In The Zone: The Nicoya Peninsula blue zone offers up secrets to extraordinary longevity

By Laura Ávila and Fabrice Le Lous | Photographs by Manuel Rueda

When one thinks of the Nicoya Peninsula blue zone, located in Costa Rica (a small country on the isthmus of Central America), it is easy to imagine a single town filled with older people strolling in the parks and streets, or socializing in the “sodas” (the Costa Rican name for coffee shops). In fact, this blue zone—a concept first developed by demographers Michel Poulain and Giovanni Mario Pes and journalist Dan Buettner to refer to longevity hotspots, or areas where people live significantly longer than the general population—is quite large. It stretches across five jurisdictions (known as cantons in Costa Rica) on the Nicoya peninsula: Carrillo, Santa Cruz, Nicoya, Hojancha, and most of Nandayure.

It is throughout this region where 57 centenarians live, and 1,010 nonagenarians, according to 2021 reports from Jorge Vindas López, founder of the the Asociación Península de Nicoya Zona Azul, an NGO dedicated to tracking the centenarian population. Tourist signs in Nicoya welcome passersby to one of the world’s five recognized blue zones, which include Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California. The Nicoya Peninsula blue zone is the only one located within Latin America, and it is the largest.

A cluster of towns and small cities dot the peninsula, a vast, hot region in the north of Costa Rica with a rugged terrain comprised of mountains, farms, and beaches. Its location just north of the equator means the days are often sunny and the weather rarely dips below 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The population includes more than 5,000 adults over 75 years of age who have witnessed decades of development in their isolated locale—many of whom will likely be around to witness decades more.

For years, the media, researchers, and curious visitors alike have pondered the reasons for this unusual cluster of longevity set in the tropics. The answer, as demonstrated by the region's oldest residents, is a mixture of both quantifiable factors and an unknown alchemy of culture and place. Demographer Luis Rosero Bixby, of the Central American Center for Population at the University of Costa Rica (CCP-UCR), identified this blue zone in the early 2000s and is considered one of the most authoritative experts on the subject in the country.

He notes that “the number of centenarians in the peninsula is constantly fluctuating. Just as some die, others reach 100 years old each month.” However, he explains, a blue zone does not differ from other regions of the world by the specific number of people over the age of 80, 90 or 100 who live in it at any given time, but by life expectancy. In the case of the Costa Rican blue zone, its population far exceeds the national average for life expectancy, which is 77.3 years for men and 82 years for women, according to data from the Ministry of Health. “The metric to identify blue zones is exceptional longevity: that an adult has a very high expectation of living more years, or that they have a high probability of reaching age 90 or 100,” adds Rosero Bixby.

Samara Beach, located on the Nicoya Peninsula in the Guanacaste province

Nicoya Peninsula blue zone, located in Costa Rica

This is precisely the case for the brothers Matarrita Gómez: Benedicto, who was born in 1923, and Liborio, born in 1926. They reside together in a humble home in Curime, five minutes from the city of Nicoya. And it is also the case of the sisters Lucía Villegas Cortés, 93, and Sara Villegas Cortés, 98, who live in the peaceful town of Quebrada Honda, 25 minutes from Nicoya.

All four have lived nearly a century and represent some of the faces of the autochthonous people of the Costa Rican blue zone. Their similarities attest to three factors that, according to science, may contribute to the blue zones’ existence: genetics, diet, and lifestyle. “There is probably a symbiosis of genes and environment. There is something in the genes of the Nicoyans that we do not know, possibly their Chorotega ancestry, but also the environment in which they lived. And a third element: the health system,” says Rosero Bixby.

“There is something in the genes of the Nicoyans that we do not know, possibly their Chorotega ancestry, but also the environment in which they lived. And a third element: the health system,” says Rosero Bixby.

Costa Rica's public health system is universal and free for all residents. A score of national hospitals and almost a thousand health centers throughout the territory provide assistance to all populations, and all facilities respond to the call of a single institution: the Caja Costarricense de Seguro Social (CCSS). The CCSS facilitates the implementation of national plans and coordination of public health policies.

Of course, as in other countries, public care can have disadvantages, including long wait times for appointments or shortages of specialists in certain regions. However, the data overwhelmingly demonstrate the benefits to such an accessible health care system; Costa Rica now boasts the longest life expectancy in Latin America, longer even than that of the United States – by nearly two years.

Of the four nonagenarians, only Liborio Matarrita, 95, can communicate without the help of a caregiver, in his case his daughter María Matarrita, 65. A carpenter and farmer all his life, the elder Matarrita interrupted the interview several times to share artifacts and treasured objects from his later years. At the top of the list are two certificates from the municipality attesting to his participation in meetings and activities for older adults (before the pandemic). He also shows off a machete and a wooden ax that he made by hand for his great-grandchildren.

