After high flying into Costa Rica, our VIP status quickly descended into a 4 hour bus ride standing the whole way to Bijagua! "¡Bien Venidos!" We were greeted with as we fell off the bus, to the beautiful smile and enthusiasm (which never wavered) from Pip, the sister of a friend of ours in Alice Springs and our contact in Bijagua......then the sun disappeared as it started to rain.....and didn't let up for 2 weeks!
Apart from the continuous rain, where to start?
Bijagua is a small rural agricultural town in the province of Upula in the north of Costa Rica, situated in a lush green valley between Volcano Tenorio and Volcan Mirravalles. While we were there however, we didn´t get much of a chance to see the vista, and discovered why it was so green....and that is because it has it´s own micro climate due to the fact that it lies between the 2 mountains which creates a lot of rain, particularly during the time that we were there; mid to late November.
Gum boots and an umbrella are highly essential items, needless to say that our trip got a lot better with the purchase of a bright red umbrella with white polka dots! Daily we encountered farmers riding there horses to town, passing goats, bulls, and pigs on our way to our project.
Pip, or "Pippa" or "English teacher" as she is known by the locals first visited Bijagua 10 years ago, now married to local ecologist Donald and together with their gorgeous and ever popular baby girl Kira, they run their family owned b&b "Casitas Tenorio." We camped for 2 nights amidst tropical gardens surrounded by flowers, monkeys, toucans and even sloths. It is a little piece of paradise close to Rio Celeste and on the foothills of Volcanes Tenorio. Pippa´s enthusiasm and engagement with the local community as well as Donald´s passion and extensive knowledge of the local flora and fauna made for a wonderful stay.
After this we were taken to "Casa de Emilse" for our home stay. For 2 weeks we stayed with the wonderful Emilse and her 2 kids, the lovely Emily (who was busy studying for exams while we were there), her brother Fabian and 1 noisy dog Canine. Also in the house of Emilse was another french volunteer Fabienne who helped us keep practicing our Spanish and translated for us to Emilse when we got stuck! Staying in the house was so homey and comfortable, with Emilse immediately treating us like family and patiently listening to us trying our best to speak Spanish. Her cooking was the best, the best food in Costa Rica! ¡Que Rico! We were sad to say goodbye to Emilse at the end of the trip.
THE SOCIAL CIRCUS PROJECT:
We had few initial hiccups in getting the project started. Transport to the school approx 3km away was one, we got offered to ride horses to the school each day which would have been hilarious, however sadly, but perhaps luckily (for the horses and ourselves), the offer fell through! But in the end after a few days of organising, sourcing equipment, organising transport (walking in the rain) etc we were "listos" ready to go.
Pip put us in contact with a small primary school with approx 50 students in El Jardin, a small town close to Bijagua. The children at this school live in a low socio-economic area not used to receiving programs such as ours, needless to say the children were very excited! Pip, the principal Marianela, the teachers and the cook were all very helpful in getting the project started...then after that we were on our own....standing in front of a class of 20 students who couldn't speak English. This made for some pretty funny and interesting lessons!
We taught circus every day in the school for 6 days, then put on an "Exposicion" for the parents, teachers and school on the final day. The show included "Payasos" (Clowns), "Ladrones" (thieves), "Acrobatas" and the cutest "Tigres". It was a wonderful presentation with the audience very much included with lots of fun and laughter!
Thank you to everyone back home for donations towards the circus equipment which helped to make this project possible! The school at El Jardin now has hula hoops, diabolos and juggling balls to continue their circus fun.
During this time we also taught circus/English and put on a silly but fun show for Pip´s adults English class. Afterwards we held circus lessons in the park in Bijagua until the rain ran us out!
On the Sunday we didn´t work we travelled to Rio Celeste, a national park close to Bijagua (it still rained). It was green in the extreme, with lots of wildlife. We saw a squirrel, toucans, huge blue butterflies and lots of mud. The river was bright blue and joined by another brown one, and the meeting line was very distinct. At the end of the trail was a relaxing hot spring in a picturesque setting.
After our project we spent a day visiting other spots in Bijagua. Heliconias Lodge has a beautiful walk through the jungle, with 200+ year old trees, lots of Capuchin monkeys, 37m high canopy swing bridges, weird plants and hummingbirds.
The Mariposario (butterfly farm) is an beautiful little farm that the owner Marvin showed us around. We saw an amazing array of plants, from giant smelly insect eating ones, to trees with cinnamon for bark. There were plenty of animals as well; sloths, toucans (they´re real!), a red eyed leaf frog (so pretty!) and of course all types of butterflies.
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