Pura Vida…     is a phrase we learned recently on a vacation with some friends in Costa Rica. It literally translates to “pure life”. But it means so much more, and is really about a way of life. Think in terms of carefree and optimistic….or “enjoy life”… Or “full of life”. The Ticos (what the Costa Ricans call themselves) use it as a greeting, saying hello, saying goodbye, giving thanks, or just commenting on what a great day it is. One dictionary translated it to “Life is wonderful; enjoy it”. And that is what we did in Costa Rica; enjoyed life.

On this vacation, while we visited some major attractions (The Arenal Volcano, and Manuel Antonio Parque), we stayed a bit off the beaten track. When in the Arenal region, rather than stay in one of the resorts in La Fortuna, we stayed in El Castillo, which was 30 minutes down a gravel road, with more than it’s fair share of potholes. El Castillo might have a couple hundred people who live there. Three or four restaurants, a couple of small hotels, a tiny market, a church, a soccer field, and a school…. That’s about it. But the people we met were all wonderful. At our lodging, in the restaurants, and just walking down the road. We were getting up early (6AM or so) to catch some birding and to see the sunrise on the volcano. We were walking up a road/path and meeting people who were starting their day “Hola…Buenos Dias….Pura Vida…”
 

 What was even cooler to see, was at 6:45 watching families take their kids to school on their motorcycles/ motorbikes. Either mom or dad would drive, and somewhere from one to three children would be on the bike with them. And always a smile, a greeting, a wave…..

When we went to Manuel Antonio, we also stayed a bit remote. Five of us shared a house that was about 45 minutes north of Quepos on a dirt road. The house had about 250 acres with it, so we had our own jungle. At night, it was pitch black. And the noise in the early evening and early morning was riotous. Unbelievable how many birds, insects, animals, whatever, were carrying on out there. We loved it and spent a couple of days there before heading into Manuel Antonio to do a mangrove tour, and later to tour the park and see the birds and animals. The tours were great, but we really enjoyed the remoteness, and the “localness” of where we were staying.

We plan to go back in the future, and when we do, we will probably log more beach time, stay at a hotel with a swim-up bar, and do a bit more restaurant hopping. For this trip, it was perfect the way it was. And I certainly have a much better understanding of Pura Vida. To quote from one of the guidebooks:

Pura vida! …. you need to consider that maybe…just maybe, your situation isn’t all that bad and that no matter how little or how much you have in life, we are all here together and life is short…so start living it “pura vida style”