Central America has so many gorgeous countries with their varied wildlife, pristine beaches, mouthwatering food and cultural history. One country stands out among them because it offers not just all the aforementioned things but also a way of life …PURA VIDA. Two words which translate to ‘Pure Life’, are so powerful that they are used extensively by the ticos and ticas of Costa Rica for everything from a casual greeting to say ‘hello’, ‘goodbye’ and in general ‘life is great’!

We had the fortune of visiting Costa Rica during the summer of 2018. This trip gave us a prelude to the life we have always wanted for ourselves and gave us a peek into the ‘Pura Vida’ lifestyle.

This was a slightly different trip for us because both of us were working remotely throughout the trip as we had used up most of our vacation days. We tried something new this time by keeping a full job schedule with exploration in the evening. We both wanted to get away to a relaxing place and didn’t want to plan extensively unlike our other trips. That helped because we managed to do a lot of cool unplanned activities, could be flexible and just relax. We still managed to get acquainted to amazing local culture and of course cuisine because no trip to Cost Rica would be complete without the old Mayan, Creole and Tican food.

What we did

Toledo Coffee Tour

When you visit Belize you learn about chocolates, when you visit Costa Rica you learn about coffee. We didn’t waste any time visiting a coffee farm after reaching Costa Rica. We drove straight from the airport to the El Toledo Coffee farm in Atenas which is about 45 minutes from San Jose.

This is a small family owned farm run by a family of 4. The elder son – Gabriel – is in charge of the farm and the tour. Generally, when you visit any farm, you expect to be told how that farm is doing everything so much better than the “big corps” but Gabriel provided a much different perspective. He was a lot more philosophical about the place of coffee in our lives and how it is being used to just make money without adding anything to the well being of individuals.

This made for an interesting discussion over freshly brewed coffee, on how a coffee farmer can think beyond his livelihood for a betterment of his fellow farmers and the rest of the world. It was refreshing to see the world from his point of view. Gabriel’s father roasted coffee and walked us through the intense process. We also tasted coffee wine made from coffee fruit that is generally discarded by coffee roasters but not at this farm!

Jaco Beach

Our first half of stay in Costa Rica was in Jaco – a trendy little coastal town with incredible beach and nightlife. When we visited, it was downtime in Costa Rica with the real “tourist” activity coming to an end with the dry season a coming up. But it helped with our agenda of relaxing vacation as the restaurants were not as crowded and we had large stretches of the beach to ourselves.

This was the first time we saw the sunset on the Pacific coast, and yes it was mesmerizing in every aspect. Highly highly recommend Jaco beach for your trip to Costa RIca!

El Miro

Just a short walk from our hotel in Jaco, but a steep climb of around 200m up a hill took us to ruins of an old house with huge terrace that was overlooking the entire beach and surrounding town. The entire way up and down the mountain is covered in art by local artists. The colorful path along with graffiti -ed ruins of the house added a Wes Anderson-esque style to the whole experience. From the top you get an amazing view of the beach below and at sunset you can see the entire sky covered in pink by the setting sun over the Pacific ocean.

This place is a hidden gem that most people miss out on, and honestly it’s a narrow opening at the side of a road! But ask anyone around, folks are really friendly and will guide you to it. There is a place to park and you can take your car to almost the top if you are not in the mood to hike!

Arenal Volcano

Costa Rica has abundance of hot springs thanks to the currently active volcanoes among over 200 volcanoes. Out of these active ones, one with the most activity and most picturesque is Arenal Volcano. The perfect symmetrical cone of the volcano is identifiable from a long distance and on clear day, you can see smoke coming out of the mouth of the volcano constantly. The last eruption at Arenal Volcano was in 2010, and seems like it’s activity has died down for a while. Throughtout our drive to Arenal, Bhanu was keeping a close eye on that smoke and was constantly thinking of escape plans 😂

Hot Springs

One of the advantages of such volcanic activity is that Costa Rica has abundance of hot springs. We spent 3 nights in the town  ‘La Fortuna’ which translates to ‘the fortunate’. Legend has it, this town survived violent eruption from Arenal Volcano while the area surrounding it got destroyed by lava ( ..this did help calm Bhanu down somewhat 😁).

We stayed at Volcano Lodge and Springs, which had all the rooms facing the volcano, so you can wake up to the breathtaking sight of Arenal just outside your window. Another unique thing about the hotel was that they had diverted some of the natural hot springs into a sauna and swimming pool. So you can literally soak yourself in natural hot springs to your heart’s content while sipping drinks right outside the room. This was the cherry on top of our “relaxing” vacation.

Mistico Hanging Bridges Park

Just a few miles from Arenal was a tropical rain-forest preserve with multitude of hanging bridges to cross springs among the trees. Some of the hanging bridges were as high as 100m and it was an adventure trying to cross them especially when it was windy and the bridges kept swinging. We also got to see local wildlife in the preserve. This was a fun activity after a long day at work!

Cooking Class

As with any other country, we had to learn cooking the local Costa Rican dishes. We were looking for an opportunity to visit a local farm and spend a day with a Tican family to learn about their traditions and food. But were disappointed when the driver took us to a new facility owned by the company Desafio, who organized our class, and mentioned that they no longer tie up with local farmers for this class. They had hired their own instructors teaching to cook the food.

