More than two hundred bitcoiners arrived in Uvita from January 18 to 20, a popular coastal location in Costa Rica. The bitcoin Freedom Festival was billed as a spiritual gathering for those celebrating freedom, money, nature, and sovereignty. What many bitcoiners are still discovering about this beautiful place along the South Pacific coast is that Uvita and Dominical, {the town 18 km to the north} are the region known as the bitcoin Jungle.
One-of-a-kind bitcoin Festival
The bitcoin Freedom Festival was held at The Awake Center in Uvita. When you arrive at the Awake Center for the appropriately named festival, you quickly realize that this will NOT be like any other conference you've ever experienced. (Note: It reminded me of my first Slow Money meeting in Boulder, Colorado, in 2013, where they closed the conference using a Quaker-style silent meditation practice. Quakers meet in silence and wait expectantly to come into the presence of the Divine and Let ourselves be guided by the small, still voice with which God speaks to us from within. During the silence, anyone may feel moved to offer a simple spoken message (vocal ministry) that is inspired by this holy encounter).
There were three covered outdoor pavilions where speakers appeared, the most striking being a round structure (the Shala) that on Sundays serves as a venue for ecstatic dancing. The Shala is more reminiscent of a Buddhist temple than a conference venue. The heart of the venue was the cafeteria (La Cora) that fed its visitors and where a small sign at the entrance in very small letters that only those present would notice was the sign “Be, Don't Become”. The head chef was friendly and very proud of her role in feeding people organic and vegan meals. For those who consider high-quality food to be medicine, she seemed happy when I said, “You and your team are the festival's on-site primary health care workers.” If this were anything more than a gathering of bitcoiners, that would have been the only food offered, BUT, unfortunately, a third-party vendor also served generous portions of meat elsewhere on the property for carnivores. This festival also had a venue on the AWAKE grounds but NOT WITHIN THE BOUNDARIES OF THE FESTIVAL where merchants and vendors accepting bitcoins could have a booth and sell to festival goers and the general public.
To give you an idea of how unique this event was, consider the following: When was the last time you attended a bitcoin meetup where shoes were taken off at meeting venues like Cora and Shala AND where many of the event organizers event were barefoot in all three? days? Oh, with a river bordering the property? If your goal is to be in touch with nature and be a part of it, this was easy to do. If your goal was an air-conditioned corporate event, it was definitely NOT for you.
An incomparable country meets incomparable money
It is helpful to understand some of the cultural history of Costa Rica and also to understand the event. For example, Costa Rica was way ahead of its time in 2002 by incorporating “pax natura” into its constitution. Pax natura means peace with nature. I don't know of another country with greater care and love for nature, a culture that avoids waste, a culture that locally produces most of what it needs (including energy) and does not have a standing army. Costa Rica has always been a neutral country and has never participated in fights between nations or tribes in Central America, which makes it unusual. And of course the greeting “Pura Vida” is the perfect expression that you will often hear when you visit. The phrase itself has many shades of meaning.
What prompted the wonderful people behind bitcoin Jungle to sponsor this festival? They wanted to show the local community (Uvita and Dominical) that many bitcoiners would be attracted to the area. On the last day of the festival, one of the organizers kept hearing comments from local merchants saying “you were right.” We met with one of the merchants at the local Bahia Farmers Market on Wednesday after the conference and she said that her business had increased 80% thanks to the conference. She had been doing so well since she signed up for bitcoin 2 years ago that the merchant at the next stall started asking her how she could accept bitcoin. (Wallet Tips: In addition to being able to use the bitcoin Jungle app, the Phoenix wallet worked as did the Wallet of Satoshi and Strike. The Muun wallet will work, but in the high fee environment you can only use it for purchases of $100 or more. I used my Muun wallet to pay for our accommodation and there were a surprising number of places that accepted bitcoins. Almost every place we went during a two-week trip accepted bitcoins using the bitcoin Jungle app. The beauty of the bitcoin Jungle app is which allows the user to hold bitcoins and use the Costa Rican payment system Sinpe, which is widely used in Costa Rica.
Connect with yourself so you can connect with others
It is difficult to express in words the serenity of the place. Still, the real heart of the place is the river that defines the southern boundary of the property. Since the conference was held during the dry season, the river had many exposed rocks that, for those who are ambitious, can jump over to the ocean several kilometers away. Many conversations were had and friendships formed among festival-goers cooling off in the river because all venues were open-air and covered, but not air-conditioned. Since January is the dry season in Costa Rica, it's hot and the river is the place to cool off and connect. Awake's owner indicated that he has plans for a cold water dive, but that he had not prepared in time for the festival.
If you live or work somewhere with winter or just cold, cloudy weather, this entire region will warm your body and soul from the inside out. You will literally feel the stress disappear if you allow yourself to slow down. In this time of too many screens, too many distractions, too much craziness, this place and the festival are just what the doctor ordered. There were meditation sessions and breathing exercises and many mindfulness programs that focus on connection with oneself, which in this author's opinion is the most important connection. COMPLETE POINT. If we do not enjoy a strong connection with ourselves, there is little chance that we will enjoy our connection with others.
Many bitcoiners have made pilgrimages to El Salvador since bitcoin became legal tender there in September 2021. Give yourself a great gift and check out your Central American neighbor. You will discover that bitcoin Jungle is a deeply spiritual region that resides in a country and people that are intimately in touch with nature. Thanks to the hard work of the bitcoin Jungle Team, many area merchants have embraced the upward adoption of Lightning. It seems logical that a place so deeply spiritual would also embrace a deeply spiritual form of money. Pure Life.
This is a guest post by Mark Maraia. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
