Pura Vida - Quepos, Costa Rica

 January 26, 2024

 

Ok, LeRoy is going to admit something that is only going to make me look like an idiot. I know, I know. Easily done…

I don’t know why but I always thought Costa Rica was an island just lying off the Mexican shore.  Not sure why but that is what I thought.  It is in fact a country, in Central America, on its own with a most fortunate placement.   The beautiful Caribbean Sea on the east border and the beautiful Pacific Ocean on the west border.  Panama is to the south and Nicaragua to the north.  Costa Rica is known for its beaches and its rugged rain forests that contain a multitude of animal habitats where various types of monkeys, sloths and birds make their homes.   Especially birds.  We even saw crocodiles in their own environments from the safety of a very small and creaking boat that they use to take victims… I mean people down the river to see what they can see. 

Costa Rica is about the same size as West Virginia to give you a comparison.  Very impressive is that 24% of Costa Rica is contained in protected rain forests and nature preserves. 

So, our excursion today started with a short tender ride over to the marina which is beautiful and has a lot of very nice boats in it.  So, we get off the tender boat and board a couple of large buses and drive for an hour and a half whereupon, we get off the bus and get on before mentioned deathboat.  The river level is down and half of what you see is mud flats where you would normally have water in during the wet season, but one good thing about the lower levels of the river is that you have a better vantage point to see the crocs.  I think we saw about 5 or 6 ranging from about 10 feet long down to about 2 feet long.  These things are nothing more than prehistoric eating machines.  The big male we saw is called Capt. Hook .   He was the king of his mud world.   The female called Madonna was said to be about to lay some eggs.   How they know that I have no idea.  Crocs are one of the few reptiles where the mother actually takes care of it’s young for a certain length of time while the males have been known to eat the young ones.   Sound like some households I know!

During the boat ride, our guide did a pretty good job of pointing out various species of birds that live along the river.   Kingfishers, grey hawks, Toucans and several other species made themselves available for a picture or two.  Monkeys stay up in the trees and jump around so fast that they make it difficult to get the best shot.  All you see are limbs shaking and then a fleeting glance of howler monkeys or spider monkeys jumping around.

This boat ride didn’t last too long and after a quick snack and drink we were on our way to the nature preserves.  On the way we pass by Jaco Beach which is known for its surfing waves.  Jaco beach is located on the Pacific side of the country where the waves are pretty much year round.  Today’s surf was a little more than LeRoy would like to go out and swim in.  But once we got to our destination, we loaded up on what they call the arial tram which took us up high above the flora and fauna of the area.  It was a good way to see it without having 60 or so people trampling thru the forest.   The tram was an open-air metal gondola not unlike you might see at a ski resort.   You had to have keen eyesight to capture the residents of the area.   I would imagine that you would see much more around dusk or early evening, but you won’t find me hanging out to find out.  The tram ride was about an hour and while we didn’t see a lot of the wildlife it was a relaxing ride with lots of beautiful flora to see. 

As we started heading back, we had a scheduled lunch because it had been at least 3 or 4 hours since we had last eaten.   I’m sure people were about to faint from undernourishment.  The one good thing is that it allowed me to enjoy my local brew.   This time it was a bottle of the local brew called Imperial. 

Anyway, the schedule must be adhered to, and it wasn’t long before we were on our way back to the ship.   We have an early departure from Costa Rica today because we are very far from our next destination which is Manzanillo, Mexico.   

Both Vialula and I said that we would enjoy coming back here at some point.   It’s hard to see a place in detail in such a short time but they usually try to show us the highlights of a stop. 

One last thought to impart ... Costa Rica is one of five blue zones in the world.   A blue zone is a place that for several reasons the normal lifespan of its residents is much higher than what we call normal lifespan.   This is attributed to diet, attitude, environment and other factors.  In fact, the people who live here attribute this blue zone to what they call Pura Vida.  Pura Vida is the local greeting that goes far beyond just saying hello. Pura Vida is the attitude and the lifestyle here. ¿Cómo estás? (How are you?): If someone asks you this, you can answer “¡pura vida!”  Disney referred to it in the Lion King as Hakuna Matata or no worries. The people here take it a bit further in their everyday life and how they treat each other and visitors like me and Vialula.  Maybe this is why Costa Rica has become a retirement destination for many. Maybe there is something about this pura vida/blue zone phenomenon.   Look it up.   Will we see you retiring there??

Vi & LeRoy