FILLING YOUR EASTER BASKET WITH DESAFIO!

Filling your Easter Basket at Desafío's Annual "Búsqueda de Tesoros"

by Christine Krishnan

I grew up in a very German household and out of all of the holidays, I'm pretty sure Easter was my mother's favorite. She went out of her way to play Easter Bunny and hid chocolate eggs, jelly beans, plastic eggs stuffed with candy corn, and colorful Easter baskets all over the house. I remember Easter being even more exciting than Christmas!

One year, there was an Easter Egg hunt organized by the local school for the entire community. My mother dressed me in my Easter best – a handmade pink polyester dress with very scratchy wool tights.

I can still remember seeing my breath that crisp Wisconsin morning as we set out to walk through a small wooded park looking for THE Golden Egg. Just one egg for dozens of eager egg-hunters. I didn't find the Golden Egg. I went away so disappointed – my Easter basket was empty.

Now, fast-forward more years than I care to reveal, and I'm living in a close-knit Costa Rican community at the base of the Arenal Volcano. It was almost Easter and for some reason I mentioned to a fellow North American that I would like to one day put on an Easter Egg Hunt in the Central Park of La Fortuna.

So, we made it happen. Family and friends from the US brought down hundreds and hundreds of colorful plastic eggs and we set out to ask local businesses to give us coupons for their products that we could stuff in the plastic eggs along with pieces of candy. We got our adventure guides and drivers to help hide the eggs all over the park early that Easter morning.

We had collected empty plastic water bottles and showed the children how to convert them into Easter Baskets. We put on a coloring contest. The kids LOVED it. It was so much fun. Almost EVERY child found at least one egg with surprises.

Months later I was walking through the local super market and a little boy came up to me and tugged on my shirt and said "Excuse me, miss, when is the next Easter Egg Hunt?"

Our annual Easter Egg Hunt or as we call it "Busqueda de Tesoros" or "treasure hunt" is in its ninth year now – we still ask friends and family to bring down the plastic Easter Eggs, do a coloring contest, give out popcorn and other treats, play music, and even have a performance by a professional clown. So, if you're around the La Fortuna area on Easter Day, be sure to drop by the Central Park in La Fortuna… I'm sure you won't go away empty-handed!

If you're interested in helping out for our Easter Activities in Costa Rica by bringing down plastic Easter eggs for this year's event, we would REALLY appreciate it!

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