Telire

About Telire:

Telire became Talamanca’s fourth district on 14 April 2004, and at a little over 2,200 square kilometres it is the largest district in Costa Rica. Amubri, the district seat, sits on the far bank of the Telire from Suretka, and there is still no bridge between them. The usual way in is the bus from San José to Bribrí, four to five hours down Ruta 32 and Ruta 36, then 45 minutes on the La Pera road to Suretka. A passenger boat takes three minutes to cross, and buses and cars wait on the other side for the 25-minute ride to Amubri. Boats and local transport run from 6 am to 5 pm, so arrive in daylight or you may spend the night on the wrong bank.

The valley floor, known as Baja Talamanca, holds most of the people and the services: Amubri, Coroma, Katsi, Soki, Sepeque, Mojoncito, Suiri and Boca Urén among them. Families work mixed plots of banana, plantain, cacao, roots, maize and fruit trees, the old Talamanca agroforestry pattern in which cacao is the backbone. Organic cacao and banana are sold through a canton-wide association of small producers, and the harvest crosses the river by boat at Suretka. In Amubri the Tsaira Urki cultural centre hosts Bribri ceremonies, and Bribri hosts take in guests who come for cacao, crafts and the conical Bribri house.

Baja Talamanca is alluvial ground. It floods often, when heavy rain sends the rivers over their banks. Upstream the district climbs quickly through forest into the high cordillera, which it shares with Panama through La Amistad. The upper basin, Alto Telire, is the Cabécar territory of Telire, 16,260 hectares set aside in 1985, and there are no roads or buses at all: Bajo Blei is two to three days on foot and Piedra Mesa up to five. When the health service built periodic-visit posts in those two communities in 2021, the materials were flown in, and medical teams now stay a week at a time.

Telire had 6,240 residents in 2011, the lowest density of any district in the country, and about 10,000 by 2022. Nearly everyone is Bribri or Cabécar, and in the Cabécar communities Cabécar is the language of daily life. Three territories divide the land: the Bribri territory of Talamanca around Amubri and the lower valley, the Cabécar territory of Talamanca, which runs across both Telire and Bratsi, and the Telire Cabécar territory on the upper river. The Bribri and Cabécar territories of Talamanca are each run by an integral development association, the Bribri one through neighbours’ councils in every community. Outsiders come here as health staff, as guests of local families and as visitors crossing over from the coast for a day or two.

Property in Telire:

All three territories fall under the Ley Indígena, Law 6172 of 1977. Its article 3 makes reserve land inalienable, imprescriptible, non-transferable and exclusive to the indigenous communities that live on it: people who are not indigenous may not buy, rent, lease or otherwise acquire land there, and any transfer of land or improvements between an indigenous and a non-indigenous person is void. The high country above the territories is national park, which is not for sale to anyone. If you want to own or rent in this part of Limón, the nearest ordinary market is in Bratsi, around the canton town of Bribrí, and on the Cahuita district coast at Cahuita and Puerto Viejo, where you can look for titled property in Talamanca.

FAQ:

• Can I buy a house, lot or farm in Telire?

  Not unless you are indigenous and a member of the community. A sale to an outsider is void in law whatever documents are signed, and that includes so-called rights of possession or payments for improvements.

• Could I rent a house or lease a plot for a season instead?

  No. Renting and leasing are barred in the same article as buying. A few nights as a paying guest at a family-run lodge in Amubri is a visit, not a tenancy.

• What can a visitor do in Telire?

  Cross from Suretka, spend time in Amubri and the villages of the valley, and learn about cacao and the Bribri house from the families who host guests. Alto Telire is a walk of several days with no road out, so go only with local guides and with the agreement of the communities whose land you cross.

• Where in Talamanca can I buy, and what should I check there?

  Look in Bratsi and Cahuita, but know that both districts hold territory too: Bribri and Cabécar land beyond the town of Bribrí, and Kéköldi near the coast, where the beachfront is maritime zone as well. Get the cadastral plan and the registry entry from the Registro Nacional (Registro Inmobiliario) and set them against the territory boundary before any money changes hands.