When Jimmy and I were in Cusco, Peru, on our way back from Machu Picchu in April this year, we came across a game called Sapo. In Spanish, sapo literally means "toad." Not frog, as I originally thought, but darned close! Toads and frogs are interchangeable in this case to my way of thinking.
Dinner was to be at La Feria in Cusco. While we waited on a table long enough for our Road Scholar group of 16, Elias, our fearless leader, above, led us to a back room where the game stood. He gave us the rules and we picked sides, mostly men vs women, but we had more women than men, so a few of the ladies were on the mens' team. The object is to get points by throwing a "coin" or medallion into the frog's mouth (max score), or at least landing in one of the holes near the frog. Each person gets ten "coins," to throw toward the frog's mouth. High scorer wins.
See the frog/toad with its mouth open on top of the board?
Everyone played and we all had a great good time. Girls' team won that night thanks to Pauline, who managed to score big. Nice birthday present for her, too. When we were called in to dinner, we reluctantly left Sapo, but happily went in to eat.
Fast forward to June. Jimmy had been thinking about Sapo since our return in May, and decided to build one in his new Tuff Shed shop. This was a labor of love, undertaken at his leisure. He studied online plans to get the proper sizing, and ordered the brass frog and coins from SapoMiami.
Man at work!
Smart man -- rather than a bulky cabinet,
he made a shorter version with a pull-out drawer to retrieve the coins.
During late July and early August, the work on Sapo was mostly at a standstill because of the smoke and heat. It was too darned unpleasant. There's no A/C in the shop, either, but he has fans and a window to move the air around, just not smoky air!
Each hole corresponds to a number value below. Cool arrangement!
I think he did a fantastic job!
He debated about putting legs on his Sapo, eventually deciding, yes, which he did yesterday, bringing the height up to approx 30". He has a good pitching arm. Poor guy, I know he knows just how bad my throwing arm is, as in, "I can't hit the broad side of a barn," but when friends and family are here, it'll be an entertaining sport we can all take part in. Meantime, I can practice and practice and possibly become an ace!
What fun! Don’t recollect seeing the game when we were in Peru.
ReplyDeleteWell now! Looks like a new sport to conquer! Jimmy, you da man!
ReplyDeleteNice job, Jimmy!
ReplyDeleteI like your color choice. I see you guys have been getting some practice rounds in judging by the coin nicks. :-)
Looks like it might be a fun game. Are there extra points for real frogs?
ReplyDeleteOnly if we can get 'em to hold real still with their mouths with open!
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