Environmentalism, Ecology and Wildlife
The northwest province of Guanacaste has an extensive land and wildlife conservation that sets it apart from the rest of Costa Rica. Environmentalists have concentrated efforts on preserving this area by consolidating government-owned national parks, forest reserves, wildlife refuges and recently purchased private properties into nine national parks and refuges.(1) Guanacaste contains Costa Rica's largest and most successful tropical dry forest habitat, part of 423 square miles of protected land known as the Guanacaste Conservation Area,(2) a key habitat for threatened or rare plants and animals.(3) Most of the original dry forests have been destroyed by agriculture and conversion to pasture.(4)
In addition to the turtle sanctuary at Playa Grande, Guanacaste's diverse coastal areas, tropical dry forests, hot, dry plains and grasslands house a large number of animal species. Africanized "killer" bees, anteaters, 39 species of bats, speckled caiman, American crocodiles, indigo snakes, vipers, tropical rattlers, boa constrictors, marine toads, Jesus Christ lizards, toucans, vampire bats, monkeys, sloth, pacas (large pig-like rodents), coyotes, jaguars, tapirs and scarlet macaws are just a brief overview of species found in this region.(5)
Popular activities for locals and tourists include horseback riding, surfing, kayaking, and world-class sport fishing.(6)
Politics and History
Politico-administrative divisions in Costa Rica occur at three levels: The country is divided into seven provinces (provincias), which are divided into cantons (cantons / municipalidades), which are divided into districts. Governors, who are named by the office of the President, head each province. The people elect the cantonal governments, the Municipal Council, which in turn elects a Municipal executive for one year.
The city of Santa Cruz is located in the canton of Santa Cruz (canton III), which is located in the province of Guanacaste. Five districts make up the canton of Santa Cruz: Santa Cruz (ciudad), Bolsón (villa), Veintisiete de Abril (villa), Tempate (villa), Cartagena (villa).
The Guanacaste region was home to one of the most culturally advanced societies in the western hemisphere during pre-Columbian times, the Chorotega Indians. The natives worshiped the heavens, particularly the sun, with public sacrifices of virgins and ritual cannibalism.(7) The culture also produced many of the things that now comprise Costa cultural character. Many of Costa Rica's traditional recipes, costumes, folk tales, dances and music are rooted in the Chorotegan culture.(8) Today, in the town of Guaitil, 12 km east of Santa Cruz, descendants of the Chorotega still sculpt pottery the same way their ancestors did nearly 1,000 years ago(9).
The province's name comes from the broad ear-pod trees that dot the landscape of Costa Rica's driest region.(10)
When Spaniards began colonizing the region, they established the cattle farming industry, which still defines the overall economic identity of the region. The Spaniards also created numerous trade routes in the region, spreading from the city of Nicoya north into Nicaragua.(11) Spain ceded Guanacaste to Nicaragua in 1787. In 1814 (1812 by one account), Costa Rica annexed Guanacaste, although a large population in the north of the region favored alliance with Nicaragua.(12)
Cattle Industry
Guanacaste, Costa Rica is the "heartland of the beef cattle industry"(13). Beef cattle production is based on two things: input and output of cattle. As the number of cattle per ranch varies, so do the economic classes of cattle ranchers. There are three distinct classes among cattle ranchers: engordadores, criadores and jornaleros. The engordadores are at the top of the economic hierarchy because they own most of the land. They purchase newly weaned calves from the criadores, the middle class farmers, then fatten and resell the calves. The criadores cannot afford to keep cattle until it reaches the desired weight for slaughtering, so they just breed cattle to sell to wealthier families. The jornaleros own the least land; sometimes they don't own any. Often, they weed the pastures of the wealthier cattle owners. The jornaleros provide most of the town's wage labor. (14)
Guanacaste is the birthplace of many traditional dances. One of Guanacaste's "bailes tipicos" (typical dances) is the Caballito nicoyano (Little Horse from Nicoya). This is a traditional dance that displays the courtship of a male cattle rancher and the woman he is courting. A song by the same name leads the dance while the barefoot participants wear campesino style outfits. Because ranches are so dominant in Guanacaste, they have developed wonderful horse training skills. The talented animals are often displayed in parades and celebrations throughout the year.(15)
Healthcare and Education
By most accounts, Costa Rica can boast of a shining healthcare system and a national high standard of health, including a life-expectancy rate that ranks third in the world.(16) But facilities and skilled surgeons are mostly centralized in San José, the capital replete with the most modern, best-equipped facilities and teams of renowned physicians.(17)
Only two substandard hospitals serve rural Guanacaste, which may partially account for that region's spotty health record. In response, an Action in Modernization campaign supported by the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social targeted the Guanacaste region in its mission to improve healthcare for the poor.(18) Patients from Guanacaste are referred daily to San José because a lack of services available in the region.
