December in Costa Rica is pure celebration. From candlelit chapels and nativity scenes in family homes to illuminated parades and horse pageants, the month blends devotion and community fun. It’s also peak season for adventures, culture and entertainment, when...
Soccer in Costa Rica: The game of soccer was apparently introduced to Costa Rica in 1899, judging from this news item on July 4 of that year in the newspaper La Opinión: "On Sunday, we were witnessing [the game of football in la Sabana, played by members of our...
[vc_row full_width="full_width"][vc_column][vc_column_text]For the most incorrigible misbehavior, like killing another prisoner, inmates at the San Lucas prison island were lowered into “the hole” — literally a hole in the middle of a big concrete disc on top of what...
Indomitable Non-Conformist Ahead of Her Time María Isabel Anita Carmen de Jesús Vargas Lizano, better known as Chavela Vargas, Mexican ranchera singer and rebellious free spirit, knew from a very young age what it meant to be different. With an indomitable...
Costa Rica is a country that loves a good gathering: sunrise surf and volcano treks, marimba in the plaza, gallery nights that spill into dinner, wildlife that steals the show, real estate chats over coffee, and businesses built on relationships. At the centre of so...
Authentic Costa Rican music is characterized by a blend of indigenous, Spanish, and Afro-Caribbean influences that have evolved over centuries. Traditional music often features instruments such as the marimba (a wooden xylophone with a bright sound), guitars, drums,...
Santa Cruz, Costa Rica: from Chorotega heartland to living cultural capital Set between the Diría and Enmedio rivers, Santa Cruz is a story-rich corner of Guanacaste where Costa Rica’s adventures, culture, entertainment, wildlife, real estate, business and food all...
Chiliguaro: Costa Rica’s Spicy National Shot (with roots, rituals and real-world examples) Costa Rica folds Adventures, Culture, Entertainment, wildlife, Real Estate, Business and Food into everyday life — and you can taste that mix in a tiny glass of chiliguaro. This...
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Live longer in Costa Rica Blue Zone: Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula is one of five regions in the world referred to as a “blue zone,” home to some of the oldest and healthiest people on the planet. Most blue zone...
Costa Rica is famous for surf breaks and cloud forests, but it’s the small, odd, human things that give the country its heartbeat: adventures told over gallo pinto, culture shared on a breezy veranda, entertainment that might be a neighbour’s marimba or a story...
[vc_row][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text] Despite the fact that Costa Rica is an incredibly diverse nation, like in many parts of the world, indigenous communities are at risk of losing their cultural identities due to colonization, urbanization, and...
There’s a sound in Costa Rica that can stop you mid-step. It’s warm, earthy, and somehow both simple and complex—like sunshine poured into music. That sound belongs to the marimba, the country’s national instrument, whose wooden keys have echoed through village...