Pura Vida!

“Pura Vida”! It means the good life, at its purest. I knew it was a common expression in Costa Rica, but I did not understand that it’s actually their day to day send off, i.e. as Americans would say “take care” or the French “à bientôt”, well, they say “pura vida”! Which encompasses the all-round feel good vibe that we’ve been experiencing since we landed here, but that has really hit us now that we are on the gorgeous beachside at Playa Avellana, about 20min from the known surfer spot Tamarindo. We absolutely love it here! We rented a great house on Airbnb which is just 3min from the beach and which has a super vibe itself. Howler monkeys jumping around the trees, 70cm Iguanas on the pool side, (and, less appreciated by me, scorpions in the pool shower…. apparently it’s just a bit more painful than a wasp sting. Don’t want to find out). The beach is beautiful, unspoilt and uncrowded. And the water and the waves are just SPECTACULAR! As is apparently commonly known (except by us), the Pacific is A LOT less salty than the Atlantic due to how the currents work (see graph below) and the waves are just perfect for family splash time. (BTW: did you know that Magellan named the Pacific? And that he called it that because it was, indeed, comparatively peaceful? Just learned that thanks to “Quelle histoire”, merci! 😉 )

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Day 3 down her and we’re totally in Pura Vida flow: wake up at 6, fresh papaya, mango and berries with some local goats milk yogurt and granola, delicious, always perfect avocados (guess it helps that they don’t have to travel across the globe) mashed with some sour orange (ever had those? I haven’t. Fun discovery here, tastes a bit like a lime but in orange) fresh cilantro and some steaming Costa Rican coffee – is there a better way to start the day? Then off to the beach to rent our body and surf boards and into the waves we go! There is cool Lola’s beach bar close by for some fish tacos with the Mahi Mahi which the local fisherman just caught literally in front of our eyes with just a string thrown into the waves (no exaggeration!), accompanied by some fresh coconut water off the back of parking lot sales man, some games while we sip our smoothies (the boys are currently leading the Costa Rica championship, but we still have a few days to change that) and then back into the waves! We’re all pretty knocked around, we all have our war wounds – the board always wins, it seems! But the water is just too fabulous, even Vyas who was bitten by a fish (seriously!!) can’t resist.

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And of course this place will have a special spot in our hearts because this is where our star peanut turned forever more double digit!!