A holiday in Costa Rica is all about connecting with nature. The animals, the birds, the landscapes.
The Pura Vida indeed.
Pura Vida means ‘pure life’ and you hear it everywhere you go. A waiter serves you a drink; a hotel receptionist welcomes you; a naturalist guide spots a sloth or monkey to share with you; the sun is shining. It’s all Pura Vida!
We are just back from a two week visit to the country, our first long-haul trip since the pandemic began. And it was wonderful! Over the coming weeks I’ll be sharing lots of the highlights; but for now let’s start with a touch of the tranquillity we found there for Amanda in her Search for Serenity in the current Friendly Friday challenge. All the photos below were taken from the terraces of the hotels we stayed in, providing the perfect antidote to the chill of a UK winter and the anxieties of the past couple of years.
The views
The view from our room at the Villa Bougainvillea near San Jose on our first morning
The early morning view from Aguila de Osa near Corcovado National Park, where we spent the first few days of our trip
From the Osa Peninsula we moved on to the Arenal Kioro hotel, where we had a view of Volcan Arenal from our room, although it was often partly hidden by cloud …
… but not always!
Our next few days were spent at the Senda Monteverde, from where we had a view of the distant Pacific and the Nicoya Peninsula
The Senda Monteverde also provided us with some lovely sunset views
Our final stay was at Lagarta Lodge on the Nicoya Peninsula, where from our terrace we could look out over the Nosara and Montana Rivers to the Pacific beyond
A view perhaps even more magical and serene at sunset
(my feature photo was also taken at this hotel, from a terrace by the swimming pools)
I visited Costa Rica in February 2022
47 Comments
Christie
Amazing scenery Sarah, it looks like you had an amazing trip! La Pura Vida😊
Sarah Wilkie
We certainly did Christie – thank you 😊
SoyBend
Beautiful pictures of the skies! It was nice the clouds parted so you could get a shot of the volcano.
Sarah Wilkie
Yes, we were lucky 🙂 We saw the volcano several times during our short stay – some people don’t get to see it at all!
Leela Gopinath
Great trip Sarah…thanks for the lovely pictures!
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks Leela 🙂 It was fantastic – and many more photos to come, as you can imagine!
Anabel @ The Glasgow Gallivanter
Beautiful views – how wonderful to have one of those to wake up to each day.
Sarah Wilkie
It was! I wanted to bottle the last one and bring it home with me but the best I could do was use one of my photos as the wallpaper on my phone so I still see it daily. Not quite the same thing however 😏
Tanja
beautiful serene views
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Tanja 🙂
Suzanne@PictureRetirement
Sarah, thanks for the overview and the photo album. I’ll look forward to reading more.
Sarah Wilkie
Glad you enjoyed it Suzanne 🙂
sheetalbravon
Sarah, I know I’m repeating when I say I’m envious of all the places you’ve traveled to. Costa Rica was never on my radar but now it is. I actually googled to see where on the map. Gorgeous pictures! Serene sums it perfectly.
Sarah Wilkie
It’s a beautiful country and also well set-up for visits during Covid times, with sensible rules and good procedures in place in the hotels 🙂
margaret21
Costa Rica is certainly enjoying its moment as being seen to do Green rather better than its larger relatively-near neighbours. Your photos suggest the accolades as an eco-destination are well-deserved.
Sarah Wilkie
It’s not perfect (in the past a lot of the land was cleared for agriculture, which of course still continues) but it’s better than many others and is working hard to do the right thing as much as possible. The hotels put a real emphasis on sustainability too 🙂
margaret21
Good news!
Yvonne+Dumsday
When my daughter went to neighboring Nicaragua (to volunteer on a turtle conservation programme) she expected it to be like Costa Rica but was totally amazed at how different the two countries were and made her appreciate the environmental programmes put in place by Costa Rica even more.
margaret21
That’s interesting. But it shows that things can be done if there’s a will.
Sarah Wilkie
I’d like to go to Nicaragua one day but I fully expect it to be rather different to CR as I know it’s had a much more troubled history in recent years 🙁
Anna
Omg people on other parts of the world are allowed to travel, on planes! Lol. We apparently get to start here in WA on March the 3rd. Let’s see if our supreme dictator follows through! Lol. Loved your photos, calm and serenity indeed!
Sarah Wilkie
Haha yes, we’re allowed out to play again these days 😀 And apparently all our restrictions are set to be lifted soon as part of a new ‘living with Covid’ strategy. I hope you follow suit and get to travel again 😘
thehungrytravellers.blog
Hi Sarah, so pleased you loved the place – really looking forward to your posts about this wonderful place.
