THESE GREEN HATS...

THESE GREEN HATS...
By Jos Pablo Ramrez Vindas, 18 April 2008

A.M. Costa Rica/José Pablo Ramírez Vindas   
Sabino Ruiz has a palm frond hat for everyone. One size fits all.

Tourists on vacation in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca have no need to spend $20 or more for a New York Yankee or New England Patriot cap. Sabino Ruiz will make a unique hat and sell it for just 2,000 colons, about $4.

The man is a true artist weaving hats with just his hands. He uses the fronds of the palm trees that he finds at nearby Playa Negra in his travels.

"I travel from Limón centro to Puerto Viejo every weekend," said Ruiz.

"I collect the coco palm, the strongest and longest. I can make a hat in just 45 minutes."

He has been doing this for 40 years to support himself. As a youth he came from Guanacaste on the Pacific to Limón on the Caribbean.

He can turn out about 35 hats every weekend, and he sells them to tourists or locals.

The green hats are heavy but as they dry they become lighter. The coco palm hat or sombrero can last a year or two, he said.

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