No matter how many stamps you’ve collected, visiting Costa Rica presents a challenge. What seems so small and straightforward on paper—a traveler-friendly nation that’s dwarfed by West Virginia—feels larger than life once you’re on the ground. The seas on either side are separated by rugged mountain ranges, complete with fire-spitting volcanoes and mist-shrouded cloud forests. And the country’s dozen or so distinct ecological zones— which are heavily protected and together account for 5 percent of the world’s biodiversity, including jaguars, sloths, and more than 1,200 species of butterfly—are also home to an abundance of microclimates, each of which has little regard for your plans. It excites the imagination, but also forces hard decisions: Absorb the culture of bustling San José, spy on treetop monkeys on Volcán Arenal, or dive into the cobalt-blue Pacific on Guanacaste’s Gold Coast? You’ll be in a rush to do it all, but remember to slow down. It’s only then that you’ll discover the state of being known as pura Three vida—the true source of Costa Rica’s wealth. Perfect Days Costa Rica

By Peter Koch Photography by Matthew Johnson

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56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 56 06/09/2019 10:11 56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 57 06/09/2019 10:11 DAY 11,260-foot-tall volcano, loom- original intent was to give all with embroidered first com- ing over the skyline. San José is Costa Ricans access to high- munion dresses, Technicolor perched at 3,845 feet above sea brow culture; admission was floral displays, and growers of level, in the mountain-fringed just one colón. Perusing the every tropical fruit imagin- Valle Central, where temps box off ice schedule, I’m happy able. I follow my nose to Café hover at a pleasant 70 degrees to discover that the egalitar- Central Cafeteria, where I buy year-round. The least I can do ian spirit lives on: a matinee a bag of single-origin Arabica is get outside and enjoy it. performance by Costa Rican granos de oro, and then head to After chowing down on a saxophone quintet Sonsax the legendary La Sorbetera de plate of perfectly ripe tropical costs a mere 3,390 colones— Lolo Mora. Open since 1901, fruits, I head downtown to the less than $6—for a second-row the family-owned ice cream Plaza de la Cultura. The small, seat. On a whim, I buy a ticket. counter sells just one flavor— stone-and-shrub square serves With time to kill before the a custard-like vanilla with as the city’s central gathering show, I take a short walk to the nutmeg and cinnamon place, and it whirls with life Museo de Arte y Diseño Con- undertones. I order a cup and this morning, as locals unwind temporáneo, which is housed savor every spoonful; whoever on stone benches and street in the former national liquor speak to relevant issues— decided “vanilla” should be a vendors sell tourists corn to factory, an industrial complex political and armed conflicts, synonym for “plain” never ate feed the aggressive swarms of that dates to 1856, making it migration, gender, identity— at Lolo Mora. pigeons. Large-scale abstract one of San José’s oldest build- facing the entire world.” Afterward, I hurry back bronze and marble sculptures ings. At the museum, I meet Much of the work in the to the theater, as Sonsax is dot the plaza, part of a citywide curator Daniel Soto Morúa, Main Hall, including Adiós about to take the stage. Four exhibition by Jorge Jiménez Lela, a diptych by Monge that sax players—soprano, alto, Deredia, a Costa Rican sculp- contains a gun camouflaged tenor, and baritone—and a tor who’s based in Italy, where in a jaguar pattern, comments percussionist play pieces by his works have graced the Col- “ Whoever decided on violence in Central Amer- Cuban-born composer Javier iseum and St. Peter’s Basilica. ‘vanilla’ should ica. But it’s not all heavy: In Zalba that range from frenzied I wander over to the south the next gallery, a handful of and experimental to more side of the plaza and the Teatro be a synonym for large sitting stones have each traditional Latin. When the Nacional, which was built after ‘plain’ never ate been raised to stool-height by a curtain falls, I dance my way world-famous soprano Adelina tripod of chair legs, creating a up the aisle. Patti snubbed Costa Rica on the ice cream at sort of caveman spin on IKEA. My only lunch was that cup her Central American tour Lolo Mora.” Tour complete, I venture of ice cream, so I’m more than in 1890. (Local coffee barons, onto the pedestrian-only ready for a hop through the shop that’s so underground I culture of gastronomy, and their pride wounded, agreed Avenida Central, where I’m Barrio Escalante gastronomic have trouble finding it. Font realize that we have much ► Devouring art and ice to an export tax to pay for the who agrees to show me around swept into a river of foot district with Adriana H. Font, is waiting at the wooden bar, more than rice and beans.” construction of a theater in (A+D)*25=Ag, a retrospective traffic flowing toward the a former marketing exec and and as I enjoy a revelatory cup From there, we walk to cream in San José the style of the opulent Paris that celebrates the museum’s Mercado Central. I duck into the discerning proprietor of of