{"id":5279,"date":"2025-05-13T17:45:59","date_gmt":"2025-05-13T17:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/?p=5279"},"modified":"2025-05-15T18:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T18:31:10","slug":"what-is-it-about-juanilama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/13\/what-is-it-about-juanilama\/","title":{"rendered":"What is it about Juanilama?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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What is it about Juanilama<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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  • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAutor: Marco Ca\u00f1izales<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
  • \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/i>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCategory: Rural Experiences<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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    Twenty years ago, a Canadian woman came to stay in Juanilama for a few months. She fell in love with a local man, life eventually took them in different directions, but last year she returned\u2014this time with her family\u2014for her wedding to that same man. Today, she\u2019s one of Juanilama\u2019s own.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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    And hers isn\u2019t the only story like this. Many tourists have tried to buy land here, dreaming of making Juanilama their home. It\u2019s a humble place, with dirt roads and a forest that brushes the backyard of most houses. People come here thinking they\u2019re going to help the locals, those who seem to have less. But when they leave, they realize the people of Juanilama actually have everything.<\/p>

    It\u2019s those outsiders, returning to their busy city lives, who end up questioning their own way of living.<\/p>

    I\u2019m sitting with the women who organize and manage rural tourism here. They laugh, sharing stories about how people want to move to this tiny village. I look at them seriously and ask the question they didn\u2019t expect: What is it that Juanilama has?<\/em><\/p>

    They glance at each other, pondering it for a moment. A spark begins to pass from one to another until it lands on Yamileth\u2019s lips. She smiles and says, What Juanilama has\u2026 is us.<\/em><\/p>

    And it\u2019s true. Eli recalls how rural tourism has brought visibility and support to local schools, how these women have helped the community grow, how any seed that lands in Juanilama won\u2019t be lost\u2014because they\u2019ll make sure it\u2019s nurtured and thrives.<\/p>

    Juanilama is named after a native plant used in cooking and home remedies. It was so common in the area that the village\u2019s founders chose the name when they settled here. Back then, 125 families received parcels of land for farming, and from the beginning, they agreed to preserve a forest for future generations.<\/p>

    These women have rooms in their homes ready to host visitors from all over the world. They\u2019re organized into rotating crews, so each group knows which week it\u2019s their turn to host and when it\u2019s their turn to help. Everyone knows who\u2019s best at teaching dance or cooking, where to go for a milking tour or to make paper using natural materials. There\u2019s no competition\u2014only a shared rhythm, a communal synergy. They know their skills, their roles, their strengths. But most of all, they know that their greatest strength has been working together.<\/p>

    After the interview, Karla takes us to photograph some of the houses used for guest stays. The system runs like clockwork\u2014a WhatsApp group keeps everyone updated on our location. At each house, we\u2019re welcomed at the door.<\/p>

    We finish at Elena\u2019s house, Karla\u2019s aunt. Her grandson, full of\u00a0school-age curiosity, greets us. Melvin, Elena\u2019s husband and the boy\u2019s grandfather, turns off the TV to say hello. We sit in the living room and join them as bowls of homemade meatball and vegetable soup are served at the table.<\/span><\/p>

    We eat together\u2014not as customers or guests, but as family.<\/p>

    We help clear the dishes, pitch in with the washing, then spend a few moments playing with the family\u2019s dogs and cats. There are several, all used to this kind of life. Elena\u2019s grandson explains the unique personality of each cat and tells us how every dog came to be part of the household.<\/p>

    Family photos line the walls. The house smells like home. Every kitchen in this village is big\u2014designed or adapted to cook and share meals with visitors.<\/p>

    My room is waiting. The heat is strong, but a fan will get me through the night. The soaps are handmade by Do\u00f1a Elena. I\u2019ll only use one, but I secretly stash the others in my backpack. The next day I\u2019ll confess my crime to her\u2014and admit that, for some strange reason, they smell so good I almost wanted to eat them.<\/p>

    We plan to wake up early to join the milking tour before 7:00 a.m. Breakfast has to be quick\u2014but it\u2019s hard when the spread is so glorious: gallo pinto, ripe plantain, fresh yogurt, cheese made that very morning, coffee, sausage, eggs, oatmeal, and the list goes on.<\/p>

    After that kind of breakfast, all we want to do is nap. We solemnly swear to start a diet when we get home\u2014but for now, we agree: if someone offers us more food, we\u2019ll accept without hesitation.<\/p>

    Once again, the crews are activated. Every household knows we\u2019re coming or just about to arrive. The simple floors shine, and smiles greet us from every\u00a0doorway.<\/p>

    By the end of our visit, the question no longer matters.<\/p>

    Without a doubt, what Juanilama has\u2014is its people.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Juanilama is a community located 7 kilometers from Santa Rosa de Pocosol in San Carlos. Being so close to an area of great tourist affluence, such as La Fortuna, gives the option of combining conventional tourism adventures with the authentic experiences of a rural community, where you can get to know Costa Rica, full of tradition and a family atmosphere. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":5253,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5279","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5279"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5279\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5302,"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5279\/revisions\/5302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5253"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5279"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5279"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maroexperiences.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5279"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}