Although it was not what we signed up for, we did get to learn about the traditional dishes – gallo pinto, tortillas and rice and  beans and chicken. We also learned mixing cocktail – Jungle Juice with a Costa Rican twist! Our instructor was fun and told us stories from her life around Jaco.

Where We Stayed

Oceano Boutique Hotel & Gallery

THis was the first half of our trip, which we spent at Jaco Beach. We stayed in Oceano Boutique Hotel & Gallery for 4 nights. The mornings started with breakfast on the balcony or by the pool while we began our work day and ended with a dip in the pool and jacuzzi. The location of this hotel was ideal for a short walk to the beach as well as the town center with all the restaurants and nightlife. The room service was amazing and the food was top quality and delicious.

Volcano Lodge and Springs

During the second leg of our trip, we stayed for 4 nights at Volcano Lodge and Springs in La Fortuna, just 8 miles from the Arenal Volcano. Every room had the view of the Volcano and the hotel had redirected natural hot springs to their hot water pool, and sauna. This was the best experience waking up to the volcano and spending evenings in the natural mineral sauna and pool. Most of the times we had the entire pool to ourselves and we could just relax and take in the sight of an active volcano.

 

Where We Ate

Soda

Costa Rica is famous for ‘Sodas’! These are small establishments serving local food usually consisting of rice, meat, beans, and fried plantains. You will find them on every corner and they are not much to look at but same can’t be said about the food they serve. No wonder, despite the abundance of them, each of them is always crowded! Absolutely must if you are in Costa Rica!

Los Amigos

Given the number of tourists visiting Costa Rica, a lot of places cater to Internationals especially Americans. Right in the center of Jaco is Los Amigos serving burgers, pasta and many other cuisines. We were craving some American food one of the days, so this worked out well.

Senor Harry’s

Right on the main street in Jaco is Senor Harry’s, serving out of the world table-side guacamole and  Central American fare like Chifrijos – a traditional Tican salsa. Locals consider this an institution and no trip to Jaco Beach is complete without stopping by at Senor Harry’s.

Taco Joint

After a relaxing stroll on the beach and a dip in the ocean what is best way to satiate hunger: Tacos and cocktails. This was a colorful hole-in-the-wall taco joint named ..well..Taco Joint . We tried out Carolina Reaper chilli sauce (our first time trying the hottest chili in the world) and good thing the guy behind counter told us to use just ONE drop of it! That was enough to bring tears, but damn it was delicious!

Green Room

Another place we visited in Jaco was Green Room. They have live music every night and musicians from all over the world visit this place to perform. The night we were there, a Brazilian band was performing and that added to the whole experience.

Pachi’s Pan

There is always room for churros 😋!! Pachi’s Pan bakery serves the best and fresh churros – plain or flavored and they are crispy on the outside and soft (sometimes choco-filled) on the inside. We honestly forgot to take a picture as it was toooo good to resist!

Casita Del Sabor

A place so small, you will miss it in the blink of an eye but the food so delicious that it was the best meal we had in our entire Costa Rica trip! Casita Del Sabor is run by a lady who manages the kitchen, register and serves everyone alone but the quality of food and service is impeccable. We found this place when we left Jaco beach on our way to La Fortuna and it was raining heavily. But had heard so much about it that we struggled our way on a muddy path to it and were really glad we did!

Red Frog Coffee Roaster

When a place roasts its own coffee, has a B&B, sell souvenirs and claim to serve best Patacones, you’d think they are doing one thing too many! But when it has 5 stars from over 500 reviews on Trip Advisor, you have to check it out to see how they do it all. We had the best fresh mango juice EVER!! It certainly brought memories of our childhood in India enjoying fresh mangoes on hot summer days. Don’t forget to order a plate of patacones when you are here, you will not stop at just one!

 

Overall, it was exactly the type of relaxing trip we wanted in an exquisite location. We experienced sunsets over the Pacific ocean, relaxing walks on the beach, active volcanoes, hanging bridges, friendly people and most importantly food and drinks that brought back the childhood memories. The lifestyle and philosophy of life there helped us determining our priorities and taught us what are the more important things in life. Wouldn’t mind going back to Costa Rica just for that and doing the same all over again. Pura Vida Amigos!

What We Learnt

• If you rent a car, don’t be surprised if you are asked to take the mandatory insurance while picking up your ride. This is fairly common in Costa Rica. We usually rely on our credit card insurance for car rental but for Costa Rica we got the insurance from the rental company. They have different levels of coverage and also itemized options to select from and given the conditions of internal roads and how remote some places are, it turned out to be a good decision.
• We visited in August and it is the middle of rainy season. The roads were really slippery and muddy especially if you use the unpaved one. Be aware of “short cuts” as they may take you to one of these dangerous roads. We were stuck on an uphill road in the middle of nowhere with steep cliff on one side and rocks on the other because we took one such road. We somehow managed to reverse the car and drive back down, but kept road side assistance number handy.
• Always carry insect repellent and use it generously when stepping outside! Costa Rica is covered in tropical rain forest, which gives a cozy place for insects and mosquitoes to breed.
• Carry cash and change! Most places accept only cash and ATMs are too few and far away. And you don’t want to miss that delicious guacamole because you didn’t carry cash!
• Do visit one of the beautiful rain forests while you are there! We didn’t have the time, but heard that Carara National Park is absolutely mindblowing, so keep that in your itinerary.