coffee, she tells me, “I want 11.47 Aranjuez, a six-table opera house.) When it finally first 25 years and the work of the maze of aisles, picking my Foodie Tours Costa Rica. Our people to come to San José, spot attached to Aran- opened in 1897, the theater— Central American contempo- way past butchers and fish - rendezvous point is Under- visit these small places, learn juez. Each artfully presented and, by extension, Costa Rica— rary artists, such as the inter- mongers, traditional clothiers ground Brew Café, a coffee about Costa Rica’s growing contemporary dish is inspired awake to the thrum of confirmed its position in the nationally renowned Manuel by a different region of Costa rush-hour traffic on world by luring a Paris opera Zumbado and Priscilla Monge. Rica. The coconut-breaded, the avenue below my company to perform Faust at “Through its 25 years, COFFEE CULTURE flash-fried tuna with mango window at the Hotel its inauguration. Despite its MADC has positioned The grano de oro (“golden bean”) was the first major export to bring prominence to Costa Rica, which chutney is delicious, and local 1Grano de Oro. While it’s not luxurious appearance, a very Central America internation- in every sense of the word. I grows 100 percent Arabica beans across eight distinct regions. Here, three ways to get a local perk. exactly the wake-up call of earnest docent informs me, the ally,” Soto says. “[These works] And that’s how the rest birds and howler monkeys of the night goes: sipping I’d envisioned, it’s also not Costa Rican craft beers at entirely surprising. After all, Traditional Touristy Third Wave Agüizotes Gastro Pub, try- I’m starting out in San José, ing corn-based indigenous Costa Rica’s lively capital city. The gloriously simple The Valle Central is home to For over a century, Costa Rica’s dishes at Sikwa, and trusting Long treated by travelers as chorreador (“coffee sock”) is Costa Rica’s oldest coffee leading coffee farmers exported our livers to the country’s top Opening spread, little more than a way station the classic Costa Rican coffee plantations, many of which all of their best beans, but that’s bartenders, Isaac Montero from left: the 300- foot-tall Catarata en route to a beach or jungle preparation. The grounds offer tours. At Doka Estate, on changing, as third wave coffee and Clark Jiménez, at Mil948 de La Paz; stand-up (something I’ve been are spooned into a stand- the slopes of Volcán Poás, the shops have begun sourcing Cocktail Room, where every paddleboarding along mounted cotton pouch, hot Vargas family has been growing directly from local producers. the Gold Coast; right: guilty of on previous trips), drink is custom-made, based viewing a painting at San José is experiencing a water is poured over them, premium beans since 1940. For a deep dive, do the two-hour on your choice of liquor and the Museo de Arte y and the brew filters into a cup Tours here take visitors into the private coffee experience ($35) Diseño Contemporáneo; revival and deserves some f lavor preference. By the time opposite page, from attention. The morning is or pitcher below. Try it at Café fields and roasting facilities and at San José’s Underground Brew it’s over, I’ve gained a deeper top left: a shrimp dish Central Cafeteria in San José’s end with a sampling of eight Café. undergroundbrewcafe. at 11.47 Aranjuez; the overcast, but through the mist understanding of, and respect dining room at Sikwa I can see the f lanks of Irazú, an Mercado Central. roasts. dokaestate.com business.site for, Costa Rican cuisine.

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56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 58 06/09/2019 10:11 56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 59 06/09/2019 10:11 DAY that delivers visitors deep into the cloud forests of the sur - “ The crater’s rounding national park and mineral-rich within a few hundred yards of the steaming crater. walls are As I settle up, the front desk streaked with red clerk warns me that this beau- tiful weather is temporary; iron, jet-black the same powerful Pacific basalt, and neon- low-pressure system that has pushed all of the clouds out of yellow sulfur.” the Valle Central is expected to inundate the area with torren- roadside, selling ripe straw- tial rainfall tonight. Also, due berries with condensed milk. to a violent 2017 eruption, vis- The unsmiling park ranger its to Poás have been severely at the entrance of Parque limited; national park guests Nacional Volcán Poás isn’t in have to reserve entrance two a negotiating mood. “We don’t days in advance. Oops. handle money or bookings Regardless, I cross my fin- here,” he says. “You must have gers and point my rental car a reservation.” Normally, that toward the volcano. The sin- would be discouraging, but uous road winds higher and roughly 10 minutes back down higher, through the shiny the road, I saw a small tour - green corduroy of coffee ism agency advertising park groves to an elevation of admissions. A quick U-turn roughly 6,000 feet, where and conversation reveals that plantations give way to steep there’s one opening left for the pastures dotted with dairy day, and it’s in, well, exactly cows. Family-owned farm 10 minutes. After a rushed stands sprout along the about-face, I gain entrance

