Pure Life Expeditions

What is Pura Vida?

Pura Vida! Pura Vida, literally translated means "Pure Life" but means contextually something approximate to "Full of Life" "Purified life", "This is living!", "Going great", or "Cool!" Costa Ricans use the phrase to express something akin to a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, good spirits, and enjoying life slowly and celebrating good fortune of magnitudes small and large alike.- Wikipedia.com

I decided to name this company Pure Life Expeditions because I felt that our tours encompassed the true meaning of the "Pura Vida" spirit. It is something that we could probably all use a little more of no matter where we live or where we come from. Above you see the Wikipedia description for the phrase but if you come to Costa Rica it will take on a whole new meaning for you. I decided to make a list of everything down here that, to me, is Pura Vida.

Pura Vida is.....

playing soccer in bare feet with the local school children, and getting severely beaten.

dosing off too sleep in the afternoon while listening to the rain falling on a tin roof.

waking up from your nap to fresh hot chocolate and banana pancakes.

having a conversation with someone without ever using words.

a mid-morning swim in cool blue water on a beautiful sunny day.

hanging from a rope in a waterfall suspended 60 feet in the air with water splashing in your face at 7:30 in the morning.

organically grown rice and beans with fresh vegetables all cooked over a wood burning stove.

hiking in mud up to your knees. (If you're going to get a little on you, may as well get it all over you!)

meeting someone who understands nothing about where you come from, and who cares nothing about what you do, but makes you immediately feel like family just the same.

learning to cook corn tortillas from scratch.

not being sure of the time of day, or day of the week.

drinking coconut water, out of the coconut that you just hacked open with your machete.

building a sandcastle and immediately destroying it.

using a spanish phrase that you learned in Jr. High that makes no sense, but that you'll never forget... "tengo un gato pantalon."

Fact is you don't have to visit Costa Rica to find Pura Vida, it's all around you everyday. However, if your having a hard time finding it, there's no better place to be.-- Andrew