Blue Zones

The Nicoya Peninsula here on the Pacific side of Costa Rica is categorized by scientists and demographers as one of five “Blue Zones” in the world.  These “Blue Zones” are places where people often live active lives beyond the age of 100.

Researchers have found there are certain characteristics that each of these areas have in common…factors  that contribute to the longevity of the residents there.  And, although I did not make the connection at the time, I have been able to witness these factors in action while spending the past 3 months in Playa del Coco.

What I observed were the incredibly strong family values that serve as the platform for all other activities of daily life.  Costa Rican families tend to be large.  Young couples have not one, not two, but four, five or more children in fairly rapid succession.  Adults spend huge amounts of quality time with their children, playing with them, enjoying life together.  Old people are always included in family outings to the beach or a favorite picnic spot.  Families are cohesive, support each other and derive joy from their interaction.

Next to the importance of family structure, another prime factor in the Blue Zone is that the main staples of the Costa Rican diet come from things that grow in the earth with legumes being the most common.  Though not strict vegetarians, their food is certainly based more on plants than animals.   Smoking among Costa Ricans is rare and their daily activity level is high.  Working, walking or riding a bicycle are all forms of exercise that everyone here gets loads of on a daily basis.  So, slim and trim is the standard body type among most of people who live in this region.

Finally, as noted in a previous blog, Costa Ricans are happy people and it is this state of mind combined with family values, healthy diet, and a high level of physical activity that result in people living long, healthy lives frequently for more than a century.  The Nicoya Peninsula: one of only five Blue Zones in the world!

And for a brief update on the wild and crazy week just past, it is difficult to figure where to start.  Dottie and Roy were here for 2 weeks, having just headed back to Tennessee this morning.  Gay, our friend and former neighbor at Venetian Golf & River Club in Venice, Florida got here last Saturday and will be with us for the rest of this week.  Tammy and Monte just came down to Coco for their 2nd trip here this winter.  Several of our local friends just headed home after spending their winter here.  Kenny and Diane, Bob and Judy, John and Pam, Ralph and Carolyn………..all gone just in the last few days.  Chaos is the only order that exists as the end of our stay draws near.  So much happening and so few days left to squeeze it all in.

Scrambling around like chickens at a fox convention, we’re trying to wrap up things for a May closing on our just purchased condo here at Pacifico.  Above is the view from the living room.  Pura Vida!!!!

For the Love of Souvenirs

One of the most captivating places to sit and sip a beer (margaritas work well too) is on “the rail” at the Z-Lounge or Coconutz or the Lizard Lounge down on El Coco’s main thoroughfare.

These are open air restaurant/bar type establishments famous for their warm beer and lousy food but revered as champions of the all day happy hour.  And consistent with the true nature of Costa Rican style, it is sometimes possible to get same-day service.

The “rail” is a bar-height, foot deep, counter that defines the street-side perimeter of the food service area, the floor of which is elevated from the street level by 4-5 feet.  Bar stools along the rail provide the preferred perch to look out over the commotion amidst the roadside shops and vendors, the ever thrilling traffic flow and the potpourri of pedestrian shoppers streaming by as though line dancing.  In some cultures, this is referred to as people-watching.

The “main” thoroughfare is more accurately represented as the “only” thoroughfare in downtown El Coco.  It is a narrow, partially paved and plentifully pot-holed street that produces copious shrouds of dust when it is dry and measureless mud when it is wet.  Lacking the benefit of actual sidewalks, it creates pedestrian obstacles which are as hazardous as they are challenging.

The stakes for survival along the street are heightened due to the unrelenting stream of traffic attempting to weave its way through the chaos spawned by drivers stopped in the street to chat with an amigo, bicycles loaded with up to 4 passengers spastically striving to stay upright, shoppers on foot fecklessly meandering from side to side as delivery trucks, buses, motorcycles, cars, trucks and electric vehicles bob and weave through the whole mess struggling to avoid collisions with competitors seeking the same path.

The speed at which these maneuvers are accomplished varies between the pace of a centipede on crutches and the brief burst of a motorcycle at full throttle spurting past stymied drivers of less nimble vehicles.

This muddled mishmash of motorized and pedestrian traffic is a recipe for disaster as those driving are attempting to arrive at an actual destination to which they are already late even by Costa Rican standards and those hoofing it who have no idea where they are going but all the time in the world to get there.

