#A Tico Beach Experience

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Hotel Nantipa Awarded Elite Sustainable Tourism Certification

Hotel Nantipa, located on Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula, one of five Blue Zones across the globe, has been awarded the Elite Level of Certification for Sustainable Tourism by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute. The highest level of sustainability certification, the award recognizes Hotel Nantipa’s longstanding commitment to holistic sustainability supporting the environmental, economic, and…

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Discover the Best Area to Stay in Costa Rica: A Traveler’s Paradise Awaits

Costa Rica, the gem of Central America, is a country that never fails to enchant its visitors with its rich biodiversity, stunning landscapes, and the warm hospitality of its people. Whether you are an adventurer at heart, a beach lover, or someone seeking tranquility amidst nature, Costa Rica has something unique to offer. But with so many incredible places to explore, finding the perfect spot to stay can be overwhelming. Let’s dive into some of the best areas to stay in Costa Rica and uncover why this destination should be at the top of your travel list.

Why visit Costa Rica?

Diverse Ecosystems: Costa Rica is home to a remarkable array of ecosystems, from tropical rainforests and cloud forests to arid plains and coastal regions. This diversity means you can experience a wide range of flora and fauna, often within a short distance of each other.

Adventure and Thrills: For those who crave adventure, Costa Rica is a playground. Zip-lining through the jungle canopy, white-water rafting down raging rivers, hiking up active volcanoes, and surfing on world-renowned beaches are just a few of the adrenaline-pumping activities you can enjoy.

Wildlife Galore: Costa Rica’s commitment to conservation has made it a haven for wildlife. Here, you can encounter monkeys swinging through the trees, sloths lounging in the canopy, colorful toucans, and even elusive jaguars. The sheer abundance of wildlife is one of the country’s biggest draws.

Cultural Richness: The Pura Vida lifestyle, which translates to “pure life,” embodies the Costa Rican approach to living. It’s about enjoying life’s simple pleasures, being in the moment, and embracing a stress-free attitude. The friendly and welcoming nature of the Ticos (Costa Ricans) adds a special charm to your travel experience.

Best Areas to Stay in Costa Rica

1. Arenal: For an adventure-filled stay, Arenal is your go-to destination. The imposing Arenal Volcano, lush rainforests, and rejuvenating hot springs make this area a must-visit. La Fortuna, the nearby town, serves as a convenient base for exploring the region’s natural wonders.

2. Monteverde: Known for its stunning cloud forests, Monteverde is a haven for nature enthusiasts. The Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve offers incredible hiking trails and the chance to see unique wildlife species. This area is perfect for those who appreciate cooler climates and serene landscapes.

3. Manuel Antonio: Combining beautiful beaches with rich rainforest, Manuel Antonio is a top choice for many travelers. The Manuel Antonio National Park is famous for its diverse wildlife and scenic beauty. Whether you’re lounging on the beach or hiking through the forest, this area has it all. Continue Reading

Are you ready to learn more about the best areas to stay in Costa Rica? Click Continue Reading to discover detailed insights and plan your dream vacation today!

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FAQs: Best Areas to Stay in Costa Rica

1. What are the best areas to stay in Costa Rica for first-time visitors?

For first-time visitors, some of the best areas to stay in Costa Rica include Tamarindo, Arenal, Manuel Antonio, and Monteverde. These regions offer a great mix of natural beauty, adventure activities, and convenient amenities.

2. What is the best area to stay in Costa Rica for beach lovers?

If you love the beach, Tamarindo on the Pacific coast and Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast are among the best areas to stay in Costa Rica. Tamarindo offers lively beach activities and nightlife, while Puerto Viejo has a more relaxed vibe with stunning beaches and a unique Afro-Caribbean culture.

3. Where should I stay in Costa Rica for the best wildlife experiences?

Monteverde and Manuel Antonio are some of the best areas to stay in Costa Rica for wildlife enthusiasts. Monteverde’s cloud forests are home to a diverse range of flora and fauna, while Manuel Antonio National Park is famous for its rich biodiversity, including monkeys, sloths, and exotic birds.

4. Which area is best for adventure activities in Costa Rica?

Arenal is one of the best areas to stay in Costa Rica for adventure activities. The region offers zip-lining, white-water rafting, hiking, and the chance to explore the majestic Arenal Volcano and its surrounding rainforests.

5. Are there any family-friendly areas to stay in Costa Rica?

Yes, Costa Rica has many family-friendly areas. Manuel Antonio is particularly great for families due to its beautiful beaches, safe swimming areas, and abundance of wildlife. Arenal is also family-friendly, with plenty of activities suitable for children and adults alike.

6. What is the best area to stay in Costa Rica for a romantic getaway?

For a romantic getaway, consider staying in Monteverde or Manuel Antonio. Monteverde’s serene cloud forests provide a peaceful retreat, while Manuel Antonio offers beautiful beaches and luxurious resorts ideal for couples.

7. Is traveling to Costa Rica safe?

Costa Rica is generally considered safe for travelers, especially in the popular tourist areas such as Tamarindo, Arenal, Monteverde, Manuel Antonio, and Puerto Viejo. However, as with any travel destination, it’s important to take standard precautions, such as keeping an eye on your belongings and avoiding isolated areas at night.

8. What is the best time of year to visit Costa Rica?

The best time to visit Costa Rica is during the dry season, which runs from December to April. This period offers sunny weather and is ideal for exploring the best areas to stay in Costa Rica. However, the green season (May to November) can also be a good time to visit, with fewer tourists and lush, vibrant landscapes.

9. Can I experience both adventure and relaxation in the best area to stay in Costa Rica?

Absolutely! Costa Rica offers a perfect blend of adventure and relaxation. For example, in Arenal, you can enjoy thrilling activities like zip-lining and then relax in the natural hot springs. Manuel Antonio combines beautiful beaches for relaxation with adventurous hikes in the national park.

10. How do I choose the best area to stay in Costa Rica for my interests?

Choosing the best area to stay in Costa Rica depends on your interests. If you love the beach and surfing, Tamarindo is a great choice. For nature and wildlife, consider Monteverde or Manuel Antonio. If you’re looking for adventure, Arenal is ideal. For a unique cultural experience, Puerto Viejo is the place to be.

For more detailed insights on the best area to stay in Costa Rica, continue reading here.

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Planning Your Perfect Costa Rica Vacation: A Comprehensive Guide

Costa Rica, known for its breathtaking landscapes, rich biodiversity, and vibrant culture, is a top destination for travelers seeking adventure, relaxation, and everything in between. Whether you're a first-time visitor or a seasoned traveler, planning the perfect Costa Rica vacation requires careful consideration of your interests, budget, and travel style. Here’s a comprehensive guide to help you navigate your way to an unforgettable Costa Rican getaway.

1. Best Time to Visit

Costa Rica boasts a tropical climate, with the dry season (December to April) being the most popular time to visit. During this period, you can expect sunny days and minimal rainfall, perfect for beach activities and exploring national parks. The rainy season (May to November) offers lush landscapes and fewer crowds, making it ideal for those who prefer a quieter, greener experience.

2. Top Destinations

Arenal Volcano and La Fortuna: A must-visit for adventure seekers. Enjoy hiking, hot springs, and the stunning Arenal Volcano. Don’t miss the La Fortuna Waterfall and the hanging bridges in Mistico Arenal Park.

Monteverde Cloud Forest: Known for its unique ecosystem and biodiversity. Go zip-lining, take a guided night tour, or walk through the misty cloud forest reserves.

Manuel Antonio National Park: Perfect for beach lovers and wildlife enthusiasts. Explore pristine beaches, hike through lush rainforests, and spot monkeys, sloths, and exotic birds.

Tamarindo: A vibrant beach town famous for surfing, nightlife, and stunning sunsets. It’s a great spot for both relaxation and water sports.

Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park: For the intrepid traveler, this remote area offers incredible wildlife encounters and unspoiled natural beauty.

3. Activities and Adventures

Surfing: Costa Rica is a surfer’s paradise with popular spots like Tamarindo, Jaco, and Santa Teresa offering waves suitable for all levels.

Wildlife Watching: Visit national parks like Tortuguero and Manuel Antonio for a chance to see turtles, monkeys, and a variety of bird species.

Zip-lining and Canopy Tours: Monteverde and Arenal are top spots for zip-lining adventures through the treetops.

Hiking: Explore trails in national parks such as Corcovado, Arenal, and Rincon de la Vieja for a mix of easy walks and challenging hikes.

Water Activities: Enjoy snorkeling, scuba diving, and boat tours in areas like the Papagayo Peninsula and the Gulf of Papagayo.

4. Accommodation Options

Costa Rica offers a range of accommodation options to suit every budget and preference. From luxury resorts and eco-lodges to budget hostels and vacation rentals, you’ll find something that fits your needs. For a unique experience, consider staying in a treehouse or a beachfront bungalow.

5. Travel Tips

Health and Safety: Costa Rica is a safe destination, but it’s always wise to take precautions. Drink bottled water, use insect repellent, and avoid leaving valuables unattended.

Currency: The local currency is the Costa Rican Colón (CRC), but US dollars are widely accepted. ATMs are available in most towns.

Transportation: Renting a car offers the most flexibility, but Costa Rica also has a reliable network of buses and shuttles. Domestic flights are available for quicker travel between distant regions.

Packing: Pack light, breathable clothing, sturdy hiking shoes, swimwear, and rain gear if visiting during the rainy season. Don’t forget sunscreen and a reusable water bottle.

6. Cultural Etiquette

Costa Ricans, or "Ticos," are known for their friendliness and hospitality. Learn a few basic Spanish phrases to enhance your interactions. Respect local customs and wildlife, and always practice sustainable tourism by minimizing your environmental impact.

Planning a vacation to Costa Rica promises an adventure filled with stunning landscapes, diverse wildlife, and rich cultural experiences. By considering the best times to visit, top destinations, and various activities, you can tailor your trip to match your interests and preferences. Whether you’re lounging on pristine beaches, exploring vibrant rainforests, or immersing yourself in local culture, Costa Rica offers something for everyone. Start planning your dream vacation today and get ready to experience the Pura Vida lifestyle!

[solcosteiro]

Nosara - A Surfer's Dream

Nosara has something for everyone. This coastal town in Costa Rica truly embodies a surfer’s paradise. With consistent swell, beautiful yoga studios, and a variety of great restaurants, this location is hard to beat. Nosara has been a location I never skip over when traveling through Costa Rica. Having been there on three separate occasions now, I’ll share insights on my past experiences and recommendations when visiting this magical location. 

