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| Painted Ox cart - Sarchi work shop |
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| Detail of an intricately painted ox cart wheel |
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| Artisan at work on an ox cart panel |
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| Painting a tray |
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| Spare wheel for the biggest oxcart of the world |
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| Senor Alfaro's shop... |
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| Free hand painting - no stencils |
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| Painting a platter |
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| Illustration of traditional use of ox carts in coffee harvest |
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| Wall mural - detail of a local bird |
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| Wall mural of butterflies |
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| Printed cotton wrapper in brilliant colours |
A little higher into the volcanic mountain range near Puerto of Puntarenas, is the small town of Sarchi, home to another Guinness World Record: the largest 0x-cart ever built. The oxen to go with it would have to be elephant sized, so it probably never rolled through any street or any coffee plantation but lives in the Main Square of Sarchi.
One of the traditional cart factories is still in existence, however, today's carts finish up as decorative pieces in homes around the world ($6000 for a regular sized one, $160 for a small home-bar sized one). Made from precious woods, which is still cut - without using electricity - via water wheel powered saw, they are painstakingly painted by hand. Originally only geometric designs were used, and coffee pickers decorated their oxcarts with live orchids and hibiscus to make them the prettiest of an entire village fleet. As hibiscus and orchid tend to wilt in no time, local artisans decided instead to paint stylized orchids and hibiscus flowers on their carts.
Orange was the original colour of choice, however, today any colour in the rainbow is used.
Products come in a variety of shapes: trays, Muskoka style garden chairs, clay flower pots, key hangers, decorative plates, mini oxcarts, maxi oxcarts...all pieces of traditional art and skill.