► Climbing volcanoes and chasing waterfalls

he minute I open my eyes, I know today’s a volcano day. Sun- shine pours into my 2room, and not even a lowly T Charlie Brown cloud dogs the mountains. This is sig - nificant, because I’ve come to Costa Rica during its euphe - mistically named “green season,” which lasts more than half the year and is responsi- ble for most of the rain that keeps the jungles such a riot- ous green—and keeps the volcanoes socked in for days. Just 75 minutes north of down- This page: service with a smile at town, 8,871-foot-tall Poás is the Orgánico Fortuna; most dramatic of the region’s opposite page: hot springs at Tabacón volcanoes—and also its most Thermal & Spa accessible, with a paved road

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56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 60 06/09/2019 10:12 56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 61 06/09/2019 10:12 Central, becoming innumer- able waterfalls. At the entrance to Catarata del Toro, a 300-foot-tall waterfall that flows into an extinct volcanic crater, I opt for a more adventurous hike to Cataratas las Gemelas (the Twins), a pair of falls that tumble side-by-side as part of the Río Agrio. They’re so fantastically turquoise—the

“ The falls are so fantastically turquoise, they could’ve been From above: tree June of 2017, a ranger explains, postcard-worthy, 121-foot-tall frogs at the La Paz conjured by Waterfall Gardens three explosions rocked the waterfall that’s famous for the Nature Park; clouds volcano’s crater, spewing nox- eponymous nature park and Tolkien.” over Volcán Arenal ious gases and raining down animal sanctuary located in ash and superheated rocks— the jungles above it. I snap a some as big as six feet wide. As quick photo, but I’m headed result of the light reflecting a result, the park was closed slightly farther off the beaten off a volcanic material, and promptly come upon a through last September, and track, to Bajos del Toro, a aluminum silicate, in the scene that gives me pause: A the viewing platform is all cute little mountain town water—they could’ve been crowd of tourists being out - that’s been reopened. where a handful of electric- conjured by Tolkien. fitted with red plastic safety It’s a five-minute walk to blue rivers tumble down the Wading into the pool

helmets. Between April and the crater’s rim, along a paved north side of the Cordillera beneath the main cascade model) (cover Tran/@tourdelust Christine photo); (cover Moretti Michael trail that’s lined with a plant called poor man’s umbrella (it ON THE COVER has extremely broad leaves) and pockmarked, every few yards, by small craters from falling volcanic rocks. Ref lex- ively, I reach up and tap my thin plastic helmet, doubting it would do me much good, but all of that is forgotten when we reach the rim, where the impressive view and a pow- erful sulfur odor conspire to take my breath away. The crater is one of the world’s largest—roughly 1,000 feet deep and nearly a mile across—and its mineral-rich walls are streaked with red Thanks to its abundant iron, jet-black basalt, and volcanic activity, Costa Rica is neon-yellow sulfur. I gawk for a perfect place to take a dip in my allotted 20 minutes, then a thermal spring. The Springs head back down. Resort & Spa sits just north of A long, switchbacking road Volcán Arenal, and its circuit descends between the Poás of pools is fed with mineral- and Barva volcanoes, along- rich water that ranges from side the Río Sarapiquí, on 83 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit. the way toward the Northern Two-day passes for $68, Lowlands. I pull over at the thespringscostarica.com roadside Catarata de La Paz—a