ACCOMMODATIONS

Nosara has accommodation options for all kinds of travelers. From luxurious AirBnBs to social hostels, there are plenty of choices for any budget. If you want more privacy, definitely go the AirBnB route. If you’re more adventurous, I would highly recommend finding a hostel in the area. I have had nothing but great experiences bouncing around from hostel to hostel in Central America. During my most recent visit to Nosara, I stayed in a shared dorm room in the Selina hostel. This was such an amazing experience, and I would definitely recommend this option to any solo-travelers or small groups. The hostel was filled with communal areas that fostered social interactions. The crowd was younger, and Selina had interns that organized events for every night of the week. On your first night, they even have a free “welcome shot” where everyone that just showed up meets in the bar for a shot. It was a great way to break the ice and get introduced to a lot of the other travelers that would be staying there at the same time. All of the social events put on by the interns were a lot of fun. On weekends they would have extravagant parties with DJs that were open to the whole town. During the week, there were different activities like spanish lessons, karaoke, and my personal favorite.. Salsa lessons. Again, the entire community showed up to the hostel to dance salsa and share some beers with friends. They start the dancing early for the hostel guests and give some quick lessons and tips for learning to salsa. The locals then start showing up, and they definitely do not need any tips. There was no judgment though, and the locals were so friendly and willing to walk you through the steps. It was so amazing seeing how it brought the community together in an active way. 

This hostel also had plenty to do during the day. There were two beautiful pools, relaxing deck areas, and a slackline that ended up being the pinnacle of the social interactions. Something about the mindless activity was very addicting. The slackline always drew a crowd so it was a great area to meet new people. Yoga and other fitness classes were also included in the hostel package. If you have the opportunity, attend as many of these as possible! They are normally early in the morning, and are really great for getting warmed up for a full day of surfing. The last thing you want to do on a surf trip is get a muscle injury on one of the first days. These classes were taught by local instructors who were very attentive, and made sure you were positioning yourself correctly. They were great for all levels - No need to be intimidated if it’s your first time taking a class.

The only downside to the Selina hostel was the proximity to the beach. If you want to walk, it is going to take 20-30 minutes down the side of a dirt road.. A small price to pay given how beautiful the hostel itself is. I will break out the packing list at the end, but highly recommend bringing comfortable shoes to walk in. If walking is not your thing, the front desk will happily call you a tuk-tuk, which is a small cart that will take you to and from the main downtown area for roughly $6. I used these more when we were in a rush heading to dinner or a bar at night. Because of the long commute to the downtown area, I got breakfast every morning at the Selina. This allowed me to operate slowly in the morning - The locals call this running on tico time. The Selina had free coffee in the lobby, fresh juice, and incredible coconut-based yogurt bowls with granola and fresh fruit. I was a little skeptical of hostel food at first, but the hostel had a fantastic restaurant inside of it. Selina often has promotions going on, so you could likely get the full package with breakfast included for cheaper if you book in advance. I spent roughly $25 a night with breakfast included. I stayed in a communal 8 bunk room. Because I was there during the wet season when there are less tourists, there were never more than 4 people in the room. The bathroom off of the room was also very nice, and soaps and shampoos were included. Make sure to bring your own towel though! You will make friends quickly, but they might not be willing to share a shower towel with you that early into the relationship.

SURF

Onto the surf! The main reason why people travel to Nosara. Surfing in Nosara is great for all skill levels. Most of the waves are beach breaks right on Playa Guiones, but the consistency is really what sets this location apart. Travelers can expect 3-4 foot waves nearly every day regardless of the season. The southern area of the beach provides softer waves, and is a little more protected from the swells coming in from the open ocean. This area is better for beginners. The central area of Playa Guiones is my personal favorite. The wave shape is really nice, and the waves form way off shore, allowing you to get crazy long rides. There are typically light off-shore winds in the morning, so if you can get yourself out of bed, I would recommend squeezing a session in before breakfast. It is also a great way to beat the crowd. This area is better for intermediate to experienced surfers, although beginners can catch some of the broken waves in the white water closer to shore. On the average day, you can choose between a longboard or a shortboard, and will be guaranteed to catch some waves. On the bigger days, shortboards were preferable. Since it's a beach break, the waves tended to close out quickly with bigger swells, so you needed the speed to work your way to the open sections. I did not really surf in the northern section of the beach, but it looked similar to the central area. The board rental places are closest to the center of the beach, so it was more a matter of not wanting to drag my board all the way over there - Got to save energy for paddling out! Overall, Playa Guiones is a great spot to improve your skills in a very short time regardless of the level that you surf at. The consistent waves make it so you will be getting a ton of rides during every session. 

Board rentals are very affordable, and there are plenty of options. I try to avoid traveling with my boards given how the airlines treat them, so if I know I can rent quality equipment at a location, I will always opt for that option. Juan Surfo’s Surf Shop is where I have rented from the past few times that I journeyed to Nosara. During the off-season, it cost $65 to rent a board for the week. You can store your board at the shop overnight, and pick it up whenever you want to head out to surf. Additionally, if you want to try a different board, they allow you to swap boards as many times as you want. Another great benefit of renting from this place is that lockers are included. Especially when traveling solo, it can be unnerving to just leave your stuff unattended on the beach, so having a locker to store your valuables in is super nice! Other options for rentals were available, but Juan Surfo’s was right off of one of the beach access points, making it super easy to transport boards to and from the beach. The employees were also super laid back and friendly. You could tell that they are local experts, and were more than willing to give some tips on when to surf given the tides, as well as where to go. I believe they also had lessons. If it is your first time surfing, take a lesson! It will save you hours of frustration, because learning on your own is no easy task. 

FOOD

To stay energized for the long surf days, you will need to fill up on the local cuisine. To start your day, Cafe de Paris is a must visit pastries. They are made fresh everyday, and have a great selection for everyone. The cafe itself was very pretty and had a ton of shaded seating, making it a quick and easy option to swing by before hitting the beach. I also made a point to stop at the local carts on the side of the street to pick up fresh fruit before surfing. The fruit was all local and super fresh! For some quick hydration, a lot of the vendors sell coconuts like the gentleman below.

For lunch, I repeatedly went with the local favorite - Rosi’s Soda Tica! They had numerous locations around Nosara, and had one of the best casados that I have had during my travels through Central America. A casado is a traditional plate of rice, black beans, plantains, vegetables, and a protein (or in my case, extra veggies and plantains!). Top the dish off with some vinegar dressing and hot sauce, and you will without a doubt be on cloud 9. Watch out for the food comas that follow though. Casados are also the best deal you will find for lunch. They typically go for about $6 USD, and are enough food to feed a small army!

For dinner, Nosara boasts a ton of amazing restaurants. The Beach Dog Cafe was my personal favorite. They had delicious Mediterranean food, great cocktails, and live music every night of the week. If you are able to go on Saturday, they typically have the same music group there every week. These guys were super talented. Even if you have already eaten, I would swing by to grab a beer and enjoy the show! The Beach Dog is comparable to a lot of the other dinner options from a pricing perspective, and is worth every dollar. The Beach Dog also has a lot of vegan and vegetarian options, so it is great for groups with dietary restrictions.

If you are looking for a view with dinner then you have to go to La Luna. Try and book a reservation ahead of time so that you will be eating dinner during the sunset - This place fills up fast. The restaurant overlooks the ocean right on Playa Pelada, which is just north of Playa Guiones. The sunset is stunning. Most of the food options are seafood or Mediterranean style dishes. The restaurant is on the pricier side, so this dinner serves well to celebrate a special occasion. Everyone dresses nicely when visiting here, so if you packed any clothes for a more formal occasion then this is the time to break them out.

10 Pies is also a must visit when in Nosara. This restaurant provides a needed break from the typical Mediterranean style and seafood restaurants that you tend to see around the area. Their dishes range from pizzas to tacos to quesadillas, and everything on their menu is delicious. Make sure to start your meal off with their chips and guacamole! Their chips are super crispy and the fresh guac pairs perfectly with any drink. 

Surprisingly enough, my last restaurant recommendation would have to be The Patio, which is the restaurant attached to the Selina hostel. They have great options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It is the perfect spot for health fanatics that want to perform well when surfing or doing yoga. All of their food is filled with fresh vegetables and fruit. They also have a ton of vegan and vegetarian options. The seating all overlooks the beautiful pools, and the entire patio is lit up with string lights - The space is very picturesque.

If going out isn’t your thing, the Selina also has a kitchen stocked with all the utensils you could ever need. To save some money, a few of the people around the hostels picked up some groceries, and we did a little communal cooking. This was so much fun - It is those types of little interactions where core memories are formed.

Surfing and eating were the big items I wanted to touch on because those were my focus, but Nosara has so much more to offer. Below are additional activities that you MUST DO during your trip

YOGA

A few different yoga studios offer classes around Nosara, and I enjoyed the practice at every one I attended. If you stay at the Selina, they offer a class almost every other day. They have a very nice indoor studio that opens up to the pool. The class was great for all levels, and the instructor was very knowledgeable. For a more elevated yoga experience, you have to visit Bodhi Tree. This hotel took their yoga studios to the next level. Their studios sit in the middle of the jungle and make you feel like you are truly isolated in nature. They offer multiple classes a day, and have different classes for different levels. In addition, they have an amazing smoothie bar right next to one of the most stunning pools that I have ever seen. You definitely need to treat yourself while on vacation! 

FARMERS MARKET

Every weekend, there is a local farmers market right on the main street in Nosara. This market attracts a variety of vendors selling fresh produce, empanadas, pastries, handmade crafts, jewelry, and clothing. When visiting these small towns, it is important to support the local artists and vendors that add to the unique culture and make these destinations so special.

SUNSETS

A common theme I have noticed when traveling to Central American countries is how everyone gathers at the beach to watch the sunset and enjoy eachothers company. I think it is one of the key factors in making the people that live here so happy - They have a strong sense of community. There is a short hike that I would highly recommend taking to watch the sunset. The hike is up the cliffs that separate Playa Guiones and Playa Pelada. It takes roughly 15 minutes and is not very challenging. The views are breathtaking though. To get there, you just need to walk down Playa Pelada and head for the jungle trail that connects Playa Pelada with Playa Guiones. Just to the right of that path, you will notice a dirt trail that leads up the side of the cliff. The beginning is steep, but once you power through the initial climb, it is just a slow walk to the views. The end of the trail is marked with the national flag of Costa Rica. You can actually see this from the beach, so you will know where you are headed before even starting the trek. I was fortunate enough to have met someone at the hostel that was filming promotional videos for Selina, so we got some incredible drone footage from the top of the cliff.

