Centurion IDC Winter 2021

BlackBook Dispatch

BlackBook Dispatch Clockwise from left: a Zunya casita; sushi delicacies from the property’s plant-based Nula kitchen; Zunya’s verdant coastal setting “ THE LOCAL COMMUNITY HAS A LOT OF ANCESTRAL WISDOM THAT THEY ARE SHARING WITH US ” – Diego Dosal Stieglitz, Zunya founder Scheduled to open in late 2023, the resort will include 38 villas plus a collection of privately owned four-to-six-bedroom estate residences. As at Nihi Sumba, guests will have a range of outdoor pursuits on hand, from hikes to the property’s waterfall and excursions into the adjacent Santa Rosa National Park to horseback riding, polo and, of course, the sport that put Costa Rica on the tourist map. “The fundamental of all these places is surfing,” says McBride, who notes that Witch’s Rock, one of Costa Rica’s premier breaks, is just 10 minutes by boat from Nihi Santo Tomas. “Bali was surf-centric. Nihi Sumba began because of the wave. Places in Costa Rica like Nosara and Santa Teresa are surf-centric – that was the catalyst that made them cool.” A few kilometres from Santa Teresa, just outside the town of Malpaís at the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula, Mexican entrepreneur Diego Dosal Stieglitz is crafting his own surfing utopia. Called Zunya (zunya.com), the resort community is set on a 32ha site with its own semiprivate point break. But Stieglitz’s vision goes far beyond waves, describing Zunya as a regenerative ecovillage that will be a hub of art, culture and health in the heart of one of Earth’s five Blue Zones. (The Nicoya Peninsula was recognised as a Blue Zone for the longevity of the local population.) “We are connecting with the community to learn as much as we can from their practices,” he says. “They have a lot of ancestral wisdom that they are sharing with us to understand what types of plants they use for medicine, what their diets are, what their customs are.” Zunya’s relationship with the community will be a two-way street, as Stieglitz plans to make art, science and other workshops available to locals and create a park that is open to the public. For visitors, Zunya will host multinight retreats centred on various concepts in literature, the performing arts, natural sciences and other subjects. The resort will also have all the requisite water sports and eco-adventures, as well as a diverse set of accommodations ranging in price from about to ,500 per night. The property is currently home to three casitas and a collection of brand-new luxury safari tents, and villas designed by Alberto Kalach and other top Mexican architects will follow in the coming years. The community will be anchored by Kalach’s Serpent, a central gathering place with retail, workshop spaces and a toy library. Notably absent from Stieglitz’s plan is a major-brand hotel, a philosophy very much in keeping with Costa Rica’s subdued strategy. “Tourism in Costa Rica has always been about very intimate experiences,” says the country’s Minister of Tourism, PHOTOS © ZUNYA 16 CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM PLEASE CHECK THE LATEST GOVERNMENT ADVICE BEFORE BOOKING TRAVEL OR DEPARTING ON ANY TRIP

PHOTOS FROM TOP: RYAN FORBES (2), BRICE FERRE Gustavo J Segura, who notes that 94 per cent of its hotels have 40 rooms or fewer. “The vast majority of our tourism enterprises are small.” The country, of course, is not without its international brands and large developments. Peninsula Papagayo, located just south of Santo Tomas, is home to Four Seasons and Andaz resorts as well as the new Bahías, where the 13 private residences begin at more than million. Auberge Resorts will reopen its Hacienda AltaGracia retreat in the Talamanca Mountains in November, and Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Aman Resorts and the ultra-highend developer Discovery Land Co are also rumoured to have projects in Costa Rica. Still, the country’s independent streak remains strong, with additional new entries including Origins Luxury Lodge (originslodge.com) in the northern highlands. The seven-villa retreat, which opened in 2018, offers nocturnal jungle tours, medicinal plant tours, chocolate making at a cacao farm and white-water rafting at nearby Tenorio National Park, as well as cuisine created by French Michelin-starred chef Jean-Luc L’Hourre. A couple of hours south of Origins, Nayara Resorts has transformed the resort town of Arenal into an eco-luxury hotspot. The property features three distinct lodges, the newest of which, Nayara Top: a villa rises on stilts from a green hillside at Origins; above: the spacious terrace of an Origins lodge A bird’s-eye view of Nayara, in Costa Rica’s Arenal Volcano Park Tented Camp (nayaratentedcamp.com), is an African-safari-style retreat with 29 canvas accommodations set on a hillside looking out to Arenal’s active volcano. Costa Rica’s eco-luxury evolution can be traced to Pacuare Lodge and Lapa Rios Lodge, sibling resorts set along the banks of the Pacuare River and the coast of the Osa Peninsula, respectively. Lapa Rios (laparios. com), which opened in 1993, maintains a 405ha private nature reserve in a region that National Geographic called “the most biologically intense place on Earth”. The lowland tropical rainforest is home to 2.5 per cent of the world’s species, including jaguars, tapirs and scarlet macaws. “It’s what the world is looking for right now,” Segura says. “How do I go reconnect with nature? We’re becoming a sanctuary for people coming to recreate and recharge.” ¬ CENTURION-MAGAZINE.COM 17