Lined with shops, restaurants and bars, this congested artery is nearly as perilous as the plaque-clogged passage in the neck of a sclerotic cardiac patient.  Nothing flows smoothly and danger lurks constantly as the flow pulses onward.  In spite of that, there in the relative safety of a bar stool on the rail, the intrigue is inescapable as the scene commands vigilance from the ever attentive gallery.

A steady stream of tourists from all points on the globe parade from one shopkeeper’s outside table to the next clad in their shorts, bathing suits, flip-flops, sunburns and sunglasses as young ladies employed to watch over the goods work to entice spenders inside where even more stuff waits to be bagged.  Canadians and Europeans far outnumber Americans and most are here for brief visits.  But, regardless of the amount of time spent in El Coco, nearly all want to use some of their remaining money to acquire reminders of their vacation in Costa Rica before departing for their next destination.

Thousands of trinkets adorned with “Costa Rica” in script, “El Coco” burned on the bias into wood or stamped onto molded plastic, and colorful towels, wraps, or garments in the primary colors of Costa Rica’s famed parrots all compete for the attention of would be buyers.  Native looking necklaces, bracelets and jewelry fabricated from shells or stones are everywhere. So many choices to aid in the memory of a trip to Costa Rica!  And nearly all of it … are you ready???     Imported from China!

Don't anybody tell Geri about this babe I picked up!

Wow, the Ides of March is upon us (tomorrow) and the air is still cool in the morning and evening.  That's especially convenient as our central air conditioning died Saturday night and it would be hard to take under normal circumstances.  Which leads me to the topic of my Monday blog that follows.  It points toward some fundamental differences in people and cultures.....between the 'haves' and the 'have nots'.  Happy mid-March to everyone...........

Not everything about Costa Rica is grand and beautiful.  Oh sure, there are the stupendously impressive  volcanoes, the ecologically unique tropical rain forests, the hundreds upon hundreds of miles of beaches lining the western Pacific coast and the eastern Carribean coast (Costa), and the enormously diverse wildlife amid  flora which is so intensely rich (Rica) as to be one of National Geographic’s top biological wonderlands in the entire world.  But there is also that poverty thing.  Not so pretty.

Of course, nearly every country on the planet has its poverty related problems.  The point here is that Costa Rica is no exception.  There are undoubtedly countries around the world where profound poverty grips the nation on a pandemic level and strangles its people more than here.  But there are far too many Costa Ricans who must endure what by our standards is a pitiful plight.

There are ironies wrapped in conundrums as one observes unsavory levels of destitution alongside the grandeur of the fiercely rugged landscape.  There are people living in shelters framed by lashing dead tree limbs together with twine and tying corregated tin to them to fashion sides and a roof.  The best such dirt floored shelters provide is shade from the sweltering summer sun and slight protection from the wind driven autumn rains.  The only running water in these quarters is what falls from the sky.  Some such huts are found right beside a main road so that the entrepreneurially inclined can fabricate homemade tables to display locally grown fruits in hopes passersby may stop and part with a dollar or two in exchange for a watermelon or some succulent pineapples or mangos.

And then there are the more substantial huts consisting of 4 concrete block walls and something that passes for a roof.  These structures of concrete block are typically found farther off the main roads, on dusty gravel trails with rutted, washboard type surfaces where local residents are assaulted by the clouds of dust born by each passing vehicle, where the battle is never ending, never won.

The nicer ones may even sport a coat of paint.  The walls commonly have rectangular openings and the more upscale versions may have actual windows to fill these openings.  Whether enhanced with glass or not, these openings are typically fortified with iron bars…a deterrent to any unscrupulous among them who may be tempted to misappropriate what little may be harbored within. Except for those driven to thievery out of sheer desperation, Costa Rica is an incredibly  peaceful and non-violent country. 

There is, however, one amenity all of these “homes” have in common.  They all have a clothes line.  And while they may not have many clothes to wash or hang out to dry, the ones they have are clean.  Laundry is an every day affair in every Costa Rican hovel.  Done without the benefit of washing machines, it’s a task which consumes the major portion of each mother’s day.  Uniformed children go to school in white, starched shirts and blouses no matter their station in life.  They wear their clean clothes with pride because  they are a proud people, these Costa Ricans are.

Of course, not every Costa Rican native lives in abject poverty.  Some are actually wealthy… most are not.  There are those who seek and obtain a college education compliments of their socialist government. Those few who do acquire an advanced degree provide professional services and enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.  Those who don’t, have a difficult life to endure.  Laboring in the infernos of sugar cane fields, cantaloupe farms or other back breaking drudgery day in and day out is the destiny faced by the majority.  There is little to look forward to and much to dread.

