I recently visited Costa Rica for the first time. I've always heard how much people love Costa Rica, while quickly citing the catch phrase 'pura vida'. And whenever I look up best places to travel or retire, Costa Rica is often highlighted on the short list. With that said, I have to admit that when I have researched taking a holiday in Costa Rica over the years, it wasn't obvious what the nitty gritty of that holiday would look like. Normally, one of my superpowers is t

I've loved a day at the market for a long, long time. Is there anything more beautiful than fresh produce? As a young person when I first started going to museums I didn't understand why people painted bowls of fruit. And yet as I get older I realize I'm guilty. I would have been one of those people who painted bowls of fruit. I have taken literally hundreds of photos of produce in markets. The shapes and the colours are mesmerizing. Thank-you Costa Rica!

As a life long lover of coffee (even though I have recently given up caffeine) I was always intrigued to see how coffee is produced. On my recent trip to Costa Rica we had the opportunity to visit Hacienda Doka, a small production fair trade, coffee farm. Costa Rica produces 100% robusta coffee, a premium type of coffee, as differentiated to arabica coffee which is larger, and grows more quickly. They guided us through the process from seed to cup. The baby plants are kept