The tide pools on Playa Pelada are also an amazing spot to watch the sunset. These can be seen right from the beach access point, so you won’t miss them. The way the colors reflect off of the shallow pools is incredible though, and watching the waves crash off of the rocks makes for a magical experience. One local was drawing a lot of attention here.. And for good reason. He was making these huge bubbles that lit up under the bright oranges and reds of the sky. The sunsets were also stunning every night of the week! It is no wonder why the whole town migrates here to enjoy every single one. Something about them feels so nostalgic and warm.

NIGHT LIFE

If you are looking to go out and party every night of the week, then Nosara might not be the best option. Tamarindo has a lot more to offer when it comes to huge events. Nosara does have a few hidden gems however. As I mentioned before, the Selina has great DJs and live music on weekends. The whole town shows up to dance and drink. These parties lasted well into the night and were a lot of fun. If you stay at the Selina, it is also a short walk to bed once you’ve reached your limit! The crowd is a good mix of travelers and locals. The dance floor is also open to the outdoors, making it a very comfortable environment. It was much preferred to the stuffy basements that we party at in the states. 

For a more local party scene, El Bar was so much fun! They have reggae nights every Thursday, so I highly recommend going to check out some of the local artists. They played music that made it impossible not to dance. 

For a more laid back vibe, I would once again head to the Beach Dog Cafe. They have karaoke nights that can create some unforgettable memories! I witnessed the greatest performance that the world had ever seen.  Old Argentinian man turned Nosara local did a wonderful take of ‘Despacito’, which had everyone laughing and smiling from ear to ear. 

TRAVEL DETAILS

The best way to get to Nosara is by flying into the Liberia international airport. It is much closer than San Jose. I typically try to book rides from the airport to Nosara ahead of time. The drive is over 2 hours long, so if you just get a taxi at the airport, it might end up costing you a lot of money. There are plenty of websites that offer shared van services to and from Nosara. These typically cost me around $40. There are buses that will cost dollars, but those could add hours to your commute. 

PACKING

Nosara has a tropical climate. There are two main seasons - wet and dry. You will likely see some tropical thunderstorms for an hour or so each day regardless of which season you go in. I would honestly pack the same either way. I try to pack as light as possible when I travel so I’m not lugging around heavy suitcases with me. As a result, I focus on the essentials. Given that most of your time will be spent on the beach, bathing suits are a must. Pack multiple so that you can rotate through them and give them time to dry in between. If you can, pack board shorts that double as walk shorts. My favorites are from Banks Journal. These board shorts are perfect for the water, but also look nice enough for you to go out at night in them. Most of the places you will visit in Nosara will be pretty casual, so pack a few graphic tees. No particular recommendation for T-shirts - Just wear what you feel confident in. I would also recommend carrying a short-sleeved linen dress shirt with you for a formal dinner. Nosara is humid, so having a light and breathable linen shirt for the nicer dinners is key to not sweating! You don’t want to scare off your hostel crush with gnarly pit stains. I once again point to Banks Journal as my top choice for these shirts. They have a variety of neutral colors that look good with anything. Their looser fit also gives a cool coastal vibe and is very comfortable. For layers, bring one rain jacket and one sweatshirt. You might not need either, but if you get a crazy sunburn on the first day, a sweatshirt always feels nice to hide your skin.

Given the yoga and other physical activities, I would also pack a few pairs of workout clothes. I packed shirts and shorts from Fabletics. Their clothes just fit the best, and the 5” inseam shorts give more of a stylish athletic look. Shorts running down to your knees are not the vibe for the yoga studios. For surfing, DO NOT forget a rashguard! This will help protect you from the sun and from board rashes. I typically surf in a wetsuit so whenever I surf in tropical conditions, my ribs are always raw after a few days. Rashguards can help alleviate some of the pain.

For shoes, I would bring three pairs. A pair of throw away flip flops is essential! There will be mud on the dirt roads, so having some that you don’t care about getting dirty will help prevent a lot of stress during this relaxing vacation. Also pack a pair of comfortable sandals that can be worn to slightly more formal events as will. I went with my Birkenstock Arizonas. These are super comfortable and also match well with all of the clothing I bought. Lastly, pack a pair of running shoes. You will do a lot of walking and physical activity in Nosara. Having running shoes will allow you to enjoy the walks, hikes, and jungle treks a lot more.

I always overpack underwear and socks, but to me that provides peace of mind. Those types of garments are not meant to be reworn. I would pack some of your more comfortable pairs, as well as some that you can do physical activities in.

A light towel is something else that should always be packed. Hostels and hotels can be hit or miss with towels - Some will provide them while others will not. The Selina in Nosara did not. I carry a Slowtide Turkish Towel with me whenever I travel. They are super lightweight, fold nicely, and take up very little space in your pack. They also absorb water just as well as a typical bathroom towel. This is another one of those items where it is better to have and not need rather than need and not have.

Lastly, pack plenty of sunscreen. The sun is strong in Nosara, and that is amplified when you are out in the ocean all day. I really like the Raw Elements Face Sticks to protect my face. My face breaks out with certain sunscreens, but I have not had that experience with this product. Their products are also reef safe. Please try to protect our oceans and use products that won’t cause further damage!

To summarize, Nosara has the means to offer an unforgettable experience for everyone. I have traveled all over the world, but always return to this spot. The surf is great and so consistent - You don’t have to worry about booking in advance just to show up and have terrible conditions. The community is laid back, the food is all local and fresh, and the landscape is unbelievably picturesque. It feels like a surf town out of a movie. As always, the people make the trip.. Fortunately for this location, it attracts some really cool locals and travelers alike. If you want to experience a true surf/yogi adventure, then Nosara is for you.

[vaexpeditionscostarica]

Planning Your Costa Rican Vacation: Factors to Consider When Deciding When to Visit

Are you excited about your upcoming Costa Rica tropical getaway? If yes, then you must need some valuable Costa Rica travel information to make your vacation worthwhile. Read the post and find out more about Costa Rica. 

Introducing Costa Rica –

Costa Rica is magical, adventurous, progressive, and spectacularly natural. It seems to have it figured out all. With the “Peace with Nature”, the country is committed to sustainable tourism and making it carbon neutral. The tropical getaway welcomes all walks of life from everywhere around the world wholeheartedly. 

Whether you are an explorer, a nature enthusiast or you are into adventure sports or just want to relax, the Costa Rica getaway will get your travel needs covered. The country may seem small in size, but it’s booming with exciting activities and has something new around every corner. 

The natives call themselves “Ticos” and speak Spanish officially, but English is spoken in most places throughout the country. The Ticos are known as the friendliest people throughout Latin America and live by the saying “Pura Vida” – “Pure Life”. 

Costa Rica has no military and focuses on education, health care, economy, renewable energy, and preserving its natural wonders. Costa Rica is famed for its extraordinary biodiversity and its wildlife, natural sightseeing attractions, and popularity for conservation. The country’s twelve ecosystems contain one of the richest concentrations of flora and fauna on the planet. 

Boasting a temperate climate, Costa Rica makes it easy to get out and enjoy the scenic natural wonders throughout the year. It’s easy to see why the country is known as the jewel of Latin America. However, the dream destination has epic surf spots, misty cloud forests, wilderness, and wildlife to take your breath away. Even if it’s smaller in size, you can be able to enjoy a wide variety of activities within a short trip. Whether you need travel information on Costa Rica’s weather or want to know when to get away from the crowds, find out the best time to visit this amazing country. 

High Season – from December to April 

The High Season is also known as the dry season, but the country experiences some rain. This time is perfect for outdoor adventures. The beach towns welcome domestic tourists on weekends. If you are visiting Costa Rica during this time, you should book your hotel accommodations ahead of time as they will remain busy and some places will enforce minimum stays. 

Shoulder Season – from May to July 

This time is perfect for vacationers on a budget. The season is when the rain picks up and the stream of vacationers starts tapering off. Fortunately, for vacationers on a budget, many accommodations are available at lower prices. But exploration can be a bit difficult during this time because of muddy roads and rising rivers as well as challenging off-the-beaten travel tracks. 

Low Season – from August to November 

This season is the best time for surfers. This is the time when Costa Rica receives the highest rainfall. But the Pacific swells bring in the best conditions for surfing. Due to river crossings, the roads in rural areas can be impassable. The hotel accommodation and vacation rental prices can reduce significantly, but you should check before making reservations as some places remain closed entirely. 

Bottom Line –

Do you need more Costa Rica travel-related information? If yes, then you should get in touch with VA Expeditions as soon as possible at 1 – (888) 803 8004.

[couponmains]

Puerto viejo costa rica beaches

#PUERTO VIEJO COSTA RICA BEACHES FULL#

#PUERTO VIEJO COSTA RICA BEACHES PLUS#

Visit 3 destinations in one day on this guided tour from San José.

Poas volcano, Coffee plantation tour and La Paz waterfall gardens.

Enjoy included breakfast and lunch, and make stops to see crocodiles. Discover the abundant wildlife on the park’s rainforest trails. Explore the world-famous Manuel Antonio National Park and its beautiful white-sand beaches.

Manuel Antonio National Park combo tour from San Jose.

Explore a beautiful natural paradise, tour the famous Tortuguero Canal and see diverse flora and fauna during this 3 day tour. Visit one of the most important destinations in Costa Rica on a guided tour.

3-Day Tortuguero National Park Excursion from San Jose.

Admire the biodiversity of the Tortuguero Canals, hike across Cahuita and enjoy Puerto Limon’s city highlights. Explore Costa Rica’s Caribbean side with this wildlife-rich shore excursion to Cahuita National Park.

Cahuita National Park and Tortuguero Canal boat tour.

