Changing Tides: between Pura Vida, tourism and landownership: In the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a country known for its natural beauty and eco-friendly attractions, making it an attractive country to visit or migrate to. The main focus of this research is to get a closer look at how Costa Rican life has changed over the years as landownership laws have affected the landscape of the Pacific seashore in the peninsula of Nicoya. Tourism has become the primary source of work in the area of Montezuma, giving new meanings to a lifestyle often referred to as "Pura Vida." As other sources of income, such as fishing, diminished over the years due to changing environmental policies, the local people in the surroundings of Montezuma have had to change their lifestyles to adapt to the growing tourism industry. This research builds on the experiences of four main interlocutors, each of them representing a different way of life in the village. Luis, Irene, Israel, Rolando, and his wife, Maria, who all explain what the consequences of changing environmental policies are for...Show moreCosta Rica is a country known for its natural beauty and eco-friendly attractions, making it an attractive country to visit or migrate to. The main focus of this research is to get a closer look at how Costa Rican life has changed over the years as landownership laws have affected the landscape of the Pacific seashore in the peninsula of Nicoya. Tourism has become the primary source of work in the area of Montezuma, giving new meanings to a lifestyle often referred to as "Pura Vida." As other sources of income, such as fishing, diminished over the years due to changing environmental policies, the local people in the surroundings of Montezuma have had to change their lifestyles to adapt to the growing tourism industry. This research builds on the experiences of four main interlocutors, each of them representing a different way of life in the village. Luis, Irene, Israel, Rolando, and his wife, Maria, who all explain what the consequences of changing environmental policies are for them, and what the so-called ‘Pura Vida lifestyle’ means to them, now it has taken over as the national ‘slogan’ to attract tourists. In the accompanying documentary (Changing Tides) and text, I explored how their lives are being transformed by tourism and how national policies that include landownerships laws are affecting the lifestyle of the old and new inhabitants in the area. Visual Ethnography was used as a method in order to better convey the sense of ‘Pura Vida’ and how the different characters that are the protagonists in the film relate to their land, life and changes in lifestyle over the last 40 years in Montezuma.Show less

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Changing Tides: between Pura Vida, tourism and landownership: In the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica