The purest life on Earth

The phrase Pura Vida is Costa Rica’s unofficial motto, seen and heard from the Caribbean seaboard to the wild Pacific Coast. And, indeed, in the skies above, as skilled pilots such as Gerardo Soto Vargas and Carlos Oviedo Uiquez (pictured) fly passengers between the nation’s lively, diverse cities, dreamlike cloud forests and gorgeous beach retreats. Anywhere you land you’ll find Pura Vida repeating like an echo, a Costa Rican’s way of saying “life is good.”

The Indigenous peoples of Costa Rica maintain a close connection to the land, expressed in rituals and festivals synchronized to seasonal changes and cycles of life. The cacao plant is especially sacred to the Bribri community, received as a gift from their creator god Sibö and honored through special ceremonies known as Tsirû tãmī. Women like Iriris Yili Selles Waisa (pictured) are chosen from birth to protect and prepare the cacao for use by the awa, or shaman.

Bribri women chosen as sacred guardians of the cacao will boil it for ceremonial use at tribal sites like Amubri in Talamanca (pictured). There are several variations on the Tsirû tãmī ritual, which thanks the gods for providing the life-giving seed, but also marks vital events such as funerals, when the cacao helps to send the departed on their journey.

Puerto Viejo is a gateway to the Caribbean on Costa Rica’s southeast coast. Dense forest gives way to white sand and azure waters, with great spots offshore for swimming, diving and surfing. The gate swings both ways, of course, and Caribbean influences have arrived on the waves over many generations, not least the incredible cuisine and reggae music that help define the Puerto Viejo experience.

On the sunset side of Costa Rica, Osa Conservation works on replanting forest and reintroducing formerly displaced wildlife across the southwest. The full watershed of the Piro River falls within that protected domain, flowing from its inland spring, through teeming rainforest, to the beautiful Pacific beach of Playa Piro (pictured).

Costa Rica’s conservation ethos extends deep into flanking waters to protect the many marine animals that live off the coast or pass this way on their seasonal migration routes, including the humpback whales that come to breed and give birth in the Golfito Dulce area. Visitors can take whale and dolphin watching tours with certified expert guides who know where to get the best sightings without disturbing the animals.

This country’s many forest habitats are home to a vast diversity of monkey species, including the howler monkey, spider monkey, and the Panamanian white-faced capuchin (pictured). The latter is among the most recognized and beloved, with its distinctive colorings and complex, endearing behaviors. The Osa Conservation Campus has a network of treetop bridges to help monkeys and other mammals move across gaps in the canopy.

From amateur birdwatchers to professional ornithologists, anyone with the remotest interest in our feathered friends will find Costa Rica one of the world’s great hotspots for spotting and studying tropical species. Some can be found just off the beaches of the Caribbean, others are more elusive in the cloud forests of the interior, with favorites including rare specimens such as the resplendent quetzal and harpy eagle, as well as the yellow-throated toucan (pictured) with its paint-like color patterns.

Daniel Q. Castillo of Osa Conservation (pictured with National Geographic Explorer and biologist Christine E. Wilkinson) collects sea turtle eggs at Playa Piro on the Pacific Coast. Daniel is Osa Conservation’s sea turtle program coordinator, overseeing the hatch and release program that has been in effect since 2008. Some 145,000 turtles have been released in that time as part of ongoing efforts to protect and promote endemic species.

Costa Rica provides a natural sanctuary for multiple species of marine turtles, including the leatherback and hawksbill. Some are more particular to the Caribbean, but the turtle hatchery operated by Osa Conservation at Playa Piro on the Pacific coast (pictured) pays special attention to the needs of the olive ridley and Pacific green turtles in these waters, often carefully relocating nests to help protect the eggs and secure their safe hatching.

The Aquiares plantation has been growing coffee beans on the Central Valley’s Turrialba Volcano since the 1890s. Today, the farm is working toward the next century, combining the latest tech with the oldest traditions to develop sustainable, resilient, organic new varieties that still pack all the familiar flavor of the region’s famously mellow and aromatic coffee. Tourism & hospitality manager Manuel Ramirez (pictured) has made his family farm a must-see destination for visitors, with guest rooms, tasting workshops, and horseback tours in surrounding forests.

Costa Ricans, or Ticos, shop for tropical fruits in the same lively spirit that defines the national character. The weekly produce market at Turrialba is a regular celebration of the sheer abundance that the phrase Pura Vida seems to express in terms of pride and gratitude. Vendors, like Ileana Brenes Pereira (pictured), are a living embodiment of that spirit, working amid all the color and flavor that grow so naturally here.