Guaitíl

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One of our favorite places around Tamarindo is the tiny village of Guaitíl, about an hour's drive away. The people are the descendants of the indigenous Chorotega people, who were nearly wiped out by the Spanish. Now it is a center for making exquisite pottery in the ancient tradition. There are more photos in my post of 14 months ago.

I wish I had gotten the names of the sweet children in the top picture. The girl was in my previous post about the village. The man below is their father, Jesús, at work on the hand-operated wheel. The process of collectiong the ingredients, shaping, glazing and firing is an arduous one.

Temporarily Tamarindo: Road Trip to Guaiatil and San Vicente

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I hear it got to 6 F / -14 C in St. Louis last night and they just had 8 inches / 20 cm more snow. Bwa ha ha ha ha ha... This is what it's like down here. I shouldn't cackle, though. We'll be home Saturday night if the gods of the air are with us.

We got to the other part of our road trip yesterday, visiting the tiny villages of Guaitil and San Vicente. The former is known for its potters who work in the style of the indigenous Chorotegan people, the heritage of this area for 4,000 years. There is no particular store, just a group of homes with workshops and display areas. We read that the place to go was the Oven Store. It was good advice. The whole family are excellent artisans, speak better English than my Spanish and produce beautiful work. Carlos, above, and the young lady just below were at their craft when we arrived.

The hamlet of San Vicente was a few kilometers down a gravel road. There was a tiny museum of local culture that no one would ever find without good directions (there is no sign on the road), along with a garden of medicinal plants. There were no other gringos for miles around.

Today's agenda: el volcán!

We lay down the law today on Downtown St. Louis 365.