IT WAS NEARLY nightfall when I arrived at Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, the coastal town that I would call home during my first trip to Costa Rica. I checked in to my hotel, Satta Lodge (doubles from $165), which sits in the jungle a short distance from the shoreline. What called me to this lush country was not the nearby sloth sanctuary, or the rainforests of Corcovado National Park, or even the alluring beaches. I was there to experience the nation's Jamaican cuisine, forged by the community's long history in Limón province, on Costa's Rica's eastern seaboard.
In the early 1800s, Caribbean fishermen began to settle along the same coast where, a century or so later, a young Marcus Garvey would begin his career as a political and racial justice activist. A massive project in the 1870s to construct a railway to transport coffee from the Costa Rican highlands to Limón attracted a large population of Jamaicans looking for employment.
At the beginning of the 20th century, roughly 20,000 people migrated from Jamaica to Costa Rica to work at the notorious United Fruit Co. plantations, where, despite the repressive conditions, the newcomers were able to maintain their traditions, which influenced the region's culture and cuisine.
Today, many of these Jamaicans' descendants live in other parts of Costa Rica, but their influence remains strongest in Limón, where Afro-Caribbean culture is woven into the fabric of the region. Green, black, and red, the colors of the flag Garvey created as a symbol of the Pan-Africanist movement he championed, are emblazoned across the walls of restaurants and bars, as matter where we go in the world, we're still Black. We are supposed to love our culture, and our traditions. We should be proud, because this is what we made."
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The Luxury of Silence - Grieving a dissolved marriage, Nora Walsh seeks peace and compassion at a meditation retreat in California.
My decade-long marriage to a man I deeply love had dissolved, and I had come to the Spirit Rock Meditation Center, in the secluded hills of Marin County, north of San Francisco, to steady myself. Led by the author and meditation teacher Oren Jay Sofer, the seven-day silent retreat focused on the four brahmavihāra, or Buddhist virtues: loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.
Family Values - Gay father and blogger Jonathan Bailey shares his proudest moments of traveling with his partner and daughters.
My partner and I grew up in families that didn't travel a lot, so we've always had a sense of wanderlust. Before we had kids, we traveled together, and it was life-changing-travel opened our minds to different ways of life.In 2000, Triton and I decided to have kids. At the time, my mom had terminal cancer, and we were all about connecting with family. We wanted to adopt, because we felt like there were so many children in the world who needed love and a good home. In 2002, my mom passed away, and Sophia was born two weeks later. We welcomed our second daughter, Ava, in 2004.
Back to Sri Lanka - The past few years have not been easy on this alluring South Asian island. But on a return visit, Prasad Ramamurthy finds a place-and a people-on the upswing.
I was at the end of a five-day journey that had begun in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Galle Fort, in southwestern Sri Lanka, and taken me across the southern tip of the island to the leopard reserve of Yala National Park. In between I had taken in the dramatic coastline of Weligama and had stopped for some beach time in Hiriketiya. Sri Lanka is a country I'm particularly fond of, so when I was asked to revisit to report this story, I seized the opportunity. Yes, I was dying to go back, but I'd had another motive for coming: I wanted to see if the island nation was ready to welcome international visitors again.
Experiences: Hands On - Single-malt whiskies and triple-cream cheeses are the stuff New York's Hudson Valley is made of.
The Hudson Valley has long drawn New York City dwellers in search of clean air, spectacular hikes, and upstate culture. Now a budding community of artisans-young farmers, bakers, vintners, distillers-is turning the region into a modern breadbasket.It is a tightly woven ecosystem that also extends to restaurants and hotels. At Tenmile Distillery, in the town of Wassaic, for example, the grain used to make whiskey comes from a farm in Tivoli, 30 miles away, while the gin and vodka it produces are served at stylish addresses like the Troutbeck (doubles from $580), a hotel in Amenia, and the restaurant Stissing House (entrées $22-$155), in Pine Plains.
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