Dominical Dot Biz

Relaxation - calming down - it seems to be the objective of a lot of visitors to the Dominical area. Right at about day 4 we hit critical-mass relaxation. Getting away from the cell phone, secretary, 24 hour news broadcasts, and e-mail, results in some anxiety, actual withdrawals, as we leave behind those things that cause anxiety for us. But the separation anxiety only lasts a little while. Somehow we survive and we begin to actually start thinking thoughts that originate within our own psyche.

The beaches in the Dominical to Uvita zone all have nicely spaced out palm trees, perfect for hammocks. We carry a box of beach stuff with us that has a bunch of those nylon straps that have hooks on either end with a length adjustment clasp. We get ours here at Price Smart in 4-packs. I have seen them in hardware stores in the States, as well as CostCo. These are perfect for hanging a hammock under the palm trees. Do this thing. Bring your straps with you, but you can buy a hammock on the beach. I think that they are about $20. Spend a few days there. You can read if you want. Try not reading also. Just sit. Dozing’s OK. As you pass through the various stages of withdrawals, you will gradually feel calm.

So, at day 4 you are now re-integrated with life on planet earth; what now? Well, take a look around. There are a number of things to do in Dominical. For the moment, I want to talk about one in particular, that of basket weaving. I know… “basket weaving” you say. “How ’bout we build some bird houses while we’re at it“. Well, I gotta tell ya, these are no ordinary baskets. These are works of art.

Kim is the Gran Maestra of basket weaving, and we’re not just talking Dominical.

Click Image

These are the finest baskets that I have ever seen. They are generally irregular and organic in their shape. But not awkward. They are elegant and beautifully balanced. The colors of the materials display a full earthy spectrum. Kim comments on how lovely the molds are that color the various palm fibers, almost like a patina on bronze or copper.

Kim and her husband Steve live in downtown Dominical. Their home is right on the river, and is quiet and tranquil. It is situated alongside the Baru river. A visit to their home is more like stepping into an art center than a home, although it has a distinct homey feel.

In my past life as an art dealer in the States, I witnessed the tendency of artistic types to congregate for the steel-on-steel affect of discussing, arguing, and debating the various ideologies with respect to art. I enjoy the stories of the artists in Paris and Spain, where they would get together at salons to drink coffee and stimulate each other with such sessions so that they could then go back to their studios to paint, sculpt, and construct to new heights.

So - basket weaving in Dominical. You are welcomed into an open air studio alongside the Baru that is perhaps 200 meters from where it dumps into the Pacific Ocean. There are beautiful tropical flora all around and the chirruping of the toucans can be heard outside up in the trees. Take a look around at the baskets, lamps, and various vessels scattered about the studio and you’ll know that you are in for an artistic experience.

Kim offers personalized instruction to each member of the class. She discusses warps, wefts, and weavers, but kindly doesn’t expect us to know right off what the heck she’s talking about. After awhile the vocabulary starts to make a little sense. In fact, this writer now knows that if you weave a thing with the warp and the weft of equal widths and weight, you can make a place mat. If you bow the warp material out and then back in from its origin, and weft it with twisted or flat organic fibers, you can make a basket suitable for holding stuff. Impressive verdad?

I actually did not take the class. I just heard about it and so went and visited with my camera. Socially it was cool since there were a number of folks there who were visitors to the area. Finca Ipe, a nearby organic, biodynamic, permaculture, farm, provided the majority of the weavers. The colors and forms that took shape while I was there were a delight for the eye. The classes cost $25.00 (at this writing) and include lunch.

So, when you get to that critical-mass relaxation point, and want something to do with your new-found outlook on life, why not weave a basket.

Oh, and by the way. Steve & Kim have rooms for rent as well.
Click here to see their page.

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The holy ground in front of the Tinamastes Church

I have incurred several thousand dollars worth of car repairs over the last year. If one were to link that line with the title of this post, they might get to thinking that these expenses are due to the potholes. Welll… maybe indirectly. Directly, I just paid about $500 to have my balljoints and stuff fixed underneath my Montero. The “indirect” way is the fact that I refuse to buy a new car here, since the place is so #$%$@ hard on cars. Consequently I have older cars (’94 & ‘95) for getting from my home in San Isidro to my work in Dominical, and out showing properties in the jungle, so the cars are 4 wheel drive. Older cars seem to need constant maintenance, so I may be re-thinking my whole approach to this topic. I have actually been without any car on occassion, despite the fact that I’ve got this “back-up” arrangement.

Anyway, you may have heard that the roads are BAD in Costa Rica. And well… its true. What happens here in Costa Rica when things get to this level of road degredation, is that the people who support their families by driving the roads of Costa Rica, take matters into their own hands. The do a thing called a “huelga” which translates out to “boycott”. To do a huelga, they simply block traffic by blocking some of the one lane bridges around the country. This is highly effective since it shuts the country down.

This remedy was recently applied in the Dominical area. The road between San Isidro and Dominical is horrendisimo. It is a truly teeth rattling ride. I’ll take a bad dirt road anyday, over a bad paved road. The potholes on the bad paved roads have sharp edges that can wreck your rims.

So they blocked the Baru bridge. This is the bridge that is down on the flats prior to getting to the coastal highway. It is one lane and was blocked by someone, presumably someone with heavy equipment, who dumped several loads of sand, dirt, and rock on both sides of the bridge. Now, I’m not accusing anybody, but there IS a heavy machinery place right there near the bridge… Anyway, the action was supported far and wide. Even by those sitting there stopped - wondering if the bridge was going to be open any time soon.

The huelga appears to have had a good effect. Some of the major, silly-bad, pothole areas of the road have now been fixed. This is both a blessing and a curse since what I do is, I get to driving normal over the repaired parts and get my speed up to where when I get to an unrepaired part of the road, I really slam into the next sneaky pothole.

So, the current status of the road is that it is partially repaired. The holy ground in front of the church in Tinamastes, is fixed. Also, that part that is in front of the new thatched restaurant and fruit stand about 12 minutes the Dominical side of San Isidro is also fixed, as well as a smattering of other areas.

Just don’t let you guard down when enjoying these parts yet

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