Similarly, educational facilities in the Guanacaste region suffer from a lack of economic resource and pale in comparison to their counterparts in the urban centers of the country.
According to an annual UNESCO report, a clear stratification exists between educational funding allotted for urban versus rural areas.(19) Despite recent governmental reform efforts, the rural areas have consistently been playing "catch up" with the urban areas. The report continues, "Already the educational level of the young population of rural residents is approximately that of the same group of urban residents ten years ago, and may be compared to the respective capital population twenty years ago."(20)
A recent article describing current educational conditions in Costa Rica explains that "libraries are the only way for adults in rural areas to continue education beyond sixth grade," and that these rural libraries are in "desperate need of books for funds."(21)
Culture
The city of Santa Cruz has been named the National Folkloric City of Costa Rica. Traditions are upheld and passed on such as rodeo-riding, marimba playing, cooking over wood fires, dancing and even the pottery-making methods of the descendents of the Chorotega Indians.
Santa Cruz's largest festivities are in January when it honors its patron saint Santo Cristo de Esquipulas. Oral historians pass on the story that the image of this saint was seen amidst the "matas de coyos."(22) These appearances inspired the building of the city's first church.
Throughout the city, sounds of cumbias, salsa, and American pop can be heard from cars and windows. During festivals children and adults alike will dress in the traditional costumes and perform traditional dances. Women wear flowing skirts and blouses, and the men complement them in white trousers and shirts, often wearing a bandanna and hat.
The majority of people rely on bicycles as a means of transportation, sometimes fitting entire families of five on one bicycle. Public buses are also a popular means of transportation to nearby towns.
Several cooperatives within the city support the town's people, as well as preserve their traditions. Women's cooperatives serve tortillas and traditional dishes such as gallo pinto, casados and natilla or sell jewelry and crafts.
Descendants of the Chorotega Indians reside in nearby Guaitil and craft pottery, a tradition that has been passed down for centuries.
Santa Cruz is in the tourist region of Guanacaste and has several hotels and motels that serve the tourists who want to take advantage of the city's traditional atmosphere and proximity to the nearby beaches.
Tourism
Santa Cruz is centrally located in the Nicoya Peninsula. Its location makes it ideal for day trips to mountains, beaches, rodeos and national parks. Some consider this town just a throughway to the beaches, but Santa Cruz is a "bustling commercial center" and is known for the cattle industry. Santa Cruz hosts many festivals, rodeos and bullfights.(23)
Santa Cruz is also known for its folklore and culture. It was declared the National Folklore City by the Central American Institute of Tourism. The folklore of Santa Cruz helps lures tourists to this town.(24) "Music and dance programs are still held in town despite a fire that destroyed much of the town's center and the popular Casa de la Cultura."(25)
A place of interest in Santa Cruz is a women's cooperative restaurant called Coope-Tortillas that was founded by a local woman to help create jobs. It has "enjoyed resounding success." It serves "tortillas baked the old-fashioned way-on thick, round plates on an open fire-by chatty women in pink uniforms." It is one of the few places that still serves traditional Guanacasteco foods.(26) Another visitor commented, that it is "such good cheap food for lunch that it's busy despite being a sooty sheet metal shed three stories high..." The food is good, typical of region, and very cheap. Visitors rave about the food and ethnic experience.(27) In terms of agriculture, corn, rice, fruit trees, tuberculos, sugar cane, coffee and ganaderia are grown.(28)
Climate
Santa Cruz is a junction-point for many travelers heading for Guanacaste's pristine white-sand beaches.(29) Santa Cruz is located in a valley roughly in the center of the Nicoya Peninsula, which is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and by the Nicoya Canton, or county, in the southeast.(30)The climate in Santa Cruz is warm and tropical. The rainy season stretches from May to December. This period is shorter than the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, where it rains all year long.(31)
The region where Santa Cruz is located is called Region Chorotega and has a total population of 255,151. Santa Cruz has approximately 43,000 inhabitants with an unemployment rate is 6.1%.(32)
Several national parks are located in the Guanacaste Province. The Ostional National Wildlife Refuge is in the Santa Cruz Canton.(33) The beach refuge was created in the hopes of protecting the olive ridley turtle.(34) Las Baulas National Park, also created to protect turtle nesting, is located at Playa Grande.
Rincon de la Vieja National Park straddles the Guanacaste and Alajuela provinces.(35) It contains an active volcano, wet and dry forests, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, geysers and hot springs. This park is sometimes referred to as "Costa Rica's Yellowstone."(36)
Palo Verde National Park, located between the Bebedero and Tempisque Rivers, has diverse flood-plains habitats and swamps, lagoons and grasslands. (37)
Barra Honda National Park, northeast of Nicoya, was created to protect an area of fragile caves containing stalagmites, stalactites, pillars and cave pearls.(38)
The edges of several plates criss-cross Costa Rica, allowing Costa Rica to experience earthquakes from time to time. The quakes on the Pacific side of the country are typically the most powerful, registering at 7-7.5 on the Richter scale.(39)
--Reports compiled through the research of class members.
