Dear Peter,

If you drive south two hours from the Liberia airport [in Costa Rica], or west three hours from San Jose, you will reach the Gulf of Nicoya. The surroundings are mostly rural melon farms and cattle fields. There are probably about 2000 native Costa Ricans living there; the men, mostly fishermen who catch shrimp and cobina.

My friend Mauricio is a Costa Rican man in his mid-thirties. He is bi-lingual and has lived in this remote area all of his life watching places like Tamarindo, Ocatol, Hermosa and Playa del Coco rise from obscurity to major development. In his opinion, this Nicoya area is the new future development in Costa Rica. Mauricio calls himself a “real estate finder” and calls his business “Dreamcatchers.” He is also a tourist guide and licensed dive master.

Mauricio arranged for my husband and I to be taken by boat from a small port near Nicoya called Puerto Thiel. The boat took us into the Gulf of Nicoya, which empties into the Pacific Ocean. On our journey we saw many beautiful water birds like brown and white herons.

We stopped at a fishing boat casting its nets and watched as a haul of shrimp was brought in. The land on both sides was a rich green, and undeveloped. Islands and mountains were in the background, and it seems untouched. This, I believe, is a virgin natural area as yet undiscovered.

“This place is the real Costa Rica,” Mauricio said to me.

From December to March it is dry season, and fields are wheat colored. May-November is the season when the countryside is very green.

I couldn’t help thinking what a rare adventure this had proved to be. I just wanted to share this with you, Peter.

If you or any of your readers would like to see this area or speak to Mauricio, he can be reached at: 506-899-0248, 506-847-9866, or email maugaros@yahoo.es.

Fondly,

Lorraine W.

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For more information on traveling to unusual locations, check out “Personal Picks: Expert Travelers’ Favorite Destinations”.