Romería a la Virgen de Los Ángeles

Every year in Costa Rica around 2.5 million people participate in a religious pilgrimage to the Basílica (basilica) de Los Ángeles in the city of Cartago.
Why Cartago? Well on August 2nd, 1635 an image of Nuestra Señora de los Ángles (Virgen de los Ángeles) appeared there. "La Negrita" or "The Little Black One" is a 6-inch tall representation of the Virgin Mary that was found by an indigenous girl on a rock on this day in Cartago. Following that event a huge basilica was constructed and now millions of people make the pilgrimage to Cartago every year during the week of August 2nd to thank La Negrita for her miracles and receive healing. That's the brief history behind the pilgrimage: the Romería de la Virgen de Los Ángeles.

Yesterday six of us decided to make the pilgrimage from San Jose to Cartago. The 13 mile walk we embarked on was worth the experience. We didn't need directions to figure out where to go; all we had to do was follow the crowds of people in from of us. The masses of people took up an entire traffic lane. There were people of all ages walking side by side. Most people wore walking shoes for the trek, but we did see people with nothing more than tape on the soles of their feet. Vendors selling fruit, Popsicles, and water lined the streets. Trash cans separating recyclables from organics and trash were placed along the roadside as well. Occasionally we had to walk through groups of people holding out their jars asking for change for their causes. When we weren't walking by change collectors or venders, we were usually passing people selling the numerous rosaries strung out on their arms. My favorite thing we passed might have been the Jesús Cristo rendition of the Macarena that was blaring from the speakers of a church group.
Aside from all of the extras associated with the walk, the most amazing aspect of the whole thing was that this huge group of people were all walking together united by the same religious drive.
After the walk I was exhausted; my body hurt. We celebrated the completion of our pilgrimage by enjoying hamburgers and nachos at a local restaurant. We took a bus back to San Jose, walked another mile to San Pedro, and went to home to sleep.

The Basilica at Cartago lit up at night.

(This is exactly how the basilica looked when we arrived)

The Group