I’m sitting in Sámara, cold drink in hand, watching a sunrise that looks like it was painted by someone who clearly wasn’t in a rush.
Rainy season.
Which, for those who’ve never been here, doesn’t mean miserable.
It means everything is alive, loud, green… and then suddenly—quiet.
Too quiet.
I’ve got a good friend down here, splits his time between Canada and this place, and right now I’m parked with him soaking it all in. We just came out of Tamarindo after a couple days, and the contrast hits you fast.
Tamarindo’s got that energy—
dust, movement, tourists, construction everywhere trying to keep up with itself.
It’s more plains than jungle. Open. Busy. Always building something.
Sámara?
Different world.
Jungle creeps right up to the edges. Things grow whether you like it or not. Slower pace, fewer people trying to sell you something every five seconds. It breathes.
Or at least… it did.
The howler monkeys used to own the mornings here.
If you’ve heard them, you don’t forget it—sounds like something between a warning siren and the end of the world echoing through the trees.
Now?
Construction pushed them out.
Progress, I guess.
But there’s something about that missing noise that hits wrong.
You don’t realize how much life fills a place until it’s gone.
Now it’s just the ocean, the wind, and that quiet sitting where the jungle used to talk.
Sad, in a way you don’t expect.
Now don’t get it twisted—this place still gets it right where it matters.
The Ticos?
They treat you like you belong there, not like you’re passing through.
No fake smiles, no forced nonsense. Just decent people being decent people.
That alone puts it ahead of a lot of places.
And yeah… for those wondering:
You can get weed here without much trouble.
Not exactly a secret. Not exactly cheap either.
Call it the tourist tax on relaxation.
But standing there this morning, watching that sun come up over Sámara…
You get it.
Why people come here.
Why some never leave.
Why others split their lives just to keep a foot in it.
Even with the noise gone… or maybe because of it…
You start noticing everything else.
And for a few minutes at least—
The world shuts up.
