My adventures in Limon

It’s a Carnaval, not Carnival

No, you are not reading it wrong. In Limón, Costa Rica it is spelled “Carnaval”, not Carnival like the famous Brazil Carnival. I had the opportunityto visit Limón, Costa Rica for their annual Carnaval celebration a couple years back. It was a colorfulevent that lasted two weeks long. It is a huge celebration that combines Costa Rican culture with Caribbean culture.

Christopher Columbus landed in Puerto Limón in 1502 during his exploration of the new year. Every year the people of Limón celebrate the arrival of Columbus to their port during their “Día de las Culturas” carnaval. I was also told by the local Ticos (Costa Ricanpeople) that Día de las Culturas is also referred to as “Día de las Raíces”. Día de las Culturas translates to Day of the Cultures, while Día de las raíces translates to day of the races. What both of the phrases implies is that the day Columbus and his men step foot onto Costa Rica via the Puerto Limón (Port of Limón), the Tico race was born, with the combination of cultures.

Limón is a town mainly inhibited by a population whose ancestors were once brought there from Jamaica to pick plantains. You can truly see how the Jamaican culture influenced the little town of Limón. My favorite part of the Caribbean culture so apparent in Limón was their dialect. It was pretty neat to hear a mix of languages and dialects all in one conversation from Spanish to a Jamaican creole. I had spent a couple of months in Costa Rica by that point and heard the most English spoken in Limón than in any other Costa Rican town or city.

I started off my Limón Carnaval adventure by attending the Carnaval Infantil (Children’s Parade). It was an exciting adventure, to say the least. Then I went to....

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I will publish the complete story this coming Tuesday. Good luck!!