{"id":615,"date":"2011-04-12T10:11:36","date_gmt":"2011-04-12T14:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=615"},"modified":"2012-12-07T10:09:16","modified_gmt":"2012-12-07T15:09:16","slug":"living-the-pure-life-in-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/living-the-pure-life-in-costa-rica","title":{"rendered":"Living the Pure Life in Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

Pura vida! The \u201cRich Coast\u201d is filled with it. It\u2019s a life philosophy in Costa Rica, a toast, a blessing\u2026 It can mean hello, goodbye, thank you and you\u2019re welcome depending on the occasion. Some say that the Costa Rican slogan, literally the \u201cpure life,\u201d came from the surfers and Ticos (the local name for Costa Ricans) in the 1950s and spread from there. It might be hard to translate, but the essence is unmistakable. For tourists, it comes across as easy living and a carefree lifestyle. But for Ticos, it\u2019s everything from strong community spirit and determination to enjoying the positive things in life. Get to know the wealth of pura vida with Explorica. Live the good life by lounging on the golden beaches of Manuel Antonio and soaking in the hot springs near Arenal. Then, give a little back to the community, too.<\/p>\n

Visit places mentioned in this blog:<\/p>\n

Costa Rica \/ Los Santos \/ Volunteering \/ Canopy Tour \/ Lake Arenal \/ Kayaking Tour \/ Hot Springs Visit \/ Manuel Antonio National Par<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re up for getting your hands dirty in Los Santos, you\u2019ll leave your mark behind for a lifetime. With plenty of volunteering opportunities in this small town outside of Costa Rica’s capital, we\u2019ll find one that’s right for you. Think about restoring or painting a school. Education is very important to Costa Ricans, who in 2009 reported a 96% literacy rate. With few resources to pour into the educational system, your help will not go unnoticed. Or if you\u2019ve got a green thumb, you might enjoy preparing a garden or restoring a local riverbank to help support Costa Rica’s biodiversity. Whatever you can do, the locals will say, \u201cPura vida!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Monkey<\/a>Feel good about pitching in and take some time out to explore the pure life throughout 600 miles of picturesque coastline and almost 6 million acres of rainforest. (That’s about half the country.) Down in central Costa Rica on the Puntarenas coast, visit the Manuel Antonio National Park. Costa Rica’s smallest national park is teeming with amazing wildlife. Home to 109 species of animal including sloths, monkeys, iguanas, and 184 species of bird such as toucans, woodpeckers and parakeets, the tropical ecosystem is paradise. Trek through the dense rainforest. Take in the ocean view from an outlook point. Or stumble upon any one of the park’s four golden beaches. But keep your wits about you\u2014especially if you\u2019re snacking. Where hungry people gather, so do hungry monkeys. The very intelligent White-headed Capuchin monkey likes sandwiches as much as you do, so watch your lunchbox!<\/p>\n

\"Arenal<\/a>Take pura vida to new heights in the northwest where you\u2019ll find the 7,000-year-old Arenal Volcano, a mere baby by geologists’ standards. This volcano erupted suddenly in 1968 after hundreds of years of dormancy and minor eruptions still happen on a daily basis. Although you can’t get too close, you can admire the orange glow of its bubbling lava from the safe distance of Arenal Lake Reservoir, a man-made lake that not only produces hydro-electric power sustaining 70% of Costa Rica but that serves as a perfect spot for kayaking and windsurfing.<\/p>\n

Wherever you go, lean on your Explorica Tour Director to navigate because getting from A to B is a little different for the Ticos. Many streets in Costa Rica have no names, let alone signs. And when the address is, \u201cFrom the Quepos Church, 300 meters north, 150 meters west, cross the train tracks, white two-story house,\u201d it makes even delivering mail tough. Still, one thing you\u2019re certain to find anywhere in this country is the feeling of the pure life. From the canopy tops to the surf, the good life surrounds you here. And with so much for you to get out of your trip, and even more for you to put in, you’ll come home knowing exactly what pura vida means.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pura vida! The \u201cRich Coast\u201d is filled with it. It\u2019s a life philosophy in Costa Rica, a toast, a blessing\u2026 It can mean hello, goodbye, thank you and you\u2019re welcome depending on the occasion. Some say that the Costa Rican slogan, literally the \u201cpure life,\u201d came from the surfers and Ticos (the local name for Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173,63,172],"tags":[87,52,58,86],"class_list":["post-615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","hentry","category-parents","category-students","category-teachers","tag-arenal-volcano","tag-costa-rica","tag-educational-travel","tag-student-trips","post_format-post-format-aside"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=615"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2034,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/615\/revisions\/2034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}