Citations
(1)Costa Rica: Places to Visit. Costa Net, http://www.costanet.com, 11 Sept. 2000, updated 22 July 2000.
(2)Harry S. Pariser, Adventure Guide to Costa Rica (New Jersey: Hunter Publishing, Inc.), 354.
(3)United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, http://www.unesco.org, 11 Sept. 2000, updated 20 June 2000.
(4)Michael J. Snarskis, The Archaeology of Costa Rica, http://www.cool.co.cr/usr/archaeol/guanic.html, 11 Sept. 2000.
(5)Les Beletsky, "The Ecotravellers' Wildlife Guide," 3rd ed. (San Diego: Natural World Academic Press, 1998), 31.
(6)<http://www.incostarica.net>, 11 Sept. 2000.
(7) Baker, Christopher P., Costa Rica Handbook, Nicoya Peninsula, p. 522
(8)Costa Rica, Fodor's 2000, Nicoya Peninsula p.88
(9) Backer
(10) Backer
(11) Backer
(12) Costa Rica, Fodor's 2000,
(13) Smith, Vernon Arthur. Beef Cattle Production and Marketing in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. Diss. University of Florida, 1970. p. 4-5, 21-3.
(14)Murray, Gerald F. Pastures, Charrales, and Woodlots: Returning the Wood Tree to Costa Rican Cattle Country. p. 27-9, 37-8.
(15) Helmuth, Chalene, Culture and Customs of Costa Rica. Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. p. 67, 104
(16) Ed Underwood, "To Your Health in Costa Rica," www.cocori.com, last updated Feb. 25, 1997.
(17) www.medicalencostarica.co.cr, last updated Sept. 12, 2000.
(18) www.ccss.ca.cr, Boletín Número 6.
(19) Rama, German W. "Educacion y Desarrollo en Costa Rica." Report published by Proyecto Desarrollo y Educacion en America Latina y el Caribe. UNESCO, CEPAL, PNUD. December 1978: 4.
(20) Ibid.
(21) "Elementary and High Schools- article published by infocostarica staff. From Web URL http://www.infocostarica.com/education/schools.html. First accessed on 9/13/00. Last updated. 9/11/00.
(22) Padilla, Roberto Cabrera. "Santa Cruz Guanacaste: Una Aproximación a la Historia y la Cultura Populares." San Jose: Ediciónes Guayacan, 1989.
(23) Searby, Ellen. The Costa Rican Traveler. 1990. Windham Bay Press. Occidental, California. pgs. 204, 206.
(24) Trejos, Alonso (editor). Geografia Ilustrada Costa Rica. 1991. Trejos Editores. San Jose, Costa Rica. pg. 160.
(25) Rockwood, Caragh Matthews. (editor) Fodor's 2000 Costa Rica. 1999. Fodor's Travel Publications, Inc. New York, Toronto, London, Sydney, Auckland. pgs. 100-101.
(26) Rockwood. "Fodor's 2000 Costa Rica,"100-101.
(27) Searby. "The Costa Rican Traveler,"204, 206.
(28) Trejos. "Geografia Ilustrada Costa Rica," 160.
(29) Ben Box, Mexico and Central American Handbook (Chicago: Passport Books, 1995)
(30) Alonso Trejos, Costa Rica Illustrated Geography (San José, Costa Rica: Trejos Hermanos, Sucesores, 1996).
(31) Alonso Trejos, Costa Rica Illustrated Geography (San José, Costa Rica: Trejos Hermanos, Sucesores, 1996).
(32) www.meic.go.cr, Site maintained by Links2Go.com. Updated Sept. 1, 2000.
(33) www.costarica.tourism.com, Canatur, Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce.
(34) www.incostarica.net, updated 1997, Canatur, "National Parks," and "Costa Rican Protected Areas."
(35) Alonso Trejos, Costa Rica Illustrated Geography (San José, Costa Rica: Trejos Hermanos, Sucesores, 1996).
(36) www.incostarica.net, updated 1997, Canatur, "National Parks," and "Costa Rican Protected Areas."
(37) www.costarica.tourism.com, Canatur, Costa Rica Chamber of Commerce.
(38) www.incostarica.net, updated 1997, Canatur, "National Parks," and "Costa Rican Protected Areas."
(39) Alonso Trejos, Costa Rica Illustrated Geography (San José, Costa Rica: Trejos Hermanos, Sucesores, 1996).