Every November, as the air cools and families gather around the table, many of us take a moment to give thanks — for what we have, for who we love, for where we are. But gratitude doesn’t have to be a once-a-year ritual. In Costa Rica, it’s a way of life.
Here, the wild spaces themselves invite reflection. They ask you to slow down, breathe deeper, and notice the beauty that’s been waiting for your attention all along. The rainforest doesn’t hurry. The ocean doesn’t rush. Everything unfolds in its own time — reminding us that presence, not abundance, is the real source of gratitude.
So this Thanksgiving season, let’s step away from the table for a moment and wander into the wild. Because in Costa Rica, gratitude isn’t just something you speak — it’s something you feel with every sense.
1. Corcovado National Park: Thankful for the Untamed
Down on the remote Osa Peninsula, Corcovado National Park is a masterpiece of raw, unfiltered nature. Scarlet macaws soar above the canopy, tapirs leave prints along the riverbanks, and the humid air buzzes with life.
It’s easy to feel small here — and that’s part of the gift. The vastness of Corcovado reminds us that we are guests in this world, and the best way to give thanks is to tread lightly and look closely. Gratitude takes the shape of a footprint in the mud, a whispered “wow,” and the quiet joy of witnessing something wild continue just as it always has.
2. Monteverde Cloud Forest: Thankful for Stillness
High in the mountains, the Monteverde Cloud Forest is wrapped in mist and mystery. Every step leads you deeper into a living dream — trees draped in moss, orchids clinging to ancient branches, hummingbirds darting through the haze.
In a world that often equates productivity with worth, Monteverde offers the opposite lesson: stillness is sacred. The forest breathes slowly, and you start to match its rhythm. Gratitude here isn’t loud or grand — it’s quiet and steady, like the soft drip of water from leaf to leaf. It’s a Thanksgiving prayer whispered to the earth itself.
3. Río Celeste: Thankful for Wonder
Legend has it that when God finished painting the sky, he dipped his brushes in Río Celeste, giving it its otherworldly blue hue. Standing at the edge of the waterfall, you can almost believe it. The color is unreal — a shade so vivid it feels magical.
Science explains it differently, of course, but that doesn’t make it any less extraordinary. Río Celeste reminds us that wonder is its own form of gratitude — the willingness to be amazed, to let beauty surprise us. This Thanksgiving, let this luminous river be a reminder to stay curious, to believe in small miracles, and to give thanks for the mysteries we can’t quite explain.
4. Tortuguero National Park: Thankful for Life’s Cycles
On Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, Tortuguero National Park is a place of renewal. By night, sea turtles return to its black-sand beaches to lay their eggs, just as they have for millions of years. By day, the canals ripple with manatees, caimans, and herons gliding silently through the water.
Watching a mother turtle dig her nest under the stars is like witnessing the essence of Thanksgiving itself — continuity, endurance, and care passed from one generation to the next. The moment feels both fragile and eternal. You leave not just thankful for the life before you, but for the instinct that connects us all.
5. Nicoya Peninsula: Thankful for Simplicity
The Nicoya Peninsula, one of the world’s famed Blue Zones, offers a different kind of abundance — one rooted in simplicity. Here, days stretch long and easy. Locals share meals of fresh fish and beans under mango trees. Sunsets turn golden while children play barefoot on the sand.
People here live longer not because of luxury, but because of balance. They laugh often, move naturally, and find meaning in the everyday. It’s a place that redefines wealth — not as what you own, but how deeply you live. Gratitude here looks like a smile shared between neighbors, a long meal with friends, or the stillness after the sun dips below the horizon.
6. Arenal Volcano & Hot Springs: Thankful for Renewal
Few places embody gratitude like Arenal Volcano, a symbol of power, transformation, and renewal. Around its base, mineral-rich hot springs bubble up from the earth — nature’s own gift of warmth and healing.
As you soak beneath the open sky, watching the volcano rise against the twilight, it’s easy to feel thankful for the forces that shape the world — the fire beneath the surface, the rain that cools it, the balance between creation and rest.
Thanksgiving isn’t just about giving thanks for what’s easy — it’s about appreciating the balance of it all. The moments of calm, the moments of heat, and everything in between.
7. Guanacaste’s Dry Forests: Thankful for Resilience
In the northwest, Guanacaste’s dry forests endure months without rain. What looks bare and brittle in the dry season bursts to life with the first drops of water.
These landscapes teach resilience — the quiet strength to rest when you must, to bloom when it’s time. As the trees burst into color and the air hums with cicadas, you’re reminded that every cycle, even the hard ones, has beauty.
It’s a fitting reflection for Thanksgiving: gratitude not only for what thrives easily, but for what endures and returns stronger.
Finding Thanksgiving in the Wild
In Costa Rica, gratitude isn’t confined to a single holiday or a table set with abundance. It’s felt in the soft glow of sunrise over misty hills, in the laughter shared over gallo pinto, in the way strangers greet you with pura vida — pure life.
These wild spaces invite us to live that phrase, not just say it. To slow down. To notice. To reconnect. Because the truth is, gratitude doesn’t always need words — sometimes it just needs space.
This Thanksgiving, whether you’re watching scarlet macaws in Corcovado or sipping coffee on a Monteverde balcony, take a moment to be still. Feel the air. Listen. Let the wildness of Costa Rica remind you that to be alive — truly alive — is the greatest blessing of all.
