Party It Up Tico Style in Palmares, Costa Rica

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Palmares is a sleepy little town about one and a half hours north of San Jose, however, when this town wakesup it really wakes up!
Every year around the second week of January, early Febraury, they hold the annual Palmares festival. I’m not quite clear on what they celebrate, and if they celebrate anything at all besides giving thanks to the booze gods and the extremely-loud-music gods.

But, if you are around, and are passing by, not something to rearrange your entire vacation for, I’d say check it out. Since all my travels are with my son, I usually arrive early to most places because one thing I love most about Costa Rica is that they love children! So no matter what festival, activity or event goes on, there is always something for the kids. So we arrived early to get a good parking spot and check out the rides for my son before all the so-called adult activities kicked in.

One thing that surprised me was the cost of the parking, it was $8. That may sound reasonable to travelers, but trust me, for Costa Rican standards it’s outrageous. But since there is no options we parked. We entered a huge park like area which was set up with games, bars, night clubs, and every where we looked there were speakers twice the size of me in every possible nook and cranny. Gratefully, the extremely-loud-music gods aren’t worshipped until the adults have paid sufficient homage to the booze gods.

Since we arrived early, before the parades and anything else, it was easy to walk around past all the food stands, alcohol stands and anything-I-can-possibly-sell-you type of stands. But, even though it was so early the half-naked girls handing out the who-cares-what-the-hell-I’m-advertising pamphlets were already out and about. Costa Rican festivities never lack beautiful girls, and even I, a female, have to admit, they are sexy!

This may be my first time in Palmares, but it’s not my first time taking my son to a local fair. The majority of the rides look like they’re on their last legs, with more squeaks and creeks I like to hear. This wasn’t anything new to me, and you kind of hold your breath and pray that you land in one piece, plus my son is still young enough to not need the full adrenaline rush and doesn’t have far to fall.

Again, the expense per ride shocked me. It was about a buck a ticket. I know, it’s not crazy expensive. But when you figure in that this is mostly a Tico thing, there are few foreigners, and the average Tico salary is about $600 a month and they each sport at least 2-3 kids, it can really add up. After about one hour of riding around, my son was a bit knackered so we headed home. It was also about the same time as the adult activities were to commence and the park was starting to fill up.

I was with another family and as we reached the heart of the crowd due to a parade, I noticed that my friend was kind of stuck in the middle of three guys. He looked like he was in slow motion walking around a corner but not getting anywhere. Then it hit me, they were pickpockets and had him cornered in an interesting position, so that he felt like he was moving with the crowd but kind of stuck while waiting for the crowd to pass as they were robbing him.

At the top of my lungs I started screaming, “they’re robbing you, they’re robbing you.” One of them split in one direction and the other started telling us that the other guy ran in another direction.

Even though they ended up stealing his wallet, gratefully, they never got the camera, cell phone and iPod.

My warning to all travelers. Whatever you can leave in the hotel, or house, do so. Take only what you need, and keep your possessions where no one can get to them.