Since the 1800’s the Costa Rican boyero has come to represent the hard work, patience and love of nature that exemplifies the tico life.  While originally used to bring coffee down from steep mountain roads to the port for shipment to North America and Europe, these days the old-fashioned boyero with his ornamentaly painted “carreta” and prized “bueyes” is more of a Costa Rican novelty of history than a real functional part of everyday life.  Well, actually that’s not the case for everyone.  There are still a few real life boyeros (around 5,000 according to La Nacion estimate) out there and they are determined to keep the tradition alive, a tradition that for them has stood the test of time and technology and has been declared since 2005 as “Patrimonio de la Humanidad” according to Unesco (United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture).  The oldest active factory that still produces and paints the carretas (or, oxcarts) is the Chaverri Oxcart Factory located in Sarchi.  Founded in 1903 this factory has become a main tourist attraction for day trips from San Jose and is a place where you can buy a little piece of Costa Rican culture and history in the form of a miniature painted oxcart (however, the real ones are crafted there as well).  Just in case you wanted to know a little more about this time honored tradition, click on the link below to find a full colored graphic that explains in detail (and in Spanish), everything you ever would like to know about the Costa Rican Boyero.

Link to Recent Article in Proa Section of La Nacion (click ELEMENTOS RELACIONADOS for Boyero Graphic .pdf)