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56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 62 06/09/2019 10:12 a late lunch of falafel, hum - mus, salad, and yucca “magic” chips. Parking myself on the leafy covered patio to eat, I watch the clouds drift across Arenal and hope for a little magic to turn this weather. La Fortuna is the adven - ture capital of Costa Rica, where dozens of companies take thrill-seekers zip-lining through the rainforest canopy and rappeling off 200-foot cliffs. Today, I’m more inter- ested in communing with this natural paradise, so I head to the base of the volcano for a soak in Tabacón Thermal Resort & Spa’s mineral-rich natural hot springs. After nightfall, I drive 10 minutes up the road and check in to Nayara Springs, a luxury property that blends seamlessly into the rainforest. From above: a private here is glacier-blue and sends humming to itself. With low My 1,500-square-foot villa is plunge pool at Nayara Springs; hiking in the a cold shockwave through my clouds blowing across the trail so outrageously over-the- Lost Canyon, near body. If the Gemelas were like and thunder approaching in top—private garden, king-size Volcán Arenal a storm, this feels more like a the distance, I beat a retreat to four-poster bed, indoor and baptism, and for a while I just the car, humming to myself the outdoor showers, hot springs– float on my back. This, I think, entire way. fed plunge pool, a hammock— must be pura vida. As if on cue, Ninety minutes later, when that I decide to stay in and feels less like swimming than a hummingbird—iridescent I roll into the town of La order room service (sea bass like withstanding a hurri - green with flashes of white Fortuna de San Carlos, fat ceviche). Cracking an IPA, I cane, but a guide tells me and purple—appears above raindrops are pattering slide into my private plunge about a deeper, calmer pool me. We regard each other for against the windshield and pool, close my eyes, and lis- that’s just 10 minutes down- what feels like five minutes, Volcán Arenal is shrouded in ten to the chorus of chirping stream. Located below a few but must be only seconds, clouds. I stop into the family- frogs as it fills the surround- smaller cascades, the water before it continues on, owned Orgánico Fortuna for ing jungle.

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel Grano El Mangroove, Nayara Springs de Oro an Autograph Collection Hotel Set in the lush Costa Rican San José’s original boutique jungle at the foot of Volcán luxury hotel is cobbled together Although its clean, geometric Arenal, adults-only Nayara from a trio of elegant Victorian lines and boho decor project a Springs teems with tropical buildings. Lushly planted detached cool, this Guanacaste biodiversity. While the patios and fountain-studded hotel is all about connection. teak-and-stone villas offer corridors link 40 guest rooms, It offers the same luxuries luxe indoor amenities like each of which is appointed with as more secluded Gold Coast high ceilings and dual rain wrought-iron beds and plush hideaways—indoor/outdoor showers, the outdoors are fabrics. The on-site ’s suites, full-service spa, poolside where they really shine: French-leaning meals (served at cabanas—with a more down- Each one has a private locals-friendly prices) have to-earth vibe. Don’t miss terrace with a hot spring–fed made it one of the city’s top Michelin-starred chef Sebastián plunge pool and an alfresco dining destinations. From $170, La Rocca’s Makoko restaurant. breakfast spot. From $750, hotelgranodeoro.com From $224, marriott.com nayarasprings.com

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56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 64 06/09/2019 10:12 DAY largest lake. By the time I reach the little town of Nuevo Arenal, two-thirds of the way down the lake’s 25-mile-long shore, the rain has stopped and blue sky peeks through the clouds. Past Tilarán, the road descends steeply from

“ After fording a puddle that I briefly mistake told that lightning has shut for a river, I climb down the bridges. incredibly steep “Pura vida!” says my server, delivering a bowl of poached grades that offer eggs in a spicy green chile cal- unbroken views dillo stew. Those words are so customary here that they’re of the jade sea.” reflexive, but in the moment they feel like a divine message telling me to seize the day and the Cordillera de Tilarán to find my own satisfaction. the broad plains of Guanacas- I resolve to beeline it for te’s Northern Lowlands. In the Guanacaste’s “Gold Coast,” whitewashed adobe outskirts taking the nausea-inducing of Liberia, the state capital, I road that hugs the contours turn toward the sun-soaked of Lago Arenal, the country’s Pacific beaches.

► Stand-up paddle- boarding with sea turtles and snorkeling with eels

’m hoping for a glimpse of Arenal’s conical sum- 3mit when I sit down to an open-air breakfast at INayara’s rooftop Mis Amores bistro, but the downpour that began in the middle of the night isn’t letting up. I’ve While I’ve booked a stay climb incredibly steep grades booked a guide for an early- for tonight at El Mangroove, that offer unbroken views morning hike among the a bohemian-chic beachfront of the jade sea, before at last cloud forests of Místico Are- hotel on Playa Panama, right descending to the resort town

