Pejibaye (Town), Costa Rica

Demographics

Pejibaye, Costa Rica is an ecological community located in the Canton of Jiménez in the Provence of Cartago. Pejibaye is separated into many neighborhoods, including El Humo, Plaza Vieja, San Joaquin, Los Tigres, Oriente, El Oso, La Veinte (20), y Veinte Seis (26). Pejibaye is situated about 65 km from San Jose, 42 miles east of Cartago, 25 km south of Turrialba, 15 km south of Tucurrique, and 10 km west of La Suisa, at an altitude of 660 metres (2,170 ft) and an area of 209.18 km2. Buses travel six times a day to and from Cartago and Turrialba. The roads are preserved in their original pristine condition.

According to the Census of 2011 in Costa Rica, of the 14,669 people living in Jiménez, 3,245 are residents of Pejibaye. The municipal government is seated in Juan Viñas, and oversees Juan Viñas, Tuccurique, and Pejibaye. Recently, a voting referendum to allow Pejibaye to have its own municipal government failed with 1,841 votes against and 1,649 votes in favor (Rodríguez y Brenez, La Nación, 2008).

Agriculture

Pejibaye was originally designed as one large farm that was later subdivided by owners Don Jesus and Don Ricardo among the 70 families that worked the land. The agricultural history of the town is indicated in the neighborhood names la viente (20) and veinte seis (26). Plaza Vieja is the oldest neighborhood in Pejibaye formed in the 1940s just after the Costa Rican Civil War. Over the last 70 years, the population of Pejibaye worked in the successful production of coffee and sugar cane. In the last 20 years with the decline in price of both sugar and coffee, Pejibaye has moved away from traditional agricultural production towards greater tourism.

Tourism

Pejibaye has a growing tourist industry. A small group of bed and breakfasts have sprung up to serve local tourists from neighboring towns who regularly come to Pejibaye for rafting on the Pejibaye river. The river itself has class 2 and 3 rapids, and the town has recently been the site of the Costa Rica National Rafting Competition. Nearby, Pacuare river also has class 4 and 5 rafting for more experienced adventure tourists. The surrounding area is home to six different waterfalls, as well as La Marta Wildlife Refuge and Tapantí National Park, which are home to several Costa Rican species of large cats. Regular hiking, bicycle, and horse back riding tours of the cloud forest can be found in Pejibaye as well.

Education

Pejibaye is known for having one of the first Environmental (or Ambiental) High Schools in Costa Rica called Colegio Ambientalista Pejibaye. Newly founded in 1999, this High School has a grand gymnasium, soccer field, air conditioned computer lab, and open air classrooms, with just under 300 students enrolled in grades 7 through 11. Students take classes to learn three languages (English, Spanish, and French) along with the basic core curriculum set forth by the Ministerio de Educación Pública (MEP) of Math, Science, Religion, Social Studies, among others, and a special course in Environmental Studies (also called Ambiental). Nearly 50% of students complete their course work in this High School and go on to study in Universities throughout Costa Rica. In addition to the Environmental High School, there are 3 nearby Grade Schools in El Humo, Plaza Vieja and Pejibaye central with students in grades six and under.