Costa Rica Rules the Rodeo: Chaos During the Holidays in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

“He’s not dead! Applause for the boy!” shouts the announcer at the end of the Cóbano Rodeo in Costa Rica. The event, held every February, is like a rural county fair gone wild. Last night’s rodeo main event encourages youngsters to tempt fate by taking on the bulls in the ring.

Costa Rican rodeos are interactive events with peculiar rules. There are 2000 people in the stands, a circular ring and 100 local guys in the ring as well. They released a bull with a rider. When the rider is thrown, the bull runs around the ring and all the boys try to antagonize him while avoiding his wrath.

They are sponsored by local businesses, and I hear you can get cash prizes for slapping the bull’s head, etc. Anyway, the bull goes berserk, and then all the guys jump over the wall to avoid it, then kick it as it goes by. They let it pass for a few minutes and the cowboys come out to tie up the bull and bring it back. They do this over and over again for 3 hours. The real entertainment is watching the gringos enter the ring. Anyone can jump in and participate.

As the gringos pluck up their courage, they too begin to enter the fray. At first it’s just a few daring surfers, then a few more, then a lot of people feel comfortable enough, and even some non-radical girls and tourists jump in. Finally, the biggest goofball gets on the ring. He really stood out, he was wearing very short shorts, a tank top that was too tight, and short blonde hair. He looked like an out-of-place Swedish tourist.

When he entered the ring it was like a light shone on him and he said, “I’m the dumbest guy in here, please hurt me bull!” Sure enough, the next bull went straight for him and ran over him hard. The bull followed and the fool got up and ran out of the ring.

20-30 minutes later the goofy guy is back in the ring! He ran up and hit the bull’s butt, and the bull turned fast and plunged him into the sternum, knocking him off his feet and stomping on him. The goofy guy was totally unconscious and rolling around on the ground a bit.

The “doctors” dragged him behind the boards. That was the last bull, and they let it run for a while while the announcers made their final comments. The cowboys caught the bull in the lasso, and then the medics carried the fool to the other side of the ring on a stretcher.

Just before they reached the other side, the bull turns and attacks the fool again, knocking him off the stretcher. The medics dumped the stretcher and ran, then the cowboys retrieved the bull. A bunch of guys gather around the goofy guy for a minute, pick him up, and wave weakly. The announcer says, “Big round of applause for that guy, he’s not dead!”

They couldn’t have asked for a better ending! In the following days this was the talk of the town. Every Costa Rican I spoke to about it said they saw it on TV. I bet they wait for this all year so they can laugh at the dumbest gringo at the annual rodeo.