This is the amazing view from my new writing space at Java Coffee Co (it’s wonderful, review to follow). While researching Costa Rican lore, legends, and baddies, I came across a story with the always intriguing headline “Fountain of Youth.” Now, I have been fascinated by this idea since I was wee, admittedly considered searching for it once upon a time, and the story did not disappoint.
They say there was a natural hot spring in the hills south of San Jose that was the center of trade and ceremonial capital for the Huetares people for centuries. The water was renowned for its healing abilities, and all were welcome to it. The Huetares would carry little satchels of spring water and mud made with it while they traveled to heal anything from scrapes to intestinal issues. Hearing of its powers, Juan Vásquez de Coronado, the Spanish conquistador, declared it his new capital in 1563, naming it Cartago. Fast forward to 1886, colonials found out about the spring, its incredible healing powers and built a massive spa resort around it called Bella Vista where royalty, dignitaries, and anyone with some cash come to stay and drive the locals out. The visitors tell the world about miraculous tuberculosis recoveries, eyesight restored, gout healed, and asthma recoveries. The resort quickly grows so profitable it is traded on the European stock exchange.
The locals believed the Bella Vista was angering the Gods. And here is the amazing part—in 1910, a massive earthquake destroyed everything. Everything. Many died, the resort was destroyed, and the spring was lost for almost a hundred years.
In 2007, Avraham Kotlitzky, an Israeli adventurer in love with the tale and determined to find the spring, forged the jungle, dug for weeks through refuse and garbage now covered with a century of rainforest growth, and found the hot spring. He spent the next ten years slowly building a magnificent resort reminiscent of Bella Vista that he named Palacio Purapora…but never finished. I have been trying to find out what happened to him, and the spa, but all stories, Facebook posts, and news articles stopped in 2017.
The spring, Agua Caliente, is still there and supposedly healing people. A new resort was built about 7 miles away, and they bus people in. We might have to make a trip over to drink the 135F sulfuric waters and take a mud bath.
But man, doesn’t that sound like the beginnings of a fun novel?
Sunshine Dunning 