 Every March, ox-carts owners from all over Costa Rica converge on the town of Escazu to compete for honors in the Annual Ox-cart Festival. Dawn by majesty teams of Cebu oxen, the brightly-colored carts are painted in fanciful decorations that have characterized the Costa Rica working ox-cart for more than a hundred years. Souvenir shops sell replicas of the carts and wheels in every possible size.
It would be hard to fin a more representative souvenir of our culture. Painted in bright, primary colors, ox-carts are definitely tropical their exuberant design a reflection of Costa Rica's agricultural bounty and the spirit with which our farmers work the land. Flowers motifs symbolize a peaceful way of life and the sensitive nature of a people who would honor an ordinary work tool with such artistry. The ox-card is sill used, occasionally, but low -tech farming has largely been replaced by modern methods and machinery. Indeed, Costa Rica is world center for research and practical application sustainable agriculture methods and machinery. Indeed, Costa Rica is world center for research and practical application of sustainable agriculture methods in the tropics. The school for Agriculture in the Tropical Humid Region (EARTH), the Center for Research and Education in Tropical Agronomy (CATIE) and the Central American School of Animal Husbandry (ECAG) are among the institutions working towards greater long-term productivity on less land, with less environmental impact. All are open to tourism and definitely worth the visit.
 In modern Costa Rica agriculture, computers do everything from determining soil viability, to making crop projections and keeping track of the payroll. Many of our farmers are scientist who drive late-model, 4-wheel-drive vehicles and run their businesses with a cellular phone. Their children learn computer skill in elementary school-tomorrow's high tech farmers.
If modern technology has influenced the agricultural sector, it is all pervasive in the rest of the country. And not just in the Central Valley. Visitors are surprised to find computers and a fax machine at their jungle lodge and, even in the remotest areas, a solar telephone. In fact, there is almost nowhere in Costa Rica where you are cut off from instant international telephone communication. Seemingly miles from nowhere, there's usually a least a "public phone". From any phone, three-digit number will put you in touch with an operator back home. At many of the bigger hotels and business centers you can send a message by E-mail. |
