guanacaste

CPI Flamingo is located in Guanacaste, a province located in the north of Costa Rica and well known for it's beaches as well as cattle farms and rich cultural heritage. July 25th is when the Annexation of Guanacaste is celebrated in Costa Rica. Before gaining independence from Spain the province was considered part of Nicaragua.
The culture here is all abut cowboys, corn tortillas and tradition.
Bull riding is incredibly popular and two of the most well-known bulls are from the town of Santa Cruz, where I visited with my group today. You see cowboys (plaid short sleeve shirt, leather belt, jeans tucked into leather cowboys boots with a coil of rope at the hip and a plain canvas hat...shirt usually open to expose manly chest hair) and farms everywhere stretching over the flat, dusty plain of Costa Rica, sloping down to meet the ocean and creating some of the most popular touristic destinations in the country: Tamarindo (or TamaGRINGO), Playas del Coco, Samara and Nosara just to name a few.
In Guanacaste you can find handmade tortillas of varying colors: all made with cornflour, sometines you will see white, yellow, even red or purple. Traditional recipies include corn and it is used in a variety of ways...! There is nothing quite like having a fresh tortillas made by a tortillera, a local woman who makes tortillas! I do not have the same touch they do, I need to perfect my tortilla making...they are never perfectly round, much to E's amusement.
Many of the people have Afro-Caribean and indigenous roots. They have darker complexions and black hair, and many of the women wear it long straight. This is interesting because you find people with lighter complexions in other areas of the country like Monteverde or Heredia or San Jose, where it is more common to have Spanish roots...if anyone asks, I would say I am Herediana haha!
People from the province of Guancaste are proud of thier heritage and traditions...passing the local primary school the phrase over the front door was, "Orgullosos de ser Guanacastecos" or "Proud to be Guanacasteco."

In the town of Santa Cruz you see many statues and symbols that represent the culture, like the one here. A sabonero (cowboy) is shown riding a bull!
What a great opportuniuty to learn more and to enjoy this province and it's unique culture. Today was a great day touring with the group.

GUANACASTE...pura vida : )