When I moved to Mexico in the 90s, one of my favourite things to do was to go shopping. And I don't mean shopping for shoes or designer bags. I loved the everyday shopping for groceries and other necessities. My town had several supermarkets which I frequented but my favourite place was the market, which butted up against the Gulf of Mexico. The fisherman would dock their boats, throwing their catch of the day to the vendors above. I would wake in the morning, heading ou

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

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