Sarah Wilkie
Oh we did, although we only had two weeks so didn’t see half as much as you did! Thanks for the inspiration, it was perfect for what we needed right now 🙂
thehungrytravellers.blog
Excellent!
the eternal traveller
What a marvellous adventure you’ve had. I’m looking forward to seeing more.
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks – just watch this space 😆
Annie Berger
Appreciated your teasing photos of what’s to come in future posts of beautiful Costa Rica, especially as Steven and I have never visited Central America.
Sarah Wilkie
I’m really surprised you’ve never been to that region! I know you would love it and it’s quite an easy journey for you 🙂
Annie Berger
You’re so right that CR is fairly close by but that may be part of the reason we’ve not yet gone, figuring we can get the more distant lands and more challenging destinations done first and leave the nearer places and more accessible places when we’re old or should I say, older?!!
Sarah Wilkie
I do know what you mean. We feel the same about exploring the UK, although Covid forced us to do more of that in the last two years than we’d planned! Europe too, to some extent, although we do like our city breaks there 🙂
Forestwood
That iconic shot of the volcano is amazing. I always had a good concept of geography but had to look at the map to see where the Pacific sat in relation to the country. Why did you choose this nation to visit?
Sarah Wilkie
Thanks so much Amanda 🙂 We have always had Costa Rica on our radar (me in particular as I love to see animals in the wild). We were looking for somewhere for our first post-Covid long haul trip. It had to be warmer than home at this time of year, open to tourists and reasonably easy in terms of Covid requirements and rules. I was following the Hungry Travellers’ posts about their trip (https://www.thehungrytravellers.blog/costa-rica-2021-2022/) and realised it fitted the bill perfectly! The country has coped well with the pandemic and has reopened sensibly, with good precautions in place but nothing too restrictive.
Forestwood
That is great to hear that the Costa Rican goverment has sensible precautions in place. How long did it take to get there? For me, long haul equates to flying (with stops) for more than 20 hours.
sustainabilitea
Some years ago, our older daughter gifted me with a trip with her to Costa Rica for a week. We stayed near Manuel Antonio and had a marvelous time. What a beautiful country and certainly lots of people with “Pura Vida” attitudes. The sunsets were always stunning.
janet
Sarah Wilkie
We didn’t get to Manuel Antonio but I heard good things about it from other travellers we talked to. I think the views and sunsets anywhere along that coast would be gorgeous!
sustainabilitea
I agree. Manuel Antonia is great.
Marsha Ingrao
Wow, Sarah, these are breathtaking pictures. That sunset is to die for. Very serene and tranquil.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Marsha, so glad you liked the photos 😀
maristravels
So pleased he trip went well, but then why shouldn’t it. You travel always with the right attitude. Your images are gorgeous and does make one envious and sets up longings for things that are just out of reach at the moment. I look forward to more of the same when you get time to post.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Mari, that’s a really nice thing to say 🙂 I do try to travel with an open mind and eagerness to be wowed, and I think if you expect the best you will find it! It was an especial treat to be able to visit CR as our first trip post-Covid, and as soon as I’ve sorted more of my mountain of photos I will be posting for sure!
Easymalc
The word ‘envy’ doesn’t normally exist in my vocabulary, but your visit to Costa Rica comes close. This introduction to what promises to be a gallery of how a country knows how to protect its natural environment has already whetted my appetite. I can’t wait for what’s coming next.
Sarah Wilkie
Thank you Malcolm, I’m glad to have whetted your appetite and I hope to satisfy it a bit in the weeks to come – once I’ve properly sorted through a mountain of photos!
Yvonne+Dumsday
After my daughter’s trip to Costa Rica, she was inspired to have “Pure Vida” tattooed across her shoulders. She would happily have stayed there had it been allowed but she was impressed that not only does the country have no army but that no foreigners are given jobs unless there are no locals who could fill the post. I shall be sharing your blogs with her Sarah.
Sarah Wilkie
I can see it would totally appeal to Milly and I’ll be interested to hear her views on my posts – thank you for sharing them 🙂 There is a cynical view about the lack of army however, as some say that then then President disbanded it because he feared a military coup! Nevertheless there’s lots to admire about the country for sure!
Manja Maksimovič
Ooo, magnificent! I had a hunch that you went somewhere far. 🙂 Pura vida and pure serenity. I can just tell how charged with it and with all sorts of beauty you are now. Can’t wait to see it all.
Sarah Wilkie
Good hunch! Yes, I’m full of it and can’t wait to share lots of it with you all 😀