This page, from top: nal Hanging Bridges Park—a now I’m eager to get my sea of Las Catalinas. Founded in a toucan at the La Paz 600-plus-acre private tropical legs under me—literally, on a 2006 by Atlanta-based tech Waterfall Gardens Nature Park; sunset rainforest reserve where low- stand-up paddleboard. Near- millionaire Charles Brewer, on the beach at land and highland f lora meet, ing the ocean, I’m shocked the 1,200-acre townsite is El Mangroove hotel; opposite page, from providing rich habitat for at how rugged the so-called being privately developed top: Místico Arenal more than 700 species of ani- Gold Coast is. After fording based on New Urbanism prin- Hanging Bridges Park; paddleboarders mal, including jaguars, tapirs, a road-spanning puddle that ciples of human-scaled city returning to shore sloths, and monkeys—but I’m I briefly mistake for a river, I design—compact, mixed-use

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56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 66 06/09/2019 10:12 56-69_HEMI1019_3PD_3_R1.indd 67 06/09/2019 10:12 focused on healthy meals that tourists are crowding the afterglow seems to settle over take advantage of the nation’s decks, but as I explore the the entire boat. I take up posi- year-round bounty of fresh boat—and the open bar, where tion on the port-side prow, my ingredients. I sip a creamy I order an Imperial, Costa legs dangling over the water, a Mavericks smoothie (banana, Rica’s ubiquitous lager—I beer in my hand. We happen peanut butter, cacao, milk, discover a few quiet spots to upon several groups of spotted and coconut), and peruse the scan the water for marine life. dolphin swimming near the café’s small lending library while the rest of my order is readied. The ricotta pancakes are served with maple syrup, just like at home, and bal - anced out by an uber-healthy acai bowl, with hemp, granola, chia, coconut, bananas, and strawberries. Belly full, I’m ready to head back out on the water. I go north along the coast to Playas del Coco, a lively beach town that’s popular for its deep- sea fishing and scuba diving charters. I opt for a sunset sail and snorkel aboard the 66-foot custom-built cata- maran Marlin del Rey. At first it feels as if too many

Clockwise from above: Sailing north along the coast, mouth of Coco Bay, and, when Mediterranean-inspired Las Catalinas; a we spot sea turtles and wide- the captain changes course to mother and baby sloth; winged frigatebirds riding intercept them, they indulge breakfast at Surf Box; the restaurant exterior thermals near the tip of Pen- our curiosity by repeatedly insula Papagayo. Rounding surfing the boat’s bow wave. the peninsula, we anchor in I watch, mesmerized, as they neighborhoods with walkable a secluded cove, and snorkels twist and swim playfully just streets and accessible public are handed out. Among the ahead of the prow and below spaces—taken from Old World the surface, occasionally toss- Europe. In fact, the car-free ing in an acrobatic leap for cobblestone streets remind “ I watch, show. Just when I think it can’t me of a small town on the Med- get any better, a mother and iterranean as I wander to Pura mesmerized, her curious calf take a short Vida Ride, a sports shop that as the dolphins turn in our wake. offers paddleboarding tours Standing on the boat and along the wildlife-rich coast. twist and swim soaking in the simple, pro - My toes in the powder-soft playfully ahead found beauty of the dolphins, black sand of Playa Danta, I who are perfectly at home in meet Braulio Zuñiga, a gre - brief ly caught off guard by the of the prow.” their bountiful, protected garious 24-year-old guide sloshing of waves bouncing Costa Rican ecosystem, I’m who, after a few quick tips, off the rocks. The sea calms overcome by a sense of peace leads me out onto the bay. down in the neighboring bay, near-shore rocks, I commune and well-being. That, my There’s almost no wind this and we can see the bottom with blue tangs, sergeant friends, is the definition of morning and, because of the clearly. “I wish I’d brought a major fish, schools of barra - pura vida. way the bay is situated, very snorkel and mask,” Zuñiga cuda, butterflyfish, porcu- little chop. Just a minute past says, but even without them, pinefish and puffers, moray the surf break, Zuñiga points I can easily spot a massive eels, and countless urchins. Explore the riches within: out a dawdling olive ridley sea manta ray fluttering grace - On the return journey to United offers nonstop flights to turtle that lets us get almost fully beneath our boards. Coco, the wind calms, turn- both Liberia and San José, Costa within touching distance Back on shore, I bid Braulio ing the ocean’s surface into Rica, from its hubs in New York/ before lazily diving away. We adiós and head to Surf Box, a quicksilver. I can’t tell if it’s New Jersey and Houston. Visit paddle around Islas Pitaha- tiny whitewashed roadside the golden light from the set- united.com or download the yas, the two small islands at restaurant in Playa Flamingo. ting sun or if I’ve just caught United mobile app for schedule the bay’s mouth, where I’m Owned by an expat couple, it’s a buzz, but a warm sort of and details.

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