellow did not own a car. He lived at least a hour away up the mountain and had carried the plants the whole way.
Over the years, Senor Wilson has given me flowering plants many times, always expecting me to plant them somewhere. Well, it does not always happen that the planting occurs quickly enough so sometimes the plants may not be in very good shape by the time they are planted. In any event, I certainly never expected to be tested on my planting abilities when I moved to Costa Rica from Canada.
One day Wilson arrived at the house with another plant, accompanied by his two sons who were going swimming in the river beside our house. He gave me the new plant and then asked where I had planted the others that he had brought.
Unfortunately, the flowering plants were still on my terrace in aluminium kettles with drainage holes stabbed in the bottom of the pot with a machete. When good neighbor Wilson saw that his previous gift had not been planted, he politely asked in his quiet way if I would mind if he planted all of them for me. Quite a fellow, my neighbor and friend, Wilson.
Back to moving day. As my photography tour group and I were driving a dusty Ojochal road, we saw a man walking his horse. It was Wilson. We stopped the van and I saw that the horse was carrying two huge white bags filled with what seemed to be clothes and household items. There was also a broom wedged between one of the bags with its blue bristle extending between the horse's ears. For the life of me, it looked as if the horse had a bristle blue tiara on! Poor horse, not very macho!
And there was Wilson standing by the horse with a bridle in one hand and a birdcage in the other. A horse, a crown, a man, and a birdcage. What a sight! Moving day.
I started the conversation as usual with "Hola, que tal?" "How are you?" And then I asked if he was moving (only kidding). But, sure enough, the horse was neighbor Wilson's version of a moving van. I believe it is called a grass-eating 4 X 4.
Wilson explained that his family would be babysitting one of the Bed and Breakfasts while the owner was going back to Germany during the rainy season. This was ideal for him because it was much easier for his wife and 3 children to live in the pueblo close to the school rather than walk down about 2 miles from their mountain home every day.
I thought it rather strange that he was carrying the birdcage. One of the children could have carried the cage down on one of their previous journeys.
However, seeing that he also carries flowering plants down the mountain, I guess carrying birdcages is not so far off the mark. He told me that the bird was young (parrot or parakeet, I'm not sure) but that it was very talkative and knew many words. To show off, it started to chatter while we were talking about it but as I have not yet mastered Spanish, I certainly did not understand bird Spanish.
You can imagine that my group was very excited about taking pictures of a crowned horse, chattering bird, and Costa Rica family walking down a mountain, worldly possessions carried by their trusty steed. Moving day in Costa Rica. One never knows what one will see or experience on my photo tour of Costa Rica.
About the Author:
Canadian Frank Scott lives in sunny Costa Rica where he is a professional Costa Rica Photographer offering unique photography tours. Some of his work can be seen in Costa Rica Vacations, a very popular travel guide to this unique country.
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