#PUERTO VIEJO COSTA RICA BEACHES FULL#

You can reserve now and pay later, with cancellation up to 24 hours in advance to receive a full refund. Choose your favorite tours here and secure your booking! All of these tours include air conditioned transport with hotel pick up and drop off, certified guides and sometimes also lunch and the entrance fees. So don’t wait with booking until you get to Costa Rica. Because of Costa Rica’s popularity it is highly recommended to book your tours in advance as it is likely that tours sell out. During most of these tours you will combine a few locations on one day so you can see the diversity that Costa Rica has to offer. It’s like a microcosm of Costa Rica itself, and is indeed a point of convergence for the many cultures as well as different types of flora and fauna found all across the country.If you want to explore the best of Costa Rica, then it is highly recommended to book a tour. So be it for surfing, backpacking, culture crashing, or just nature touring, Puerto Viejo is the place to be. You can also opt to get a bus from Caribe Station to Limon, and from there to Puerto Viejo, as many locals choose to do. Be extra careful to get on a bus labeled Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, not de Sarapiqui, lest you be whisked to a different part of the country. The most typical route is via a four hour bus ride from San Jose’s Caribe Station. You can even walk south from Cahuita along the beach and enjoy the sights while on your way. Only 11 miles or 18 kilometers from Cahuita, a bus ride through Highway 36 can easily get you there. For a more adrenaline-rushing activity, you can go for river rafting classes. You can even rent a bike and see all the sights at your own pace. Touring Puerto Viejo de Talamanca can bring you through the Indian Reserve, Iguana Reserve, and even the Refugio de gandoca de Manzanillo – the most exotic area along the coast of the south Caribbean and a natural adventure not to be missed. But since the area is a meeting point of varied cultures as well as wildlife, tours can also be great adventures in Puerto Viejo. The beaches at Playa Cocles, Punta Uva, and Playa Chiquita are all-around blockbusters. Puerto Viejo’s white-sand beaches are exotic paradise to tourists, and the waves that break onto the coast are ideal for surfing. It’s perfect for laying back and enjoying the sights, sounds, and tastes of Costa Rica. A history of mixed cultures and belated introduction to modern conveniences makes Puerto Viejo the mixture of modern beach town and isolated indigenous habitat that it is. Native American traditions are also deeply rooted in the area, as indigenous populations and reserves are scattered everywhere. The mix of Afro-Caribbean, tico and hippyesque counterculture, and Bribri Indian culture is an experience of its own. Puerto Viejo is not just a beautiful place with white-sand beaches and exotic flora and fauna, it is also a melting point of several Costa Rican cultural influences.

#PUERTO VIEJO COSTA RICA BEACHES PLUS#

The area is undoubtedly perfect for surfing and adventure, plus two wondrous National Parks are nearby – Cahuita and Manzanillo. Puerto Viejo de Talamanca is fast becoming more than a tourist spot, but a place for foreigners to buy and build. Surfers and backpackers all know Puerto Viejo, a small coastal town in the province of Limon, in Caribbean Costa Rica.

[thesunlounge]

Reviews 344: Oto No Wa

I’m overjoyed to write again about Music for Dreams’ “Serious Collector Series,” not only because this run of compilations has produced some of the best vinyl sets of the past few years in the form of Jan Schulte’s Tropical Drums of Deutschland, Moonboots’ Moments in Time, and Basso’s Proper Sunburn, but also because the newest such collection, Oto No Wa: Selected Sounds of Japan 1988 - 2018, features a trio of curators who have all influenced this blog in significant ways. Listed first on the breathtaking cover is Ken Hidaka, who in addition to having a storied career as a DJ, journalist, and international record label liaison, has had a significant hand in coordinating many of my favorite reissues from the past few years…things such as Gigi’s Illuminated Audio on Time Capsule and Yutaka Hirose’s Nova + 4 on WRWTFWW, not to mention facilitating serenitatem…that spellbinding collaboration between Yoshio Ojima, Satsuki Shibano, and Visible Cloaks released last year on RNVG Intl. Then there’s Max Essa, one of the premiere practitioners of the balearic beat, whether it’s remixing tracks into euphoric seaside cruisers or producing expansive original works such as “Panorama Suite” for Is It Balearic?, the Lanterns LP for Music for Dreams, or his recently concluded trio of EPs for Hell Yeah Recordings: Themes From The Hood, The Cad & The Lovely, Haz Zan Roc, and The Great Adventure. And finally comes Dr. Rob, a far-ranging musical adventurer and gifted wordsmith whose reviews, interviews, mixes, and stories spread across Test Pressing and Ban Ban Ton Ton showed me entirely new ways to write about music, with his expressive poetics, deep references, and inimitable sense of cleverness rising far beyond standard music criticism and going a long way towards inspiring the creation of this very website.

As far as the music comprising Oto No Wa is concerned, Dr. Rob gives some background at Ban Ban Ton Ton, where he speaks of the trio meeting after one of their Lone Star nights at Bar Bonobo and compiling an initial list of some 200 hundred fantasy selections, which was miraculously whittled down to just 20 tracks. But then, the typically unflinching Japanese record label ecosystem slashed that list to all but nothing, leading Ken, Max, and Dr. Rob to reconsider the entire experience. I like to think that this was ultimately for the better, for in reworking the concept and flow of Oto No Wa, our trio of selectors struck upon the brilliant idea to, in the words of Dr. Rob, ”plot a course from pioneers, through to younger generations who`ve picked up the baton,” resulting in a spectacular set of balearic eclecticism focused on the 90s and 00s, which are periods often missed in the world of Japanese archival reissuing. Indeed, in contrast to the environmental ambiance, city pop, fusion, and jazz so often considered, the sounds here lean much closer to the romantic seaside vibrations of Flower Records’ Silent Dream CD mixes and the Ibizan chill out comps of React, as house beats are repurposed for summer fusion sways, sun-dappled ivories seek out a panoramic horizon, strummed acoustics jangle in an island breeze, electric guitars slide across cinematic deserts, dubwise basslines stroll down white sand beaches, chamber strings play themes for impossible sunsets, and steel pans bring touches of Caribbean splendor. Elsewhere, balafons dance through tropical forests, oceanic soundbaths wash the spirit clean, deep sea explorations transmute into Berlin school magic, and ceremonial drum layers surround barely there violin reveries, with the entire experience being bookended by a pair of kankyō ongaku drifters.

Oto No Wa: Selected Sounds of Japan 1988-2018 (Music for Dreams, 2020) Yoshio Ojima’s “Sealed,” the sole track here from the 80s, comes from the second volume of the producer’s now legendary Une Collection Des Chaînons: Music For Spiral collection and sees glowing hazes moving in slow motion…these harmonious swells mimicking the motions of some celestial sea while textures of digital crystal twinkle overhead. The vibe is hopeful and soothing, though there are moments where the swelling drones turn minor key and melancholic and the glass and gemstone atmospheres get caught in hyperspeed delay trails. But we always return to the floating stretches of major key majesty, with the music perfectly suited to scoring the motions of clouds across the sky or leaves drifting down a stream. And like many of Ojima’s tracks, there is a false ending…a fade to silence preceding a rebirth, wherein the melodic textures from before are reconfigured into mysterious forms…as if the cerulean sky scene mentioned earlier has been washed out by moody grey rainclouds. The original mix of Olololop’s “Mon” revels in washy 90s post-rock atmospherics, with increasingly free ambient jazz drumming underlying cascading pianos and plucked harps. And while the “orte Remix” by Kumi Hayashi and Takaaki Suzuki preserves many of these elements, the vibe here is more oriented towards classical chill out. The beats are rigid and slamming as they lock into a mechanized seaside swing, with the original’s jazz drumming fluidity replaced by pounding kicks, panning ride taps, and sketchy shaker patterns. Piano and harp flow into the stereo field, dropping plucked rays of golden harmony and washes of ivory ethereality before settling into a balearic dreamdance, one carried by gentle trance electronics and layers of droning bass positivity. At some point the rhythms pull away and we find ourselves in an extended beatless bliss out, wherein melodies of ocean crystal pulse around melodious harp motions, abstracted kick taps flutter on echo breezes, and pan-pipes sparkle in the distance. And later, the mix reduces to an industrial downbeat drum sway and a ceremonial hum of subdued choral mesmerism as the piano continues merging vibes of new age fusion and beachside romance.

Among my favorite cuts here is Kazuya Kotani’s “Fatima,” coming from the 2007 CD Made in Love. Seed shakers and rainsticks roll through echo machines, oceanic string panoramas shift in phase, and bongos and congas beat out a seaside beat as a cooing voice whispers sweet nothings in a way reminding me of Sth. Notional’s “Yawn Yawn Yawn (Dream… Another Reality Mix)”. Bulbous basslines bring touches of gentle dub exotica and a glorious chill out breakbeat swings with infectious forward momentum even as it lands like air, while pianos shimmer and shine via wavering chord mirages and prismatic delay leads that presage Coyote’s use of the instrument. The way everything locks in is so perfect, with hand drums bopping alongside the seaside breakbeat cruise and angelic strings glowing beneath sparkling ivory dreamspells…the whole thing coming together like some prototypical cut from one of José Padilla’s Cafe del Mar compilations or a Phil Mison curated Real Ibiza collection. At some point the drums pull away, leaving behind soft piano flutters, breathy whispers, and overlapping waves of orchestral resonance. And when the beats return, they are joined by heartwrenching chamber string progressions…a sort of swooning dance of cinematic sunset majesty before the track effortlessly glides back towards beachside chill out perfection. The B-side opens with “N.I.C.E. Guy” by Scha Dara Parra, who Dr. Rob describes in the liner notes as “Japan’s answer to the Beastie Boys.” The “Nice Guitar Dub” of the track presented here takes us into the world of the Major Force dance collective, and sees house kicks, hand drum loops, and clipped snares underlying lysergic repetitions of “feel good / checking things out” before dropping into a summery groove led by walking sunshine jazz bass, Hiroshi Fujiwara’s acoustic guitar strums, and Hirofumi Asamoto’s piano…a sort of ambient honky tonk cascade scoring some lagoon adjacent saloon. Occasionally, heavenly strings blow through the stereo field to envelop the vocal samples and there’s a strange midtro given over to urgent stick clicks and rimshots while towards the end, b-boy drum cut-ups and turntablist flourishes disturb the flow.

Little Tempo is an ever shifting group of dub and reggae explorers led in part by Takeshi “Tico” Toki and his shimmering steel pan. The collective has played the world over and released an impressive number of albums since the mid-90s, one of which is Ron Riddim, a 2xLP from 1999 containing the track “Frostie.” A stoner beat moves beneath a tropical panorama of steel drumming, with hi-hats occasionally opening, shekeres scraping, and snares pushing through granular reverb, and as we drop into the groove, liquid dub basslines pulse and slide while a piano glistens in the moonlight. The ivory performance is powerful and awash in twilight romance and noir mystery, sometimes dancing in solo and other times accented by glimmering steel pan flourishes. Elsewhere, the pianos are replaced by electric guitars, which let loose bluesy slides and space western leads…the mixture of desert twang and equatorial riddim strongly evoking the dubbier sides of Tortoise. There’s a moment where the track gives over to martial snare intensity as amphibian lasers and telephonic tracers fire across the sky, with the latter sound pulling my mind to the work of Eddie C. And eventually, the track settles into a sort of bluesy reggae zone out, with subsonic basslines skanking and dubwise drums smacking while wavering steel drum mirages surround spaghetti western slides in the style of Doug McCombs. Karel Arbus & Eiji Takamatsu will of course be well familiar to readers of this blog, both for their amazing Some Backland Plaze tape on Max Essa’s Jansen Jardin and for that completely stunning rework of Cantoma’s “Kasoto” from last year. “Coco and the Fish,” taken from the aforementioned cassette, sees idiophones splashing through sea spray while enigmatic electronics swirl in the background…like a vortex of kosmische wonderment pulsating in colors of deep purple and blue, one that occasionally opens up to reveal deep house chord stabs. It’s hard to say whether the main instrument played is marimba or balafon, but either way, it’s a hyperkinetic performance exuding an energy at once meditative and ecstatic...all while phaser wisps, starshine sparkles, and hidden voices swirl in the distance.

