A Fun Day at the Parrita Tope!

Festival de las Mulas - Parrita, Puntarenas, Costa Rica - The people of Parrita have taken what was once a bored farmers' pastime and turned it into a national festival. The mule race is the main event, with horse races, tractor rallies, bull running and riding and agricultural exhibitions. Food and crafts are also sold at the fairgrounds and of course there is always lots of festive music to put you in the mood!  On the last weekend Saturday of the event the ever popular Tope or Parade of the Horses is held in an event where the proud horse and mule owners meet up in Parrita enjoy some good food and drink, win some great door prizes - saddles, blankets, reins, etc and line up to prance their high stepping horses down main street to the fairgrounds where they hold the Mule Festival.


We of course were excited to check out this showing of the horses and asked around and were told that it would start at 12:00.  In true Gringo fashion we decided that if we planned this around a nice lunch at La Canada (one of our favorite restaraunt/bars in Parrita) that just happens to be open air and sits on the main corner of main street by the park where the parade would begin,  we could also have prime seats for the parade!  We gathered a few of our friends together and arrived at La Canada around 11:00 ordered up some michaladas and frijoles and tortillas to munch on while our lunch was prepared and settled in to wait for the parade.  And WAIT we did!  We were later to find out that the "meet up" started at noon but the parade would not take place until 3:00.....so . . . we ordered another round of beer!

While we waited we were entertained by the many vendors selling their wares on the street which for this event the most interesting item of interest was "Cowboy Hats"!  Yep, a little 'YeeHaw ride that pony' western hats of many styles....straw, leather, suede and in every color and design you could think of.   Realizing we had several hours to kill we took turns walking down to the pavilion where the Ticos had gathered together with their horses and were having a great time winning the many door prizes.
They were all pleased to pose for the camera to show off their prized animals...even the local policia wanted to have a pic made with us by his motorcycle!  There were many families gathered in the park watching their little ones play on the swings, slides and see-saws.  The wonderful smells of beef, pork and chicken on the grills and the fresh aroma of bread baking in the Musmanni bakery across the street kept our appetites going and we ordered more cervasa to quench our thirst.


As 3:00 approached and we found our spots on the street for the best view the horses and mules began their journey down the block to make their turn onto main street to show off their beautiful horses, riding skills and fancy steps.  And step they did!  Enjoy our video of these amazingly beautiful horses that were working so hard to impress the crowd.  

Just another, as always fun, outing as we enjoy our life of adventure in beautiful Costa Rica!  Yes I know, it is a tough job they say, but someone has to do it!  Why don't you join us and do it too?  You never know what it is in store to capture your fancy and lead you off on the path of curiosity to learn more about the culture of this amazing country...or maybe you might just want to go lay on the beach all day...

Pura Vida mi amigo!