This is not the polished, predictable Costa Rica of glossy postcards and tightly packed itineraries. It is greener, wilder and more elemental. Here, the rainforest leans toward the sea. Scarlet macaws streak across the sky in pairs. Monkeys looking for breakfast and the sounds of tropical birds stirring provide the morning alarm, the air smells of wet earth and tropical blooms, and the Golfo Dulce lies warm and calm beneath mountains wrapped in jungle. I traveled through the region to experience it as I would want my clients to experience it: slowly, curiously and with time for the moments no itinerary can promise.
