Pura Vida

In an intro college Spanish class, I had a project to create a travel brochure on a Latin American country, and "sell" it to the rest of the students.  I was arbitrarily assigned Costa Rica.  I learned that they have a ton of flora and fauna, free public education, a strong economy supported by tourism, and that they produced an astronaut in the 80's.  I developed a mental image of the country as paradise, and promised myself that I'd visit someday.  After letting that image bake in my head for almost a decade, I finally went there, and I'm thrilled that the experience met my idyllic expectations.

Compared to my other international trips, I felt at home in Costa Rica.  The smaller timezone difference might have something to do with that, but I think the bigger factor was being able to speak the language.  I refreshed my Spanish skills with a 94-day Duolingo streak before we arrived, and I leaned heavily on my ability while we were there.  Being able to have nuanced conversations with locals really makes the world feel like a smaller place.


The country is tiny, but it's overflowing with natural beauty.  Costa Rica is the convergence zone of several ecosystems, so there's a lot of variety between terrain and the animals that live there.  The Costa Rican people - Ticos - are aware that their environment is special.  It's hard to go very far without hearing the colloquial term "pura vida" which kind of means "hakuna matata."  The weather is warm year-round, and the availability of fresh ingredients makes the local cuisine simple and delicious (Felicia fell in love with the casados - plates composed of rice, beans, salad, fried plantains, and some kind of protein).  It's easy to understand why the Ticos celebrate just being alive.


Arenal is an active volcano in the northern central valley.  It last erupted in 1968.  We were drawn there by the mountains and rainforests, and the plethora of activities that are offered by tourism companies.  On our first day we went swimming under the La Fortuna waterfall, then took a zipline tour through the canopy hundreds of feet above it.  The next day, we shared a raft with a German couple and toured the class III whitewater of the Rio Balsa.  We also learned how to process sugarcane on a local farm, and took shots of the sugarcane moonshine.  We spent most of our third day in Arenal hiking the Cerro Chato trail.  Cerro Chato is a smaller volcano in the shadow of Arenal.  The hike was rugged and challenging, but we were rewarded by the lake that fills the crater on top with colorful mineral water.

the trail to Cerro Chato

we made it to the crater!

Arenal is basically Death Mountain, minus the Gorons

The lava beneath Arenal provides heat for several hotsprings. We visited a different one each day we were there. My favorite spot was Rio Tabacon, which is a 100+ degree river that flows from the volcano into the expensive resorts nearby. It's kind of a hidden place that you can only get to if you know where to pull over on the side of the highway, but the search is worth the alien experience of bathing in a heated river.

Arenal was an amazing way to explore the inland volcanoes and rainforests, but Costa Rica is also renowned for its beaches.  We decided to visit a place called Drake Bay (named after Sir Francis Drake) on the southern Pacific coast.  We decided on Drake Bay because of its remoteness. Recent travels have taken us to Paris, Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, and we were ready for a change of pace.

There are pros and cons to visiting an isolated place.  The biggest downside was the difficulty in getting there.  We spent most of one day driving, flying, shuttling, and boating from Arenal to into Drake Bay.  On one hand, I missed the efficiency of Japan's bullet trains.  On the other hand, there's a real sense of adventure flying at low altitude on a tiny plane, and riding a small boat down a winding river in order to reach your destination.  We found lodging at a lovely B&B just a short walk up the dirt path from the boat landing.

Corcovado biological reserve is about an hour's boat ride away from Drake, and it's an animal lover's dream.  The reserve is heralded as the most bio-diverse place on Earth.  In one day there, we saw five different species of monkeys, two-toed and three-toed sloths, coatis, acutis, tapirs, a bull shark, and lots of exotic birds including toucans and macaws.


On our last day, we took a snorkeling expedition to the warm waters of Cano island.  We swam with turtles, sharks, sting rays, and tons of other exotic fish.  We took a midday break on the crabbiest beach I'd ever seen.  A full day of boating and snorkeling left my back with a wicked sunburn, but thankfully there are few better places to nurse a sunburn than Seattle in January.

Costa Rica didn't feel like the most foreign place that I've ever visited, but it was the best vacation I've ever taken.  When (not if) I go back, I'll make it a point to visit the Caribbean coast.  I'd love to visit a turtle sanctuary, and apparently rafting the Sarapiqui river is a must-do.  I've also been told by multiple people that the food on the Caribbean side is incredible.  The only question is, who's coming with me?

Pura Vida!
TGIB