I first heard globetrotting DJ and Flower Records alum Kentaro Takizawa courtesy of Phil Mison and his Pure Ibiza 2xCD set released by I Label in 2008, which included the “Silent Dream Version” of the song taken from the aforementioned Silent Dream compilation. Originally though, the track closed Takizawa’s album Gradual Life from 2006, and this is the version included here. Ride cymbals shine amidst glorious murmurations of ambient synthesis while percussive eco fx mimic the songs of lizards and toads. Elecrosnares rocket across the spectrum, beauteous acoustic guitar arps fall like summer rain, and further six-string solos move in counterpoint, with subdead leads mesmerizing the mind. As psychoactive threads of static surround decaying triangles, sundowner string orchestrations ascend towards the clouds, causing the heart to soar in that Sacha Putnam or Vangelis kind of way, and when the beat drops, it’s a lackadaisical sway led by rolling bongos and tapped cymbals. Guitars dance playfully over a backdrop of fourth world alien magic and ever so often, filmic string themes diffuse into the spectrum. Elsewhere, the drums wash away, leaving e-pianos to execute breathtaking descents before disappearing into a synthesized mirage. Rainsticsk flow over the stereo field as the track evolves even further towards new age bliss, with a harmonious conversation of acoustic guitar sunshine proceeding in a fantasy jungle, wherein sunlight reflects off of glistening palm fronds and tropical birds sing intoxicating songs. And after returning to the bopping rhythms and tapestries of chill out exotica, the tracks ends with guitars being replaced by pianos while mermaid pads whoosh through a sunbathed rainforest setting. Mystical percussionist Yoshiaki Ochi inhabited similar circles to Yoshio Ojima, releasing through NEWSIC and seeing his music played, like Ojima’s, at the arts center of Wacoal lingerie company, otherwise known as Spiral. In “Balasong,” taken from 1990’s Natural Sonic, balafons bounce playfully while executing Steve Reich-style pattenrs of minimalist exotica. The drunken daydream motions and otherworldly idiophone polyrhythms are occasionally interspersed by fast motion twiddles and rapid fire rolls, while at the edge of the mix gourds buzz and textures of metal sparkle…perhaps the ghostly chiming of temple bells.

Kaoru Inoue is a hugely influential figure who for decades has been perfecting his own esoteric combination of house, techno, ambient, and spiritual world music. “Wave Introduction” was originally released on the artist’s 2006 album Slow Motion before being repurposed as the opener for one of my favorite albums ever released: Inoue’s horizontal masterpiece Em Paz released in 2018 on Groovement Organic. The track features the relaxing sounds of waves crashing to shore, joined by twinkling synths, distant foghorns, and psychosonic liquid drips, which eventually transmute into a Reich-ian dream sequence awash in textures of mermaid crystal. Undulating bass arps support slow moving pads that drift like cosmic fog while rhythmic wisps of laser static tickle the mind and the whole thing takes on the feeling of a drunken dream dance that slowly moves towards ambient rapture. The influential Flower Records and its founder Eitetsu Takamiya are represented here by the highly sought after “Scuba” under Takamiya’s Little Big Bee alias. Psychedelic bubble clouds blow over Kenji Jinguiji’s slithering bass guitar romantics and the e-pianos of Plaza Fujisaki glow with a sort of new age spirituality while Hawaiian guitars slide across a sunburst sky. A hushed house beat is accented by gentle clacks and seed shaker pulses as Jinguji’s lowslung basslines lock into a balearic fusion dance replete with vocal slides up the fretboard and as the pacific breeze guitar slides swim between solar organ dub chords, spaceage arpeggiations flitter all around. I detect a definite lean towards The Orb’s early merging of dub, ambient, and techno, with a stereo field colored through by cut-off motions, resonance flares, and whalesong pads that settle into a haze of golden light. The beats cut away momentarily, leaving filtering cosmic synthetics, pulsing organ accents, and emotive basslines while stick clicks build a rainshower rhythm. Seafoam siren synths swell in strength and subsume the entire mix as angels breath rainbow mist across universal expanses and eventually, a liquid guitar slide reintroduces the south pacific chill out groove, which now features hyperkinetic click cascades.

Coastlines, the duo of Masanori Ikeda and Takumi Kaneko, are huge favorites around here and given that I reviewed their cover of Ralph MacDonald’s “East Dry River” when it was originally released as a 7” back in 2018, I’ll present a modified version of my words from that time: Joyously ascending piano chords and deep vocal bass percussions set the scene before we smash cut into a smooth coastal fusion jam, as tambourines and toms pound beneath radiant piano strokes and synthetic steel drum dances while four four house kicks and luscious sub-basslines move the body. Angels bring touches of pure euphoria as they rain down from the sky, and elsewhere, fretless bass solos wiggle above the island rhythm dreamscape…the Motohiko Hamase-style note clusters and liquiform slides trailing under subtle ping-pong delays while colorful hand drum accents evoke slow-motion dancing on some fantasy beach. There’s a brief moment where everything washes away, leaving lush piano chords and sparkling steel pans adrift in solitude, and later, after returning to the seaside house rhythms and melodic textures of jazz fusion fantasy, we are treated again to a crazed fretless bass solo, one that grows ever more frantic and chaotic before finally dispersing. Though beloved producer Susumu Yokota is no longer with us, his memory lives on via his profound influence and his intrepid bridgings of academic ambient and techno body pressure, not to mention archival projects such as the Jon Tye-assisted Cloud Hidden from 2019. “Uchu Taniyo” is taken from Yokota’s 1999 album Sakura and begins with a voice pushing through clouds of reverb as ritualistic percussion builds from the depths. Hand drums and wooden clacks lock into a ceremonial dance kissed by cosmic fx and growling ambient forms swirl into the stereo field…these morphing tremolo gurgles imbued with atmospheres of melancholy. Voices continue babbling as a violin enters the scene, letting loose folksy melodies and post-classical whispers that barely break through the layers of rhythmic repetition. And as the track comes to an end, the exotica drum webs fade out as frogsong electronics decay into the void.

The vibe continues to spread out towards horizontal ambiance in “Time and Space,” a track exclusive to this compilation from the duo of Isao Kumano and Kenichi Takagi, who are often found working with Alex from Tokyo in Tokyo Black Star, but who here appear in their “secretive” Chillax guise. Crystallized sequences, smoldering static waveforms, and hazes of ocean either intertwine as chiming melodies ascend on unseen currents towards a sun soaked sea surface, and I can’t help but think of the underwater kosmische of Iury Lech and Miguel Noya, as well as the seafloor ambient excursions of Shelter on Profondeur 4000 and Private Agenda on Île de Rêve. Soft focus chord bursts breath ambient house ether into the mix while tick-tocking arps build slowly in the background, eventually growing in strength and taking over the mix as the vibe flows from deep sea drifting to Berlin school melodrama, wherein searing filter motions surround the spirit and vocoder cyborgs chant amidst subsuming chord decays. I’ve said much about Takashi Kokubo across this blog, though thus far everything has been focused around his hugely influential Get at the Wave. And given how well mined that album is by now, I’m quite thankful that Ken, Max, and Dr. Rob have opted instead for “Quiet Inlet,” a track appearing on Kokubo’s Eternity from 2006. Waves lap gently against the shore of some hidden island scene...a place of peace and picturesque beauty known only to the fish, reptiles, and birds. A calming piano lullaby enters the scene, marrying Satie-like ambiance and Riley-ian minimalism while digital colorations and e-piano bubble clouds flit all around. A choir of angelic sirens bathe the mix in vocal radiance while bell trees mimic sunlight refractions on the ocean’s surface and after a false ending, the dreamscape ivory cascades, pointillist e-piano melodies, and heavenly choirs return, with everything shrouded by pearlescent pad layers and gaseous blankets of reverb. Windchimes blow on a sea breeze and periodic swells of mermaid magnificence work into the mix and as the sampled waves continue their motions, they lull the mind towards daydream visages of the titular seaside paraiso.

(images from my personal copy)

[infjparadox]

Studying Abroad - INFJ

Hey guys. I’m back from my four months in Costa Rica, and I thought I’d share some of the pros and cons of my experience as an INFJ in case any of you were considering study abroad or worldwide travel.

Just some background - I had only ever been outside the US once before for a short trip in Mexico, I’d only taken two high school Spanish classes, this was my last semester of college, and I lived with a host family.

PROS

I’d always known I was independent, but this whole trip showed me just how adaptable and capable I really am when thrown into a foreign place and culture.

I managed to improve my Spanish by living with a host family that spoke absolutely no English. It was very humbling to not sound very...intelligent when I was speaking.

I don’t think it was as eye opening and life changing as advertised, mostly because I like to be aware of world problems, but I have loved coming away with a better understanding of day to day life in Central America and all the curious, quirky cultural differences.

The natural beauty of the tropics is astounding. I grew up in the desert, so I was mesmerized by the green cloud forests and the white sand beaches and all the animals. It felt like I’d walked into a magical world, and as an environmentalist, the biodiversity was breathtaking. Nothing like standing in the middle of a rainforest with not a single person in sight.

I was able to travel almost every weekend. Kind of stressful using public transport and communicating with locals, but after staying in some of the most horrible hostels and getting stranded at a volcano, I honestly feel like I could take on the world.

My host mom was the most precious woman. I wished I could have understood her better. She was extremely generous and kind, and she treated the whole neighborhood as her family. Also, stellar cook.

I met another INFJ down there!! She was my host mom’s niece. 16. I’m 22 and we absolutely hit it off, talking for hours about world problems and people. I had my suspicions of her type, and by the end of the trip I asked her to take the test, and she scored INFJ.

I came away with several good friends. Two of which I will never lose touch with. They’re basically my brothers now. Funny how such new and stressful environments really cause you to latch onto the people you’re with. Now I get how book characters form such quick bonds.

I was ready to come back. Leaving wasn’t too sad to be honest (except when my host mom cried). Now I’m home and I’m happy to move on with my life. Also...everyone was really happy to see me again, and that always feels nice - to know you were missed.

