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Pura Vida Christmas

Pura Vida Christmas

Victoria Siegel

Pura Vida!

Sometimes it feels silly, cheap even, to put an experience into words. Regardless, here is a short essay to share some of my favorite nuggets from our recent trip to this little strip of water and jungle.

How to speak Costa Rican in a single phrase?

Having a good day? Like someone? Just want to say hi? It all comes back to Pura Vida. Living the pure life.

To start, here is a quick list of the major highlights of 5 days in Nosara’s beach town, and 5 days in the heart of the Monteverde Cloud Rainforest. In short, we can’t wait to go back to Nosara’s perfect weather (warmest ocean with light breeze) and healthy food scene. As far as jungle towns go, there are a few more I want to visit. To get to each one takes several hours and private shuttle ($100 per person) or rental car ($2k for 10 days!). I listed some of the other towns I would love to visit on later trips, with great looking foodie scenes, organic farms, medicinal herb tours, sustainable living inspiration, and insanely biodiverse tropical jungle.

Nosara is a little Surf town in the midst of jungle (population 5700). Full of open spaces thanks to the city requirements to have “green” spaces between properties and rules to prevent building up to the beach, everything stays natural as possible. Dirt roads line this beautiful town of restaurants, yoga studios and little shops that dot the streets in between jungle forest. Very few places like this remain, and can only do so with help of group intentional thought and action. Nosara stands as Costa Rica’s Blue Zone (aka, one of the 5 healthiest places in the world with the largest amount of ppl [healthily] living past 100!). High level, Costa Rica is leading the world in environmental awareness initiatives, including connecting properties to allow for animals to migrate through, and practicing sustainable living in and out of the farm.

  • If you only have one day to visit:

    • grab a surfboard, take a surf lesson (no matter experience level, waves of all sizes year round!)

    • pick a yoga class facing the jungle

    • watch the sunset on the beach

      • rent a beach cruiser to bike along the beach, especially at sunset. watch the stars come out (gets SUPER dark, bring headlamp or phone fully charged for flashlight) 

      • pack bug spray

    Yoga

  • Favorite: Bodhi Tree (fancy, 10 minute drive, or longer bike ride on a very bumpy road, (very dark at night). We took a 5pm yoga class, grabbed their buffet dinner, then rode home on the beach with headlamps.)

    • fully surrounded by jungle, lots of birds singing, elevated, fully open (but does get lots of mosquitos)

    • can get a nice dinner buffet for around $30 pp (full of great veggies and meat selection. we get excited when there are well cooked veggie options!) 

  • Best yoga locally in town: BVC (Buena Vibra Collective)

    • beach studio gets the cool breeze of the beach, immersed in jungle

    • very central in town

    • has another studio across the street with lots of daily activities: art open spaces, cooking classes, moon cultural gatherings…

  • Other great local option: Harmony Hotel Yoga, Healing Center

    • Open view to the jungle in front and back

    • Organic juicery and restaurant on site

    • Great shady hangout space

Restaurants

  • Top favorite: La Luna

    • A bit fancy, and the only restaurant on the beach.

    • On Playa Palada, A little more north of most popular beach, full of locals rather than tourists (always a plus)

    • Uses great ingredients, organic wine, etc. I thought it would be super touristy and meh food, but i was so wrong. Known for their margherita pizza

    • LOVED the Beet ball with goat cheese salad

  • Pura Vida Raw Foods (raw vegan organic bites we love)

    • A little hidden away in a great little nook of other restaurants and botiques

    • Great for take-away healthy foods, smoothies and snacks

    • We loved the Happy Monkey smoothie with chocolate, PB, banana, and kale and their Cashew Buttah Cups

  • El Chivo: Also north near La Luna, a little more fun atmosphere

    • Dinner: Loved the Korean Pork Tacos

    • Dessert: coconut flan (super thick!! and i don’t usually like flan, highly recommended by waiter)

