You see, the ‘castration party,’ as gringos like to refer to it, begins at 7:00 in the morning.
While living in Carate last year, I actually missed my ride to the event because I was too hung over from the previous night’s festivities. Coinciding with the birthday of Don Trino’s son, this event is the annual castrating of the bulls. The same, however, cannot be said for one Bijagual party that occurs but once a year. These events go late into the night, and almost always go on without incident. Beer and cacique guarro (Costa Rican-made sugar cane liquor) flow freely while partiers couple up to dance the merengue, salsa, and bachata. The Bijagual restaurant also serves as a venue for the occasional dance party, events that draw attendees from all the nearby villages. He can always be found hanging in the restaurant, an open-air pavilion located just adjacent to the road. Instead of floral patterns, his shirts feature images of cowboys roping steers, fisherman battling marlin, or scenes of Daffy Duck and Goofy sipping cocktails on a beach. A towering and elderly Tico, he is bespectacled and always clad in a Hawaiian style button down. Bijagual is owned by the always pleasant Don Trino. Both a tourist destination, offering guest cabins, a restaurant, and horseback riding, Bijagual is also a functioning cattle farm. Located along the road from Puerto Jimenez to Carate is the sprawling Finca Bijagual (pronounced Bee-Ha-Gwahl).