Weaving in the village of Sarchi
One of the lovely and more unexpected aspects of a holiday to Costa Rica is that you still come across scenes which are essentially lost to us in the UK.
Here is a chap called Willy. I passed him on the back road into the village of Sarchi, about 40km from the capital, San Jose.
I was a bit lost at the time so didn’t really know where I was and certainly didn’t realise that Sarchi was the most important centre for artisan furniture in Costa Rica.
I just swung round a bend to see Willy working outside a very modest looking shack, his wife inside working in the shade. Their three boys playing in the background. All the while we were chatting, mainly about the joys and challenges of having a family of small boys, his hands were working away on an intricate wicker Moses basket.
A basket probably takes him a day to make, a sofa about five. The price of the latter around us$400.
It’s important on a self drive holiday in Costa Rica that you allow yourself to get a little bit lost, that’s usually when you come across the splashes of local colour which make for the most memorable holidays.
Find out more about our Costa Rica holidays or read our Costa Rica holiday guide.
Socks and hats in a Patagonian window
Ed: This is a guest posting from Pura Aventura client Caroline Fraser who recentrly travelled on one of our holidays to Chile.
Due to flight delays we had only an hour to explore Puerto Natales; a town at the southernmost part of Patagonia.
It was a cold and windy place, but full of colour and popular with tourists as the entry point to Torres del Paine. What struck me most was that many of the houses were made of corrugated metal, and painted in many different colours.
Our guide, Gabi, told us that very few houses have central heating, and rely on gas or wood stoves. Getting up in the morning is cold! The front doors don’t have letter boxes, and the postman puts letters under the door, so it must be fairly draughty too.
It is a peaceful place, where people stop to talk. Local life centres around cafes and bars. There is no cinema and the nearest town is 3 hours’ drive away.
This window epitomises the area for me. Being so cold, warn hats and socks are essential. The local schoolgirls still wear short skirts, but also thick woollen tights. We had a coffee and some delicious cake in one of many cafés, sitting next to a wood burning stove. We chose a vegetarian café situated right next to restaurant specialising in meat.
What I love about this photo of Caroline’s is that while everyone is dazzled by the beautiful landscapes of Torres del Paine, she took time out to capture the more banal realities of life in this remote place.
Much of a great holiday experience comes from the people. It’s the observation of daily interactions, seeing how our lives differ and noticing our shared habits, which form the rich backdrop to a great holiday in Chile. It’s the kindness of people in southern Chile which led me to set up Pura Aventura in the first place – the incredible scenery was a given. We try hard to weave Chilean people into our holidays, that’s why Caroline’s photo resonates for me.
If you are interested in seeing where Caroline went, she travelled on our Patagonia’s Pirenwinkul adventure holiday. You can also see our full range of holidays to Chile or read our guide to Chile.