Pura Vida: A Travelogue / Love Story

So, I spent a month in Costa Rica over the holidays. The holidays are tough for me since I lost my mother in 2022, so I try to disappear when they come around. This year my destination was the Guanacaste Province in the northern part of the country on the Pacific Ocean, which is my ocean. Nothing makes me happier than being on the Pacific because I was literally born and raised on it.

It was a life-changing experience for me. I sang, I did some recording after searching for a local studio, I ate, I laughed, I wrote, and I read Hemingway on the beautiful beaches. I also may have drunk. Perhaps a lot. I don’t quite remember that part. I exchanged my shirts with locals wearing the national soccer team jerseys. I have four of them now and I love them. One night, someone brought me a Costa Rican flag and draped it over my shoulders as a gift. That was a great moment. A standout amongst many great moments.

I think my friends are a little tired of me going on and on about it, but the trip changed me a little. It certainly moved me a lot. I made friends with Ticos and Ticas, American, European, and Canadian ex-pats with whom I remain in regular contact. The night before I left, I was at my regular haunt, Celeste, in a little beautiful town on the beach called Las Catalinas, and the staff were coming up to me, some actually in tears, saying they were sad I was leaving. I was sad, too. I was there for their opening night, and what a party that was. Ticos and Ticas know how to party, and they do so regularly.

The staff of Celeste, Las Catalinas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica

So, I have taken to evangelizing to anyone who will listen about how they must visit Costa Rica. Reasons? You make instant friends. They love Americans and are concerned for the state of our country, as am I. With Russia and China poking around Latin America, they are relying on us to step up and fend them off before they get a deeper foothold.

The beaches are everywhere, each one unique and pristine. It is the greenest place I have ever seen next to the Taroko National Forest in Taiwan. There are monkeys (the sweet ones like howler and spider monkeys, not the obnoxious ones like macaques that steal your coke or beer in places like India) and toucans. And thousands of other wildlife species. Wikipedia describes it as having the greatest biodiversity in Latin America. I have never seen more beautiful creatures with my own eyes. And the women. Ticas, they are called. The natural beauty of Ticas is something to behold. Even their currency, the Colón, is beautiful. No politicians on the bills, just birds and beautiful scenes. (You don’t need to even get Colónes, every place takes credit or debit cards and they love American dollars).

Almost everyone speaks English, because the Costa Rican education system is so strong, and English is taught starting at an early age. This makes it remarkably easy to navigate in Costa Rica if you are alone, there for the first time, and speak little Spanish, like me. I tried to speak Spanish when I could out of respect, but unlike Mexico, I never had to bust out my English-Spanish translation app.

It is, I think, the most peaceful and happy place I have ever been. They call it Pura Vida — pure life — and it’s not just a tourism slogan, it’s how they live, and they take it very seriously. Costa Ricans are very proud of their country and their way of life. One often says Pura Vida in place of saying goodbye. Incredibly, they dismantled their military in the 1940’s because they don’t need it. Nobody messes with them. There are very few cops around because they don’t really need them, either. Petty theft is an issue in Costa Rica, but as long as you keep an eye on your stuff, you’ll be fine, at least in the Guanacaste region.

Where to stay? I moved between three different hotels because I wanted to experience different areas and learn as much as I could in terms of the lay of the land. I started at Bosque Del Mar on Hermosa Beach in the Gulf of Papagayo. Hermosa is a beautiful, quiet beach known for its black sand, which is the result of volcanic activity long ago. I moved on to the hillside ultra-luxe Casa Chameleon above Las Catalinas. Casa Chameleon was over the top (and priced as such!). I had a private saltwater pool outside my door overlooking the ocean. The pool extended to the shower area, which had a sliding door so you could just jump in in the middle of a shower. Their main pool, also overlooking the ocean, had flames busting out of it. Crazy cool.

I spent the remainder of my time down the hill in the little town of Las Catalinas

At the hotel Santarena, from which my favorite aforementioned hangout, Celeste is just steps away. I spent the most time there, and I never wanted to leave. This is where I made serious friends, had serious laughs, and wrote for my forthcoming book, Vignettes, like a fiend because the atmosphere is just fueling for a writer.

At Celeste, in one of my newly won Costa Rican National Team jerseys.

All in all, it was the closest thing to paradise I have ever experienced. So put it on your list. Beaches, jungles, and happy, peaceful people. The more Americans who visit, the better, as we can learn a lot from Ticos, Ticas, and the Costa Rican Culture. Life does not have to be as hard as we tend to make it. Pura Vida for real. I am in love, and I have a feeling one day I will call this place home.

Casa Chameleon in Las Catalinas