Sarchi, Costa Rica

Colorful painted ox cart wheelWe have been planning a trip to Sarchi and Grecia for a few weeks. The elevation of these towns is slightly higher than Ciudad Colon. I am always looking for interesting houses to rent in Costa Rica and found one that looked nice in Sarchi so we decided to incorporate viewing the rental with our trip. The property manger offered to drive us from Ciudad Colon to the house. He has been in the area for quite a while and had a lot of insightful information to share with us.

We had a tour of the house and the five acre coffee farm it was situated on but decided it wasn't right for us. The property manager was kind enough to take us to some of the highlights in town.

large ox cart in SarchiSarchi is famous for the intricately detailed, hand-painted oxcarts used to haul coffee beans. In the town plaza we saw the world's largest oxcart. We had a tour of a traditional oxcart manufacture called Taller Elroy Alfaro. They are the only place in the country that still uses a waterwheel to power lathes and other tools. It was impressive to see the waterwheel moving various belts, pulleys and pipes connected to wood working tools throughout the building. We saw carved chests, furniture and inlayed poker tables in various stages of construction. We saw the painter's area but all were out to lunch.

Waterwheel powering wood working equipment.

Woodworker carving a chest.

Sarchi hand carved ox cartHand carved oxcart.

Area where oxcarts are painted.

painted ox cart in SarchiWe ate lunch in Sarchi ,went inside a large souvenir shop and saw the local church before heading by taxi to the town of Grecia.

Sarchi ChurchSarchi church.

painted trash can in SarchiPainted trash can.