Costa Rica | Pura Vida detox
- Marta & Oskar
- Dec 31, 2018
- 3 min read
After 6 weeks in the mountains, 4 intense days in Bangkok and 42 hours of what was the most tiring flight in my life, we arrived in Costa Rica. We have always planned for it to be the place where we take "holidays from holidays" together with my parents and, as I disembarked the planed disheveled and tired, I knew one thing - I definitely needed holidays. Thankfully Costa Rica delivered, and in a pura vida style.
First of all, after a terrible diet I endured in Nepal and Bhutan, which you can read about here, I was desperate for delicious and somewhat healthy food (with the emphasis on ’somewhat’). Lucky for me, Costa Rica is the land of fresh seafood, avocados, and tropical fruit. The balance is distorted by free-flowing coffee and incredible chocolate, both of which grow in the region so it is a sin not to try them. On top of it, we have tacos, tortillas, patacones and other varieties of carbs, invariably topped with cheese. Well, at least what I ate was delicious and GF food wasn't limited to rice and potatoes. One can’t have it all!
The second thing I missed was the sea - I simply didn’t realise how much I yearned for it after being land-locked for over 3 months. I’ve learnt that, in general, I feel much better at close to zero altitude and above 20 degrees temperature. Water calms and nourishes me, especially when it is as warm as in a bathtub. Funnily Oskar prefers mountains as high as possible and loves to freeze to death - potential relationship struggle? This being said, he still enjoyed it whenever I forced him to spend endless hours walking on pristine beaches and watching golden sunsets.
The final part of my pura vida detox was what Japanese would call 'forest bathing' (shinrin-yoku, it is not a joke, check it out here)! We explored muggy lowland jungles and misty cloud forests, swam under waterfalls, tracked spider monkeys, spotted cute sloths, coatis and kinkajous and elusive quetzal birds, colourful toucans, and hummingbirds.
To top it off, Costa Rica is serious about sustainability. It is one of the few countries running fully on renewable energy and over the last 30 years the country managed to increase the percentage of land covered by forests from 27% to over 50%. In over two weeks we spent there we haven’t encountered a single plastic straw, cup or container and their recycling system is so complex I’m pretty sure we messed it up most of the time. Wait, there is more! The country hasn't had an army for over 70 years - it was abolished in 1948, with the savings diverted to education and health. Partly as a result, Costa Rica has the best health care system in Latin and Central America according to WHO and 98% literacy rate. A paradox in the area which unfortunately known for violence and constant unrest.
At this point, you may start thinking that surely there must be something wrong with this tiny country. What I’ve heard before arriving in Costa Rica is that it is expensive, commercialised and full of packaged tours from the US. And while this is all likely true, thanks to days of researching prior to the trip we stayed in places far from all of it (I must admit it is not a cheap destination). Maybe for those who are looking for undiscovered paradise and rough adventure Costa Rica will feel like Disneyland in Birkenstocks, but for me it was heaven on earth, a detox I needed after 3 months of moving fast from place to place. It became the Central American version of Australia - a country of great coffee and plentiful avocados where ‘no worries’ literally translates to pura vida and is added at the end of each conversation.
Comments