"Breathing Pura Vida "

I open the wooden blind and we met each other. I found her black face fitted out with a broad nose with flared nostrils. I found her oil painted eyes, and I couldn’t help shouting. She shouted too. Each of us ran apart looking for safety and we never met again.
That was my first minute, of my first hour, of my first day in the Pacific Costa Rica. What an amazing country! I had just arrived at that land of nature, and I got a complete lesson on human emotions. I remembered THAT WE ARE NATURE! That human reaction is not quite different from a huge gorilla instinct.

Relax, take it easy! That is my best advice for travelers around the country. At the Pacific, the rhythm of the ocean is the clock that organizes workday. It is quite common to find homemade posters stuck at stores doors, with the inscription: “Closed because of big waves”.

A road trip, around the Pacific is not clinically recommended for a person who lives in a hurry. The landscape is rude, with narrow roads that go up and down hugging the mountains. Be like a Buddha! Be calm! No matter how a car accident could interrupt your journey, wait, wait and wait! Taking an alternative, non-official road could be a tricky dangerous decision.

The Pacific area of Costa Rica is the land of surfers. The ocean is not clear as the Caribbean, but it is hot as boiling water. Palm trees dress the landscape, and it is almost impossible not to be tempted to rest on a hammock drinking fresh cocoanut water. Beware! Adding some cookies to your meal could end up in a funny chase along de shore, trying to catch that naughty monkey that jumped from a tree, grabbed your snacks and ran away.

Costaricans , locally known as “TICOS”, are the most a amazing people you will ever have the pleasure of meting. Their way of life is guided by the“ Pura Vida” saying. Don´t surprise yourself if you hear this expression more than twenty times a day! “Pura vida” is also a greeting that conveys happiness, nature and a desire for a peaceful life.

If you came from a complex life, full of stress and running, the Pacific is like an intense class of Yoga. The contact with nature, the easy going way of life is the best medicine to calm down. Forget schedules, clocks. Open your mind and breathe PURA VIDA way of life!