Yet in spite of these masses who endure the challenges of a substandard lifestyle, there is one singularly  ironic fact that emerges from this cauldron of beauty and the beast-of-indigence.  Costa Ricans are happy.  They do not wallow in misery nor dream enviously of the life enjoyed by the more fortunate.  They celebrate each day with a song in their soul, a smile on their face, and a light in their eye.  They laugh, they cajole, they love their journey.   They are welcoming, they are helpful and they are kind.    Though many of these folks lack even the most basic needs for day to day living, they possess a wealth of cheer and a level of satisfaction money can’t seem to buy.  Costa Ricans are happy people and Costa Rica is a happy country. 

POST SCRIPT: The “Happy Planet Index” from Wikipedia, ranks Costa Rica as the happiest country on earth and  Forbes magazine ranks it the 6th happiest, the top five being Scandinavian countries.  Needless to say, the USA doesn’t make any of the “happy country” lists.  That’s kind of depressing, huh!?!

A Photo Blog...

4 Masted Cruise Ship in Coco Bay

OK, so for all you people who have been whining about the paltry use of photos in my blog entries, I am dedicating this week’s blog to you, as proof that it truly is the squeaky wheel that get’s the grease.



While sorting through the zillions of pixels residing in the depths of my hard drive, I was reminded (because of the HUGE number) of the time one of George Bush’s top advisors informed him that 3 Brazilian soldiers had been killed by an IED over in Iraq.  President Bush then famously replied: “Three brazilion….wow, that’s really a LOT isn’t it?”

Boats moored in Coco Bay

Sorry, I couldn’t resist the temptation to digress.  I must say, however, it is extremely easy to wander when writing about no particular subject, where the boundary lines are about as confining as a ring of smoke and the needle on your mental compass spins haphazardly out of control.





Be that as it may, the photo gallery being passed along in today’s “picture blog” consists of random shots of the locale in and around El Coco, photos of Geri and me as proof to the family that we have not been kidnapped even after living for two-plus months in a Latin country, and photos of friends we’ve had the pleasure of knowing while mutually avoiding the horrors of winter in North America.

Horseback Riding on the beach

The pictures of Geri and yours truly are meant primarily for our family and those friends on my limited distribution email list who enjoy making fun of my hair by claiming it has turned grey.  In the interest of full disclosure and self defense, I am here to claim that it is not really grey.  Rather, it is bleached by the sun and chlorine to a blondish, grayish beige which in daylight and some artificial light just looks kind of grey.  But it is not….mostly.  Really!

"Storefronts" in downtown Playas del Coco

The photos of our friends here in Costa Rica are primarily for THEIR benefit to aid in reminiscing and to remind them where they were, who was here and what they did during the winter of 2011.

Rare rainbow over the condo

Another rainbow shot

I will avoid going into great lengths to identify our local friends as they all pretty much know who they are and who each other is while most of you in the North won’t know or care.  I must say, however, that some of our El Coco friends are conspicuously absent from or appear infrequently in this group of photos so the album is incomplete at best.

Geri hanging out at a BAR of course

View from our tent on the Osa Peninsula

Being true to my word I am sticking to my promise to be short on verbiage and long on pictures in this week’s photo blog.  So, continue looking...........

Geri with our little friend Morgan

Actually, Morgan lives with John and Pam and we just get to babysit on occasion!

Bob and Geri (his Geri, not mine)

Judy and Bob (Judy's Bob,not Geri's)

Bob serving refreshments...per usual

Bob 2, Larry, John, Jim and Bob 1 in conference

Carolyn and Ralph when the ghost walked in

Geri "A" and Judy

Geri "A" in the kitchen

Geri and Diane beaching again

Hal and Jim at the Wednesday happy hour

Heidi....ready, set, HIKE

Our tri-atheletes...John and Pam

Kenny in Dominical

Louise at Hermosa Beach

Jack at Hermosa Beach

Pamela under the rainbow

Pam, Deb and Erika at the Wednesday pot luck

We particularly enjoy Wednesday evenings here at our Pacifico complex as that is when we congregate in our veranda for group therapy (happy hour) and pot-luck hors-doeuvres which are substantial enough to be our dinner.  As the Wednesday gathering is a 'scheduled' event, it is different from the more random and impromptu poolside happy hours which occur on the other days of the week.  An important distinction for those who need help remembering the current day of the week.

Larry on "Rainbow" day

Geri, Kenny and Diane on the Osa Peninsula

Monte and Tammy

Tammy chillin'

That's all Folks, bye bye for now............