CONS

Not speaking the language could be extremely isolating at times. There were conversations I wanted to have that I couldn’t, and places I was too anxious to go alone. I felt very inarticulate...more than usual. This was really the only thing that made me homesick.

Living with a host family was really weird. I’m used to escaping to my room to recharge, but doing that with everyone in the house always felt kind of rude. They were respectful of my non religious stance, but they weren’t so great at hiding their disappointment lol. I also felt like I was back in high school, because I always had to tell my host mom when I was going somewhere and when I’d be back, and she did my laundry and cleaned up after me, and I was kind of uncomfortable with losing that independence.

I went down there as part of USAC, so there were like 30 other students in the program from different schools. Unfortunately, and predictably, I did not like most of them. To me, this was my last run before graduating so I wasn’t really there to make friends, especially ephemeral friendships with people often acting fake in order to fit into the cliques that formed. Many of them were also so YOUNG, and their immaturity really grated on my nerves. Maybe I should have gone as a sophomore so I would still want to get drunk every night. But I felt like an old woman with a bunch of problematic kids that I couldn’t escape.

I felt pretty safe there, but there were a few robberies and sexual assault encounters regarding other students that made walking at night pretty scary. To get around you really need a taxi, and I was too cheap to call one most of the time, so I just stayed in.

They eat gaillo pinto (beans and rice) for every meal, which at times can get a little boring. My host mom also cooked a lot of eggs and generally unhealthy food, so my body took some hits down there. But it varied between host families. Others got smoothies and veggies galore. I was just too nice and nervous to tell my host mom I preferred healthier options, (I couldn’t even tell her I liked my eggs over hard) so I suffered in silence for four months lol. RIP.

I told myself I wasn’t going to fall for someone down there. I fell for someone down there.

Ticos have a very relaxed attitude, and when I got back, I was hit by the surge in negativity and the way people stress over such insignificant things here in the US. There are much bigger battles to fight. Made me want to get away from my peers even after four months apart.

Oof. This was longer than I intended it to be. Anyway, feel free to message me if you have specific questions. Overall I’m so, so happy I stepped out of my comfort zone and did this, but there were definitely a lot of ups and downs I wish I would have been better prepared to handle.

Pura vida, mae.

[twopedalpushers]

Travel Update #1

Costa Rica | Jaco - Paso Canoas

Hello & Welcome.

I didn’t intend to start a blog, however I needed a method of keeping friends and family up to date on what I was up to on my bicycle on the other side of the world. After sending a couple of email updates I realised that I actually really enjoy reflecting on my experience and decided to make a bit more of my musings by putting them into a nicely formatted blog.

Me and my boyfriend Max decided a while ago that we were going to travel Central and South America. Rather than backpacking, we thought it would be fun to get about by bicycle. Why? Before leaving I was most endeared by the idea of getting off the beaten track and away from the conveyor belt of backpackers heading from one tourist trap to another. Now that we have begun our journey, I find that travelling solely by the exertion of my own energy the most rewarding part.

We have been in Costa Rica for 3 weeks now. Thankfully all of our luggage and our bikes arrived into San Jose airport in one piece. The night before was spent bubble wrapping, taping and boxing up our bikes to get them ready for the flight.

Once we arrived in San Jose the attitude of the Ticos was much friendlier than that experienced at home. Miguel, our airport transfer driver swiftly strapped both our boxed bikes to the roof of his car and we were off!

Jet lagged and pretty weary from the previous couple of weeks madly planning and packing, we decided to give ourselves a week of rest at a beach town called Jaco on the Pacific Coast. Here we discovered that cycling (especially mountain biking) is incredibly popular in Costa Rica. We did some of the mountain trails around Jaco for fun and got some pretty epic views of the bay.

After a weeks rest we set off cycling! I was excited to get going as it was what we came away to do. In the rush up until our departure, neither of us had chance to try cycling our bikes fully loaded. In hindsight I wish I did as I would have carefully considered every gram of weight (you really feel it on the hills!) However, once you gain momentum, the cycling is not too bad.

We left Jaco and hit the “Costanera Sur” - the Pan-American Highway. Amazingly this road starts in Alaska and finishes down in Argentina. We will be travelling on this road through Costa Rica and Panama before sailing to Colombia. Although it’s a highway the road has a large shoulder that is used only by cyclists so it feels safe for the most part. At the moment we average around 18km/hr and are travelling to the places that we want to visit. This means some days we do only 30km, others 60km+

We recently went to Manuel Antonio- a town and a popular National Park. The amount of wildlife in Costa Rica is staggering. I wake up every morning to the sound of birds and go to sleep every night to the sound of cicadas and tree frogs. You see Red Parrots and Toucans in the trees on your way to pick up groceries for dinner and if you go a little higher into the Mountains you commonly see Sloths and Howler Monkeys. Animals that I used to consider wild no longer seem so- with crocodiles being the exception as no matter how many times I see them Rivers here it’s still pretty scary!

We are currently on the Osa Peninsular- the most remote part of Costa Rica that’s only accessible by boat. This is the last stop on our journey through Costa Rica. The Osa Peninsular is my favourite part of Costa Rica by a long run. There is one main town, with 1000 inhabitants and the rest is untouched, dense jungle and remote beaches that you can explore. It’s so tropical that it almost feels like another world.

Osa has been made all the more special by the lack of tourists this time of year. We are travelling through Costa Rica in low season, or what Ticos call the “green season” because it torrentially rains every day for around 3-4 hours. The rain is sometimes a blessed escape from the humid 30 degree heat, however there have been a couple of times that we have been caught in the rain cycling and rocked up to the next hostel soaked to the bone.

The humidity means that none of our clothes are ever completely dry. One slightly damp item of clothing soon dampens all of your other clothes in your pannier. It got to the point a couple of weeks ago where all of our clothes were damp and we found a friendly Tico who ran a laundry service that sorted us out. The feeling of slightly warm clothes fresh out of a dryer literally bought a tear to my eye. It’s the little things in life...

We are getting the boat back to the mainland tomorrow morning and then hitting the road to get to the Panama border- we should get there in a couple of days.

If you are interested in tracking our progress, here is a link to our satellite phone. If you hit “view all” in the top right, you should be able to see the entirety of the journey thus far.

share.garmin.com/DMB7R

[kategordan]

The Best Surfing in Costa Rica Just Minutes from Our Luxury Villas

Whether you are travelling to Costa Rica having never surfed a day in your life or as a grizzled shredder, there are many options for surfing at all levels near our all-inclusive vacation rentals at Pura Vida House. In fact, both the best spots to learn to surf and some of the most famous surfing breaks in the world are just a short trip away.

Tamarindo Beach Costa Rica

You do not have to go far to be at one of the best beaches worldwide for learning how to surf. A quick Google search shows Tamarindo beach Costa Rica in the top ten places to learn how to surf in the world. That’s because Tamarindo surf breaks are ideal for the beginner surfer. Tamarindo beach has a soft sandy landing, mellow waves,plus you don’t have to do a lot of paddling to reach these beginner waves, making it ideal for your first time on the board. Tamarindo is the most popular of the Liberia beaches, meaning beaches close to the Liberia International Airport. It is also very close to Hacienda Pinilla, where you will find Pura Vida House. We even offer shuttle services for you and your guests to reach this cool nearby surf town! You’ll find plenty of options for surf shops, instructors, and board rentals in Tamarindo. There arealso several dining options for after your surf lessons, from fancy beachfront dining at Pangas (our favorite!), to vegetarian and vegan options, to Costa Rican fare. 

Avellanas Beach Costa Rica

As a guest of Pura Vida House, you will have full access to the Beach Club at Hacienda Pinilla, which is located along beautifulAvellanas Beach. Whether you’re dining at the club, or taking a dip in the 160-foot lagoon style infinity swimming pool, Avellanas Beach will be the stunning view you’re taking in. The beach also features a popular surf break called Little Hawaii. Known for its powerful waves that break over the reef, this spot is located directly in front of the beach access for Hacienda Pinilla. Due to the big swells and shallow reef, this surf break is for the more advanced surfer. There is, however, a beginner surf break along Avellanas Beach as well. Beginner surfers who stick to the south side of the public parking lot, or “el parquet”, have good luck with the waves, providing they go out of calm days. After your surf, you’ll want to stop for a smoothie or lunch at Lola’s Beachfront Restaurant, or throw back a cold cerveza (beer) or two like a real tico (local) surfer!

Check out all the amenities available at the Hacienda Pinilla Resort and Beach Club

 Langosta Beach Costa Rica

Langosta Beach is one of three beaches you can access from the Hacienda Pinilla Beach Resort, and one of two that is great for surfing! Guests at Pura Vida House even have access to surf lessons and board rentals right at the resort. There are a few surf breaks located on Langosta Beach, including El Sapo (Toad) break on the north end, which offers big swells and is less crowded than the popular river mouth break. Providing both right and left-breaking waves, El Sapo is best for intermediate to advanced surfers due to the rocks, and is best at low to mid-tide. Although there are no rocks to fear at the river mouth break, it’s still best to have some experience before heading out on these waves as it can get crowded. After all, you don’t want to look like a kook!

Grande Beach Costa Rica

Playa Grande is a perfect Costa Rica beach for intermediate to advanced surfers. Located right next to Tamarindo, you can have your board under your feet in less than an hour at Grande when travelling from Pura Vida House. Although this is an ideal spot for surfing, you won’t see the crowds like you do at Tamarindo Beach. This is the beach the “real” surfers come to, leaving the tourists and newbies behind at Tamarindo Beach. Located right in front of the main parking lot in Playa Grande is the main peak, where you will find lots of rights and lefts, large A-frame waves, and barreling sections if the conditions are right. This peak can get crowded, especially a few hours before high tide, when the swells are ideal. The Casitas surf break, located by the estuary, has swells for all kinds of surfers when conditions are right. With a sandy bottom for safety and waves at the perfect speed for cruising, this surf break is best at mid to high tide. Get the authentic surfer experience with a bite to eat at Taco Star after your surf session. This open air taco stand is a popular spot for surfers, located right along the beach directly in front of the main peak.

Negra Beach Costa Rica

Located south of Playa Avellanas, Playa Negra has attracted some big names in surfing over the years, especially since being featured in the surfing documentary “Endless Summer II”. With consistent right-barrels and fast hollow breaks, the surf is powerful at Playa Negra. While this beach can be difficult to access, especially during the rainy season, Negra’s main surf break may still seem crowded, as it has a narrow channel which can only accommodate about a dozen surfers at once. Located along the small town of Los Pargos, there are very few dining options in the area, however Cafe Hotel Playa Negra is a great spot to rest up and grab bite to eat after a surf session. Just a short walk from the main break, this restaurant features Peruvian-Costa Rican fusion.

