By Ivo Henfling

Today and tomorrow, the 12th and the 13th of March 2011, its a party time in Escazu. Its "Boyeros" day and with boyeros day goes the well known ox cart parade.

This is special and different and one of those things that make living in Costa Rica fun. 

The parade will start at 10:00 am this Sunday, the 13th of March, at the Municipality of Escazu and finishes at the church in San Antonio.

Make sure you go in time and find a good spot because there are going to be lots and lots of people.

Of course I will go tomorrow and post some pictures for those who are to busy to go. So look out for the posting.

What is a "Boyero" and what is the ox cart all about? A Boyero is the guy that rides the ox cart. If it is a woman, it's probably a "Boyera" I guess, I really don't know. The ox cart was the pick up truck of Costa Rica until the first world though they should overflow the Costarican roads with Toyota's. In the Costa Rican rural areas, you will still find the oxcart is used a lot and especially in San Antonio de Escazu you see them all the time. Full of sugar cane or coffee or wood or anything that needs to be transported on a shorter distance.

These oxcarts are special as they are all wood and the owners paint them very nice. Its very colorful and folcloric, that's why its a must see.

On Saturday, as a good Catholic culture, they have Mass for all the dead "boyeros" at 6:00 PM and another one at 7:00 Pm for all the peasants. So if you're a good catholic, you can have fun tonight. For those who like different parties, there are always our usual bars like Snoopies, Henry's, Big Dogs and plenty of others. There will be of course plenty of fireworks, that scare the hell out of my dogs, masquerades and food. There is always food at every Tico party, plenty of it.

At 3:00 pm on Sunday, you can go to the "baile" and dance on the Marimba music which is also tipical of Costa Rica. I can't find a good picture in my database of a marimba, but we had a great party with marimba at a friend's house and I foun dthe picture on my wife's computer. Thanx Silvana and Robert!!

You can read more about the "boyeros" and their annual parade Costa Rica at Daniel Langlois's well known Escazu News, to which all people who live in Escazu or plan to live in Escazu in the future should subscribe to. Click here to see his information, it's halfway down the page.

By Ivo Henfling, your Escazu and Santa Ana real estate expert