Toilets of the World

A wealthy farmer had the unpleasant surprise of discovering that by law, in Costa Rica, land uninhabited for more than thirty days becomes fair game. During his absence, squatters moved in on the farmer’s vast land and numerous farmhouses and took ownership. Legal questions aside, most interesting toilets have been constructed by the squatters. This one was slapped up with whichever materials were at hand. Chickens often have to be shooed out of this backyard family toilet.

Squatter Settlement
Drake’s Bay
Peninsula de Osa

The fountain at the very top of the stairs is the source of this massive open urinal. Water runs through a gutter along the stairs, down the alley and finally into a drain below. Local women are often seen holding their bare-bottomed children over it. Like most inhabitants of Cuzco, the user is a Quechua Indian and descendant of the ancient Incas. Said to be the oldest living city in the Americas, Cuzco was the capital of the great Inca civilization and is now the tourists’ gateway to Machu Picchu. A search for ancient Inca toilets proved fruitless – the people simply used their cornfields.

Avenida Tullumayo
Cuzco

Photo from the book Toilets of the World by Morna E. Gregory and Sian James. Outhouse on stilts over the ocean in the San Blas, Panama.

PANAMA

Nalunega Island

San Blas Archipelago

Even in the 21st century, the Kuna Indians have preserved the traditional culture of their ancestors. This is reflected in the construction of their toilets, which are simple huts on stilts above the crystalline waters of the Caribbean. Belonging to the island’s chief, this toilet sports two flags representing opposing Panamanian political parties. Perhaps the purely decorative purpose of the flags is to reflect the independent status of the Kuna in Panama.

Straight out of a surreal painting, this “island” covered in giant cacti is in the middle of an astonishing 12,000 square kilometre salt desert. On the remote Bolivian high plateau things are often made of the materials at hand. This toilet was carved from the trunk of a dried cactus, which is the only abundant material other than salt. For comfort’s sake, all its needles have been removed. Situated along the hiking trail which circles the island, this toilet sits over a hole dug in the ground.

Incahuasi Island
Uyuni Salt Flats
Altiplano Boliviano
BOLIVIA

A dizzying 5900 meters above sea level at its crater, this imposing volcano straddles the border between Bolivia and Chile. The air at the short stone toilet below is so thin that its users are advised not to overexert themselves to avoid altitude sickness. The toilet serves the nearby Thermas de Polques hot springs. Brave visitors to this barren climate can escape the icy Andean winds by immersing themselves in the steaming water bubbling up from the earth.

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