The Pursuit of Pura Vida

Pura Vida THE PURSUIT OF

BY MAREYA IBRAHIM-JONES

It was one of the most beautiful days we could’ve created. After being single parents for 13 years, we exchanged vows under the atrium of a Romanesque dome with stately columns and blended our five kids and our lives together in a sand ceremony. We learned how to play the ukulele and courageously performed the Hawaiian-themed soundtrack “Lava” for our guests, giddily laughing and throwing our hands into the air. We danced, we sang, we crowd surfed, I performed the entire 8 minutes of Rapper’s Delite and belly danced with my best friends. We partied like we had waited our whole lives for that moment, and we had.

And within three weeks of our wedding day, my new husband, Gabe, and I found ourselves in COVID lockdown. For the next 18 months, survival mode was all we could process, trying to keep our businesses afloat and our new family from sinking. The honeymoon had to be put on permanent hold, so we flipped through travel magazines and lived vicariously through the Instagram models who were seemingly unaffected by the world’s trauma. All we could think of was, when will we be able to go, and where.

Three years prior, in month 4 of dating each other, we had traveled to Costa Rica together, new in that drippy kind of love where every experience hit different. We surfed, chased waterfalls, celebrated each sunset, soaking in the languid air and withstanding the pothole-studded roads with abandon. Gabe told me ‘You’ll miss those crappy dirt roads and all the potholes when you go home. I promise you.” And we did, desperately.

We adored Costa Rica and its Pura Vida, that ‘pure life’ vibe that you could only get close to describing with ‘aloha’. It is a mantra, an anthem, a conscious decision to live with ease; one that honors the land and its people, and it resonated with us to the core.

Being a chef and holistic nutrition coach, I also found their discovery of the fountain of youth fascinating. The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is one of the five blue zones of the world - where the largest percentage of centenarians live. Their formula for longevity is consistent with other places – they have a high sense of purpose and like to contribute to a greater good; they stay physically active in their chores; they drink a lot of water and here, it’s high in calcium; they stay stress-free and are content with their modest lifestyle; they keep a focus on family and they eat mostly plants. But unlike their long living brethren in Sardinia, Okinawa and Loma Linda, the diet in this region largely consists of corn, beans and rice.

Carb lovers – my kinda’ people.

On day 549 of our married life, wanderlust took the reins of our wild pony. We had both been fully vaccinated, and Costa Rica had loosened their borders to Americans. It was time to let go of our self-containment and take ‘the’ trip.

Two weeks later, we were racing to the airport. A direct flight from Los Angeles to Liberia’s Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport in the Guanacaste region had us arriving at 6:00 pm. We had just missed a torrential downpour, the biggest the locals had seen during this rainy season. For us, the smell of positively charged ions ignited the air and left us teary-eyed. We were really here.

We picked up our rental car and set out for Casa Chameleon in Las Catalinas on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, about an hour and a half drive from the airport. It was named one of the World’s Top 100 Hotels for the second year in a row and the #2 Resort in Central America by Travel + Leisure. With only 21 suites perched over an untamed coastline, it is the ideal of a romantic getaway. Intoxicating views. Exceptional food. That tropical, Zen vibe without the excessive kitsch. Water everywhere. The kind of place where if you were to be stranded somewhere in the world, say, because you didn’t pass the COVID test required to go home, this would be it.

“Pura Vida, welcome!” Mariela greeted us in the open lobby and even behind her mask, her eyes were wide and gracious. We were offered fresh coconut water straight from a monogrammed coconut, along with a juicy fruit skewer of fresh pineapple and the sweetest watermelon. We toasted to the evening and our safe arrival and were whisked to our room for a quick stop before walking up the pathway to Sentido Norte, the resort’s restaurant, before they closed for the night. CNN calls it one of the most romantic restaurants in the world and the 100 ft. walk up to the place alone sets the scene. The open air, 3-level structure reminded me a lot of the architectural style of Bali with its teak wood, statues and latticed adornments. We sat and breathed deeply in the saline air, famished from the day’s travels, mesmerized by the moon’s golden glimmer over the velvety ochre ocean.

I picked the Blue Zone fish tacos, 3 street-sized house-made purple corn tortillas filled with tender mahi mahi, slaw salad, roasted tomatillos and avocado sauce and a Chilean Sauvignon Blanc. My husband had the braised short rib with mushroom risotto and a Tico Old Fashioned, made with Centenario 12, tapa de dulce and orange bitters. Reading the cocktail menu entertained us while we waited for our meals - from the Guanacaste Mule made with Guara, coconut, ginger beer, lime and carrot to the Casarita, a lively looking spirit featuring tequila, sour guava and a mezcal float. Hearts and stomachs full, we slinked back to our room and listened to the waves lap against the sugary sand, exhilarated for what the morning had in store.