    • Drink: Jalopeno Margarita

  • The Guilded Iguana for Taco Tuesday ($1 tacos and live music)

    • Fancy resort, surf rentals, beautiful gym and affiliated bike rental (can do a mountain bike tour if wanted)

    • They spray lemongrass and citronella essential oils on site to keep bugs away (great way to avoid nasty chemicals)

  • Tuesday organic farmers market

    • I learned carrot oil has natural SPF (can be used in homemade cosmetics)

    • picked up some local Guanabana fruit, and tea leaves for cancer fighting properties

  • Naked Foods for their juices, massaged kale salad (which they did run out of), and fridge full of low sugar cookies, bars, and cocao chocolate concoctions

  • Al Chile at the Sunshet Shack: Local favorite for food, bar and hangout, and great place to stay!

Favorite Meals to recreate!

Nearby:

  • Samara Beach (if coming from the south, tiny picturesque beach town. Bright blue water surrounded by many green palm trees

Books:

  • Monkeys are Made of Chocolate 

    • by Jack Ewing: a collection of stories of local wildlife in Costa Rica, and the importance of conservation. Written by a previous Colorado rancher turned [award-winning] Wildlife Refuge Creator in Costa Rica. An incredible story of the power of a CHANGED MIND. And lots of fun stories of local animals and plants local to Costa Rica. PERFECT for a tropical trip!

  • Tropical Trees of Costa Rica 

    • by Zuchowski: Picked up in the National Park of the Cloud Forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica (many others available, flowers, etc all for about $10 a piece. Not easily found on Amazon). Easy read, easy glossary and fun facts to look up as wondering through the forest (or when dosing off to bed). 

  • Blue Mind

    • by Wallace Nichols. The surprising science that shows how being near, in, on, or under water can make you happier, healthier, more connected, and better at what you do

  • Narilu y Rubi 

    • by Yazmin Ross and Ruth Angulo: part of larger collection of childrens books, in both English and Spanish on each page, with beautiful pictures! Great for kids, or adults trying to learn a new language.

  • Forest Bathing

    • by Quing Li: the Science around why being surrounded by trees and nature is good for you. Just looking at (but especially breathing in) trees does incredible things to your blood and cells. 

Monteverde

Surrounded by Cloud Forest, you can take many local taxis, shuttles, or private tours to one of 3 major entrances. Pick a pre-made tour, or make your own.

Our favorites were found on Airbnb Experiences:

And Beyond:

Places we were not able to make it to, but want to come back to visit

How we picked Costa Rica

We realized last minute we had some availability, and could travel anywhere for the December holidays. Somewhere warm, outdoorsy and beautiful, refreshing, maybe Hawaii, El Salvador, Mexico…. Europe seemed cold and possibly really popular. Hawaii is similar; pristine, but crowded, and to be honest, doesn’t have the most healthy food options readily available. But we still considered it, even if it meant camping out of a used van for 10 days in the rain (everything else left was $600+ a night!).

So we looked south, for something close to the equator, where we could travel safely (some Central American countries have some crazy news stories). Mosquitos are still a threat, and almost pushed Costa Rica off our list.

Then we remembered the small ex-pat type communities that we’ve loved the most (Chiang Mai Thailand, San Miguel Mexico, Utrecht Netherlands, Sedona Arizona, Portland Oregon, Sonoma California, Vancouver Washington) that hold onto consistently temperate weather, great walkability, scenery and trees and good air, low pollution, good food (to us meaning great veggies and organic farm-to-table options). Sustainable living and learning opportunities always a plus. Where do people live that seem to be the happiest, to raise families in the most seamless kind of ways? Where do we want to start mapping our mind around how we can live our lives? What about all those blue zones with the healthiest longest living humans thrive?

So we zeroed in on Costa Rica. And we are still on cloud 9.

Rosemary Sweet Potato Stacks

Rosemary Sweet Potato Stacks
Freezer Fudge

Freezer Fudge
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