GUAITÍL

I highly recommend a trip to Guaitíl, 12 km east of Santa Cruz, to see ethnic pottery being made (the turnoff from the main highway is two km east of Santa Cruz). Guaitíl is a tranquil little village where many of the inhabitants—descendants of Chorotegas—have been making their unique pottery of red or black or ocher using the same methods for generations, turning the pots on wheels beneath shady trees and displaying them on roadside racks and tables. A renaissance of cultural pride has emerged, fostered by tourist interest.

There are several artists’ cooperatives. You’re welcome to watch villagers such as Marita Ruíz or Marielos Briseño and her mother, Flora, or Cristhina Briceño and her mother, Higinia Chavarría (every cooperative seems to be attended by the family matriarch: women run the businesses and sustain families and village structures) molding ceramics by hand with clay dug from the hills above the hamlet. They use the same process as did their ancestors, including polishing the pottery with small jadelike grinding stones taken from nearby archaeological sites and said by the local women to have been made by shamans.

The women happily take you to the back of the house to see the large open-hearth kilns where the pots are fired. Everyone has a slightly different style. A children’s cooperative offers surprisingly high-quality work handcrafted by youngsters.

The paved road ends at Guaitíl. The dirt road continues southeast to San Vicente, which also makes pottery, then slices through the Valle del Río Viejo to Nicoya.

back to top

Getting There
Buses depart Santa Cruz for Guaitil every two hours 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Hotels and tour companies throughout Nicoya also offer tours, as do some tour companies in San José.