Guatil Pottery

My most recent trip was to Costa Rica with 3 girlfriends. We took a day trip to the little village of of Guaitil, located in Santa Cruz and San Vicente de Nicoya. All the residents of the town (with more than 5,000 years of traditions in pottery) make beautiful works out of clay and extracted raw materials using the same traditional and ancestral techniques of the Chorotega indigenous groups. Some of the pieces produced include big bowls, ornaments, flowerpots, vases, plates and ceramic whistles. Special clay ovens are used to fire these exquisite ceramic pieces. Pottery sales make up the main source of livelihood for their artisans. This tradition has been handed down from generation to generation. The designs are simple usually with geometric or floral motifs and sometimes feature iguanas, turtles, birds, butterflies, monkeys and other animals and insects native to Costa Rica.