Sarchi is the capital city of the canton of Valverde Vega in Alajuela province and is 1000 m/3000 ft above sea level. It’s a beautiful drive through winding, climbing roads surrounded by coffee fields. Sarchi is a key artisan town famous for woodworking - wooden bowls, folding rocking chairs of wood and leather (we have one at our house), furniture of all kinds. This is where the carretas (oxcarts) are elaborately painted by hand and for which Sarchi and Costa Rica are famous. The oxcarts were originally used to haul coffee and other goods from the highlands of the central valley down to the Pacific ports.
Our green/rainy season is a good time to travel around. The mornings are mostly sunny and warm, with rain falling later in the day (or not at all). Everything is lush and thick with growth. Since it’s the off season, there are not many tourists around. Not far from Sarchi itself, we stopped at Fabrica de Carretas Joaquin Chaverri, the oldest oxcart factory since 1903. This is a tourist site with many tour buses arriving every day during the dry season. We were the only ones there at our visit so it was nice to stroll around without the crowds.
I think Fabrica de Carretas have recently renovated their site, which was huge to begin with. They did a good job, with beautiful murals on the inside and outside. A mural artist was painting inside when we were there. The gift shop is very large, and the prices are reasonable for most things. Marked prices are in U.S. dollars but they will convert to colones if asked, as I did. I drooled over the leather purses, gorgeous. There are beautiful handmade wooden items and we ended up buying a carved wooden sea turtle and a wooden key ring for our car keys. At the back there is a lovely garden. I think this is also the area where you can see oxcarts being made and painted and there may also be a restaurant - we didn’t go back there this time.
Heading back home, we got roads mixed up a few times (few or no signs!) but it didn’t matter. We have all the time in the world to putter around.
Beautiful carved oxcart.
Painted oxcart.
Incredible details on the murals.
The light across the iguana is from the sun.
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