Ox Cart Encounter

Today I will begin a series of photos from Costa Rica's Central Valley, which is the area around the capitol of San Jose.  We took a drive up into the mountains northwest of San Jose in the area of Poas Volcano.

Ow carts are a tradition in Costa Rica, and we encountered this farmer with an ox cart crossing the road.

In earlier times, farmers would load their coffee bean crops into ox carts and travel days from their mountainside coffee farms to the port at Puntarenas to sell their coffee for export.

Supplement Regarding Free Trade News:  Yesterday I reported about the success of Costa Rican exports under the Central American (and Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).  It is worth adding that Costa Rica is the only country that has approved a free trade agreement by a vote of its people.  Every other country has approved trade treaties by a decision of its government, such as ratification of treaties by the U.S. Senate.

In Costa Rica protectionist elements forced a referendum on the subject, and voters approved it about 5 years ago.  I will add more news and perspective on this subject tomorrow.

This week we have photos of the street art of Valparaiso, Chile, posted on our Viva la Voyage travel photo site.