5 Books to Read in Costa Rica
Are you an avid reader or just trying to get prepped for the upcoming trip to Costa Rica?
We’ve got a few book suggestions to pass along. Our list includes two collections of stories written by local Jack Ewing, owner of Hacienda Baru. We’ve got a book for bug-lovers (big and small) and the best field guide for birders. Plus we’ve included a coloring book for the kiddos... or adults. And finally, a highly-rated paperback travel memoir for adults, full of surf-trip-shenanigans to round out the list. Enjoy!
Monkeys are made of Chocolate by Jack Ewing
This is a great collection of stories for an insider look at the jungle around your comfy vacation villa. If you don’t order it before your trip, you can stop into Hacienda Baru and buy a copy. The stories in this book, and in Jack’s sequel “Where Jaguars and Tapirs Once Roamed” all take place right in the area you’ll be staying – Dominical and the southern zone.
Hidden Kingdom by Piotr Naskrecki
If you get a chance to take this visual journey before your trip to Costa Rica, you’ll know so much more about what’s going on by your feet. You’ll notice life everywhere as you hike around your vacation villa. This book is full of stunning photography along with scientific and engaging text. If you’re already a bug-buff, you know exactly who E.O. Wilson is, and will appreciate the foreword he contributed to Hidden Kingdom; The Insect Life of Costa Rica.
The Birds of Costa Rica by Richard Garrigues
Whether you‘re a novice birder or have birding for ages, this field guide is a must on your vacation to Costa Rica. Featuring over 903 species, you’ll find descriptions and illustrations so you can easily keep track of all the species you spot on your dream vacation to Costa Rica. We even have return guests who bring their guide book back each year, to keep marking off the species they spot. Some species will soar past your floor-to-ceiling villa windows. Others you’ll discover on birding tours that we can book for you. Let us know in the comments if you were lucky enough to see one of the “rarities” recently added to this newest edition.
Colors of Costa Rica: a Coloring Book by Cynthia Kloeter
If you have kids, or you’ve taken up adult-coloring-for-relaxation, this book is for you. There are few places as beautiful as the Southern Zone of Costa Rica where our stunning vacation homes are located. Try and capture that beauty while you color in the scenery. Perfect for the countdown before your upcoming vacation or to bring along to keep the kids, and yourself, occupied between swimming and adventure tours.
In Search of Captain Zero by Allan Weisbecker
For the adults in the house — especially surfers — who’d enjoy a travel memoir with some criminal activity mixed in for suspense. “In this rollicking memoir of his quest from Mexico to Costa Rica … Weisbecker intimately describes the people he befriended, the bandits he evaded, the waves he caught and lost en-route to finding his friend.” With a rating of 4.7 stars out of 5, an awful lot of readers gave it the thumbs up. It was written a long time ago, before Costa Rica became a tourist’s dream, before our vacation villas were built, and even before they paved the road to Dominical! Oh, how times have changed.
Have you read an awesome book about Costa Rica that we should add to our list? Let us know in the comments!