Ollie’s Point and Witch’s Rock

Another Costa Rica surf spot made famous by “Endless Summer II”, Ollie’s Point and Witch’s Rock are the ultimate locations for the advanced surfer looking for a challenge. Two surf spots that cannot be reached by land, you can take a two-hour boat ride right from the resort to reach these famous surf spots. This will be a Costa Rican surf adventure you will never forget!

Ready to book the most memorable week of your life surfing the best Liberia Beaches?

Want to experience the carefree surfer lifestyle while coming home to the luxury of our all inclusive vacation rentals in Costa Rica? Feel free to contact us with any questions. We are available at (614) 600-1904 or info@thepuravidahouse.com. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

 Blog by: Jennifer LaCharite – Costa Consultants, International

[thisisthedayevents]

Fun fact: I am the proud daughter of Costa Rican parents, and have been enjoying sweet retreats to my home-away-from-home for years. In Costa Rica 🇨🇷 I feel myself come back to center. I feel a special closeness to the Most High and I get to enjoy some truly memorable moments with family and friends. The people of Costa Rica, Ticos, are warm and kind people. You can feel like you’re amongst family even among strangers. It’s a beautiful thing. With all of the above said, we would like to start sharing a little piece of our sweet retreat with YOU. So over the next few months we’ll be getting things ready to receive you in our 3 bedroom/2 bath getaway. Located in a residential neighborhood called, “Jamaica Town” - an ode to the Jamaican settlers that came to Costa Rica In the 1800s to build the railroads and later worked in the banana industry. Half a mile to the local supermarket and shops, minutes to the coastline and three miles to the nearest beach, you can have a full “locals” experience in one of the happiest countries in the world. We promise to keep you posted and we hope you keep us in mind when you’re getting your “digital nomad” on. We’ll be loading onto Airbnb soon, and in the meantime you can simply inbox us with questions if you’re curious. See you on the other side! PURA VIDA! (Pure Life!) (at Jamaica Town, Limon, Costa Rica) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRIkYQrgExn/?utm_medium=tumblr

[syfulislam]

Buy farm Costa Rica This farm property is located in a prime location north of San Carlos in the region of Los Chiles. The farm has easy access to the main road which gors from Muelle to Los Chiles and onwards into Nicaragua. This pineapple farm provides a high return on investment. With a high percentage of agricultural land (60%) is it a solid and secure investment. This agricultural farm has 67 ha of land for sale. Buy a farm Costa Rica which it probably the best post Covid-19 business opportunity in Costa Rica.

The Costa Rica real estate market is very diverse from mountain properties, or land with teak trees villas with beautiful views over the sea. These are great as recreational retreats however, for a real business opportunity, which actual and proven sales, this pineapple farm has it all. Buy farm Costa Rica consist of 67 ha of land of which 40 ha are suitable for mechanised crops such as pineapples.

 Other Costa Rica farms include the fruit trees farms in San Isidro some has river frontage for easy irrigation. Buy farm Costa Rica is the most sensible decision that one can make right now, post covid 19. It will provide any family with a very comfortable way of living. With ROI’s in the region of 15-18% per year up to 26% per year, one will be able to increase the production level from 20 ha to 40 ha.  Buy farm Costa Rica is located about 40 min away from the touristic area for Lake Arena / Fortuna and about 3h away from Golf Dulce. Many commercial properties are also available in these regions or development land however, these only provide a positive balance sheet 6-7 months a year during the touristic season. Development land is another possibility, but this requires that you have a niche product to sell as most towns already have the required facilities from Hotels and guest houses to small café’s and shops. Many people also look to purchase farms near Playas Del Coco so that they can relax in the wonderful costal weather. However, these farms seldom have a viable income and are only used as retreats. None of these farms have a steady income month in and month out, year on end.  Buy farm Costa Rica  has a viable income for a large family. It will be able to generate about $200.000 per year as it, and should it be fully utilized to about 40 ha. it will able to generate double that.  Buy farm Costa Rica might not give you spectacular views over the Golf Dulce or ocean with but it will provide with a secure income for you and your family to enjoy in the years to come.

Investing in Costa Rica farm for sale will allow a tropical life combined with a secure income / capital gain. A secure income stream from selling fresh pineapples all year around. Farms on the mountains are picturesque from this farmland but are only usable for cattle, coffee plantations, and orchards of lemons, oranges, avocados and bananas. None of which are able provide the same rate of return a pineapple farm Costa Rica.

 Adapting to Costa Rican Life style.

As many Ticos favorite expression manana too many it might seems like the perfect place to live. Moreover, it is for many. Having said that it is rather but frustrating for some expats where weeks to install an internet connection or waiting several days for restoring your power after an outage is the norm.

Climate.

Buy farm Costa Rica is such a beautiful country. You can relax on the beach or go for a swim in the warm waters. Another option for the weened is a nice mountain hike with spectacular mountain views. This can be done in the cool mountains during summer and you can even take a plunge beneath waterfalls, Buy farm Costa Rica really has something to satisfy any member of the family to the most driven adventure seeker. Buy farm Costa Rica is a located in the beautiful country of Costa Rica. There is little land for sale with such a perfect location right on the main road. This provides easy access for the pineapple trucks when they need access to the agricultural land and the pineapples. Tropical country with temperatures ranging between 12-27°C (70-81°F) year-round. If you are trying to escape the cold of your home country only seasonally or for the long haul, this country is ideal for you. Costa Rica is one of the best countries in which to retire or start a business.  This is thanks to its various visas that allow foreigners to remain in the country without a steady job. In addition, if you own a property or a farm you will be eligible for residency and a passport.

 Why Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is not just a popular place for expats to settle down.

It is also a thriving tourist destination. The tourism opens up more job opportunities both for locals and expats. But that in turn also leads to higher cost of living and crowding and traffic in some touristic areas.

Crime in Costa Rica is low very low. However if you do buy a house, but only use it seasonally, you might experience some minor theft and property damage during the months while you are away.

The country is rather small, and only has 2 international airports. Travel be road over long distances often take more time than expected due to heavy traffic on single / double lane roads.

 Expect hot, (very hot) and humid climate. And at the same time rain is very common in this tropical climate. Rain is often comes in the form of heavy downpours and floods are not uncommon.

[vaexpeditionscostarica]

5 Reasons Why Vacationers Book Costa Rica Top-Rated Tours

Introducing Costa Rica –

Costa Rica has become a top-rated ecotourism destination in recent years. It is home to gorgeous beaches, spectacular lush rainforests and active volcanoes, like many natural wonders to explore here in Costa Rica. Once you experience Costa Rican rich biodiversity in person, you will know why the nation’s main motto is ‘Pure Vida’ – ‘Pure Life’. 

Sandwiched between Panama and Nicaragua, Costa Rica constantly adds to the list of the most eco-conscious and happiest countries worldwide. You will find friendly faces and splendid sites everywhere in Costa Rica while immersing in the fully Pura Vida vibes. There are so many things included in Costa Rica's top-rated tours, and you will find something unique and special for you in this magnificent country, expanding just 19,700 miles. 

Please read the post below if you wonder why most vacationers book Costa Rica's top-rated tours. 

Costa Rica is home to incredible biodiversity. 

As a genuinely natural paradise, Costa Rica has around 5% of the entire world’s biodiversity and is located between the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean Sea. It is a unique destination where different ecosystems live together to create amazing landscapes. 

Costa Rica is well-known as the birthplace of ecotourism and a premier name in sustainability. A consolidated National System of Protected Areas representing 25% of the country includes national parks, biological reserves, forest reserves and wildlife refuges. They stand out as the best examples of environmental awareness and compromise. 

Costa Rica’s beaches will leave you in awe. 

The country is home to nearly 300 different beaches along with striking Caribbean and Pacific coastlines - each with a distinct and specific setting. The sands on nearby beaches can differ from white, black or brown. 

Apart from this, the weather on both coasts remains warm and breezy because of the tropical climate of the Central American area. However, the temperature of the ocean water is tempered throughout the year. It is perfect for freshening up and enjoying so many popular watersports activities. 

Costa Rica offers all sorts of activities for personal enjoyment. 

When taking one of  Costa Rica's top-rated tours, you can choose from an incredible array of activities. It’s because Costa Rican topography allows a diversity of landscapes, making it possible to do many different activities appealing to vacationers of every age. 

From walking amidst cloud forests in hanging bridges to an ascending waterfall or riding a river in a raft, Costa Rica's top-rated tours are perfect for every vacationer. But, even if you prefer relaxing time on vacation, Costa Rica gives you all sorts of wellness, and culinary experiences, including forest bathing, yoga retreats, and gastronomy encounters to know the healing properties of the local ingredients. 

Costa Rica is one of the happiest countries in the world. 

Costa Rica abolished the army in 1948 as they considered it unnecessary. Due to this reason, the main motto of the country is maintaining peace, neutrality and freedom. As a result, Costa Rica stands out as the safest country in Central America and has all the necessary ingredients to satisfy the vacationer’s expectations and preferences. 

The wonderful country provides you with enormous travel opportunities, inviting weather, great experiences to live and a tourism network made by dedicated families, enterprising women and mindful investors believing in the development of responsible tourism. 

You will fall in love with Costa Ricans (Ticos). 

Costa Ricans are known as Ticos and are known for being friendly and hospitable, intending to keep their reputation. They are respectful and hardworking and like to greet people with a warm smile and a kind handshake. 

The Ticos are very relaxed and easygoing people and are always dedicated to making you welcome, giving you a perfect home away from home feeling. Costa Ricans believe that life deserves to be enjoyed as best as possible, which is why they always transform vacations into the most unforgettable and incredible experiences. In addition, they feel proud of the beauty of their country and the natural resources and showcase to everyone the very best of Costa Rica. 

Conclusion –

If you are convinced about  booking one of  Costa Rica top-rated tours, you should plan your vacation with VA Expeditions. You will find more than these reasons to fall in love with Costa Rica. For more information about our Costa Rica top-rated tour packages, please contact us at 1 - (888) 803 8004.

[dreamalittledreamofdean]

Costa Rica

you are a dream. How blessed I am to be able to start of my year with a trip to one of the most beautiful and happiest places in the world. I will say, I had my fears and doubts... I stressed hard about going to a foreign country not knowing anyone and traveling alone for a bit but IT WAS THE BEST DECISION OF MY LIFE. I met too many incredible people, from all over the country (and even in canada) who similar to me, wanted to enjoy all that this beautiful life has to offer. I was so lucky to be in such good company. And the country itself? Unlike anywhere else, I am sure. Magical. Blissful. The definition of heaven on earth. The first part of my trip I lodged at a self-sustainable GORGEOUS eco ranch in the middle of a rainforest. It was green EVERYWHERE. There was no better feeling than to wake up to toucan calls and the aroma of tropical flowers... to have fresh cooked meals with so much flavor (cant forget the mid day snack on minty tasting termites) my tastebuds were in ecstasy. The hike that we took to the overlook of Lake Arenal and the volcano left me breathless. Yet some how Ginger, the local golden retriever, who led the hike was doing just fine haha.    Speaking of breathless, don’t even get me started about ziplinning over the jungle itself. I’ve never been more afraid of anything in my life. We were all afraid but we stayed positive and encouraged one another to do it together and realized the view more than made up for the almost shitstorm in our pants haha. Oh and after that water rafting was a breeze...but I still screamed. I almost lost my voice from all the screaming to be honest. My group leaders said that my pure joy and energy was unlike anything they’ve ever seen. I felt love and excitement running through every part of me at every moment in this trip. Costa Rica blew me away and i wanted everyone to know. You really could hear my happiness from miles away. 

The second half of the trip was all about the water and the beach sunsets. Seeing a black sand beach had me shook. The national park? Phenomenal. Monkeys are like squirrels in Costa Rica!!! Some of the best moments included  the secret beach (basically untouched) and Nauyaca waterfall... i loved how you had to hike like hell to both in order to see it. The real paradise views come to only those who work hard for it in Costa Rica ;). Perhaps the most incredible feat of it all was my strength and endurance to surf for almost 3 hours. Never in a million years did I ever think I could stand on a board and ride the ocean alone. I rode those high waves so hard and with such excitement, I ripped my bathing suit. No joke. 

Even the little things got me so emotional. Like playing with week old kittens or watching kids play soccer in the town square. How all the tico and ticas, passed you on the street but would smile when you looked their way. Nothing made me more emotional than to give back to this gorgeous country by planting trees along the river we rafted. In that very moment I felt like I was living the best version of my environmentalist self... the girl who spent so many years studying ways to make this world a better place with textbooks and science reports, in fact, stepped away from all that, took a crazy dream, made it reality, and found herself in a foreign land simply planting trees to which one day, some others will enjoy. I was at ease and my heart felt as full as could be.  

What really shocks me is that I made this happen. I decided to be brave. To fend for myself when everyone seemed stunned by my decision to go without anyone. I’ve been wishing and wanting some kind of long, unknown adventure, one that was catered to my exact likes for some time now. I would spend hours researching, hoping, praying that if its meant to be I’d some how get there... and I did. This trip was meant for me. It was perfect in every way. It was the most exhilarating, adrenaline pumping, freeing experience and the best surprise was that this trip wasn’t just about me. Somewhere along the way, I realized I was just one part of the bigger, beautiful picture. My new pura vida family, Jose (the fuzzy pregame sloth) up in the sky, even the rainbow at the end of one of our  long days... all this added up into this epic adventure I couldn’t have planned or fantasized. 

If I’m correct, I do believe thats the pura vida way. 

[unstable-reality]

justtljthings

All right. So I have now seen The Last Jedi. Surprisingly and happily enough, I wound up liking it overall (despite it definitely having its problems). There’s still a lot to process, so I’ll probably further flesh out my feelings later, but these are my initial impressions:

I can understand why so many people are so upset, and I suspect that if I had been more invested in that side of fandom over the past two years, I’d be more upset, myself. As it is, I was very, very casual about TFA, and didn’t re-engage with Star Wars fandom in any meaningful way until Rogue One. The result is that I went in without any entrenched headcanons or theories or fanon knocking around in my head. Now, I’m not saying it’s bad to go in with any of that; on the contrary, I think it’s part of the fun of following a series. It does have an impact on the experience, though.

Paige Tico’s scene is so, so good. She’s on-screen for only a handful of minutes, but I still teared up over her. 

I liked that the overall theme seemed to be that actions have consequences, and that what separates good people from bad is the manner in which they acknowledge and take responsibility for those consequences. Benicio del Toro’s character hammers that point home (and he’s kind of amusing to me because he sounds like a lot of libertarians I’ve met). 

I liked that they made a point to highlight the...man, can’t think of the right word. “Ordinary” and “day-to-day” feel at once correct and incorrect. But...the oppression lurking beneath the surface, undergirding the glitz, glitz that’s earned in the service of said oppression.

Rey was really great! I didn’t dislike her before, but I wasn’t super into her, either (Finn was my favorite character in TFA). She feels a lot fuller, and more real, to me after this one. And, I gather that this is controversial, but I enjoyed what they did with her and Kylo. The psychological manipulation, leading up to him dropping straight-up abuser lines on her, is very effectively done, particularly since we’re clearly meant to feel as she does, that there is hope for him to be saved. Their fight scene is an ode to what he could have and might have been, if he’d made a different set of choices. (And I’m on the side of “he’s lying about her parentage.” The context -- him trying to break her down and further manipulate her -- suggests it heavily to me. On the other hand, I’m okay with her parents not being anyone special)

...and while we’re talking about Kylo and Rey... I’m very ship-and-let-ship, and I’m not gonna go out and start getting up in people’s faces, but I’d be lying if I said the Elevator Scene comparisons haven’t been making me super, super uncomfortable.

Slicing through ships in hyperspace! What a fucking move!

Rose. Oh, my dear Rose.

And my poor, under-served Rose. One of the major issues I have with this film is that it feels like two different movies crammed together. Rey’s storyline is mostly fine; it’s well-paced. Finn and Rose’s, on the other hand, feels very, very rushed, and somewhat disjointed. It also feels as if... Well, I think that, given they weren’t able to complete their mission, it was meant to be a character-building exercise, but the trouble is that there simply wasn’t enough time to do that, and they weren’t given the narrative space for it, either. So it had this very “this happened, and then that happened, and then this happened” texture, when it probably should have at least involved “Rose and Finn were in jail together and had a quiet, mundane conversation and learned things about each other.”

The transition from the second to third act was...wonky. Important things happened during the battle on base, but none of it felt like it belonged. As it was written and shot, the movie seemed to already have ended.

I got this funny feeling while watching it that there was an underlying current of Millennials Railing Against and Seizing Control from Baby Boomers.

But I don’t think it’s bad for the younger generation to supplant the older. That’s what’s supposed to happen, after all, as Yoda noted. It’s just a matter of going about it in the right way (don’t erase the past; learn from it and build upon it).

The overall tone struck me as being hopeful.

All of my Star Wars-related thoughts inevitably drift back to Jyn and Cassian tragically embracing on the beaches of Scarif, and that’s...where my mind has gotten to at this point.

This is probably enough for now, anyway. More later, perhaps...?

[stevendanielgreenwald-blog]

June 23-25: Punta Leona

Saludos a todos, 

This week was very slow and boring and we had to go through another safety seminar after last week. However, we could not wait for the weekend in Punta Leona, an all-inclusive beach resort on the pacific coast of Costa Rica (thankfully GW paid for it all). 

June 23rd- Arrival

We got on the bus really early for college students (around 8 am) and began our travels. The trip was about 2 hours, but we stopped about 2 miles out at the Carara National Park for a 2 hour walk through the woods. Now, I love the mountains, and trees, and animals, but this was one of my worst experiences in the country so far. It was hot, humid, and so many things that could kill you. However, we were able to see a boa constrictor, parrots, trees in the Sequoia family, the tree from the Avatar movie, and howler monkeys. After we exited, the hike from hell, we continued to the resort. ( I would just like to say that while the hike was not fun, i would probably do it again, but maybe not during the rainy season when it is super humid)

Caption: Me at the National Park. Don’t i look happy?

I was sharing a room with Kyle, who is from Massachusetts and we have a surprising amount of common friends at GW. We settled into a little Cabana thing and met everyone for lunch, including our favorite Spanish teacher (Profesora Milagro) and her sister (both Chaperones). After lunch, we explored the resort, that had three different beaches, 4 pools, free food, and an entertainment center as well as ping pong, foosball, and beach volleyball courts. We naturally started at the beach and spent around 2 hours there. It wasn’t much different from Jaco, so we took some walks, pictures, and hung out, then transitioned to the pool. Before dinner, we also played volleyball and ended up playing some Ticos who promptly destroyed us because we honestly were not that great. After dinner, we went to karaoke and the bar. (The night life at the resort was kinda boring). To finish the night off, we walked on the beach at night. 

Caption: View of the “bad” beach

Caption: Person in the water with hands up

Caption: Maria(front), Me, Philip, and Megan on a walk

Caption: United States Citizens looking at the exotic animals of Costa Rica a.k.a. an Iguana (I think)

June 24th- Full Day

This day was our first full day and we mainly spent it at “Playa Blanca” which is a white sand beach and it was super fun. We got there around 11 and hung in the water until 3. The water was super nice and warm like always. It seemed to go by so quickly and other than the tide rising to soak all of our stuff, it was a pretty successful beach day. Fun Fact: If you know me, I cannot swim very well even after taking multiple swim classes, but after these weeks in the ocean, I feel much more comfortable in the water. WOOHOO. When we went back to the resort, we once again went to the pool, and played volleyball. (I think there was a pattern.) Then dinner. Then we went to the pool/bar/karaoke again. Unfortunately, it still was not fun so some of us went to bed while 7 of us went out to beach walk again with a couple beers. We found some burning embers from a fire and sat around it talking about life, history, archaeology, science, astronomy, and dreams. Honestly, one of the best nights that I have had here so far. Then, we headed back and the bar was “lit”, so five of us decided to stay. Soon one of the volleyball kids (the one we beat us badly) came up and offered to teach us the basics of Bachata, so obviously we said yes. Honestly, it was not that hard, but I was not very good at it. ( I probably get my poor dance skills from my dad.... hahaha). By that time, we decided to sleep because we had an early morning. But all in all, it was a successful day. 

Caption: Beautiful Playa Blanca with the forest in the background

Caption: More Playa Blanca

June 25th- Last Day

Half woke up and went to the beach and half stayed at the resort. I stayed and ate a late breakfast, then went down to the pool with some people. Myself and my friends Phillip and Maya played ping pong. ( I was definitely the best, but I don’t want to toot my own horn.) Around 1, we ate lunch and left. On the way back to San Pedro, we stopped at a souvenir shop (I didn’t buy anything sorry everyone) and also, at a river with a bunch of crocodiles. It was super nice. 

Not Pictured: anything that happened today. (Oops)

All in all, i think this was a very successful weekend and would recommend this resort to other people it was great. 

Thanks for reading, 

S