Los Jefes

Una Dia... One morning, at about 6 am, we gathered to greet the bulls and farmers who live down the mountain. They came up to help plow a hillside that we had marked earlier with stakes - on contour to create swales and burms - for a terraced garden below the fish pond.

Here they come - up the mountain - emerging from the trees!

The yoke is painted in the traditional Costa Rican fashion

Father and son, teaming up with the bulls and a plow

It was really amazing watching these huge bulls cooperating with the men and turning tight corners on the steep hill!

Albiz is pulling up some of the stakes to make more room for the bulls

By the time they got about half way up the hill, it was too hot to continue. Also, the ground is very hard this time of year - rainy season probably would have been a better time for this project. After the bulls and compacinos went home, four women pulled up the manisillo for two hours and only put a small dent in that project - not a very effective use of volunteer hours - Alana is considering getting pigs. It's all a big experiment and learning adventure out here!