Liborio Matarrita Gómez, 95, in his home in Curime, in the Guanacaste province of Nicoya

A carpenter and farmer for much of his life, demonstrates his wood working skills

Liborio Matarrita Gómez with a wooden decorative ax he made for his great-grandchildren — Gómez with a wooden decorative ax he made for his great-grandchildren

Liborio Matarrita Gómez and his wife, in a photo from several decades ago — Gómez and his wife, in a photo from several decades ago

Matarrita has short white hair and wears comfortable Crocs to keep his feet from swelling. Despite his advanced age, he possesses the strength to walk, sit, and chat quietly for almost an hour. When asked about his diet, he responds, “Rice and beans, because that's one's life.” He explains that he eats small portions but is always sure to clear his plate.

And his secret for reaching 95 years of age in such good health? “The rice and the beans,” Matarrita repeats. But he also speaks in his slow, resolute way about a lifetime of physical labor. “I worked with wood. Fifteen years I spent ‘flying chunches’ (carrying objects, mostly wood planks).” During his youth, he often walked from Curime to San Juanillo, a journey of nearly 12 hours by foot, or 33 miles, according to Google Maps. He spent his adult life alternating between carpentry and agricultural work, all of which likely contributed to his strong constitution.

Food, too, is a crucial factor, according to Rosero Bixby and the interviewees. Rice, beans, and corn tortillas form the base of the nutritional pyramid in this region. Meals are accompanied by soft drinks flavored with fruits that sprout from trees throughout Costa Rica, or with the drinking water that, by all accounts, is different in Nicoya.

“During his youth, he often walked from Curime to San Juanillo, a journey of nearly 12 hours by foot, or 33 miles, according to Google Maps. ”

"Here the water is rich in lime,” says Zayda Cárdenas Villegas, 66, daughter of 98-year-old Lucía Villegas, referring to the white, calcium-laden mineral deposits that lace the Nicoyan drinking water. “Electric coffee makers don't last long here because of the lime. The same happens with the electric shower. They are a problem because water damages them quickly. But some say that it may be that which gives longevity”.

Mother and daughter live together in Quebrada Honda, a small Guanacaste town with a Catholic church and school at the center of village activity, a small park, a communal hall, and sprawling houses typical of the area. During pandemic times, it is a quiet place. Saturday afternoon passes without people in the streets, with few businesses open and with a silence barely interrupted by the sounds of birds or domesticated dogs barking within the houses.

recent wood carvings — Recent wood carvings by Gómez

The Gómez family — A photo of the two brothers, Benedicto, 96, and Liborio, 95 (seated on bench), surrounded by their immediate family, including children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren

The home of the brothers Liborio and Benedicto Matarrita Gómez

Lucía Villegas, 98, with daughter Zayda, 66

Sara Villegas, 93, with daughter Ileana, in their home in Quebrada Honda

“Despite nearing 100, Villegas has managed to overcome many challenges that come hand in hand with old age. Five years ago she suffered a fall that caused a broken hip, but thanks to Cárdenas’ care, she has managed to walk again. ”

Outwardly, Villegas’ countenance is serene, although the recent death of her sisters, Digna, 99, and Cecilia, 95, coupled with hearing problems and the low oxygenation of her brain, keep her silent, her daughter reports. However, she never abandons her smile, which is accented by lipstick carefully applied by Cárdenas. Despite nearing 100, Villegas has managed to overcome many challenges that come hand in hand with old age. Five years ago she suffered a fall that caused a broken hip, but thanks to Cárdenas’ care, she has managed to walk again. That is a trend in the homes of the oldest people in Costa Rica. For the most part, they live with relatives, usually daughters and sons who are perhaps on their way to becoming nonagenarians or centenarians themselves.

Lucía Villegas’ sister, Sara Villegas, who lives 200 meters away, is 93 years old and has suffered from Alzheimer's for just over ten years. She is also cared for by a daughter, Ileana Villegas, who guides her in a wheelchair around her house. leana Villegas explains that her mother has access to frequent and ongoing medical care. Although Alzheimer’s is incurable, she remains devoted to managing her mother’s treatment plan. “As long as I live, I have to fight for her.”

According to Luis Rosero Bixby, the number of adults over 65 years old will triple by 2050. Much is due to a boom in births in Costa Rica during the 50s, 60s and 70s. Families typically had six or more children, all of whom grew up with the promise of a longer life expectancy. But those with the greatest advantage are the Nicoyans in the blue zone.

Rosero Bixby underlines the fact that one cannot simply go to Nicoya as an adult with hopes of outliving fellow Costa Ricans. In addition to inherent genetic factors, he points out the cumulative effects of other elements, including “the surroundings and the context: weather, food, water, jobs, interpersonal relationships, stress levels, and more.” People keep searching for the modern-day, Nicoyan version of the philosopher’s stone (a mythical substance believed by alchemists during the Middle Ages to grant eternal life). But, Rosero Bixby says, rather than one magical key to longevity, “science suggests it’s more about several small secrets, in plural. ”Liborio Matarrita and his family are living proof of the combination of “small secrets.”

“I planted corn, beans, and rice. Later I was a carpenter until I stopped working. My brother made baskets. He did that all his life. Baskets to coger (pick up) coffee and carry eggs.” He points to his brother Benedicto, 99, who listens silently. They come from a family of nine siblings. Of the six who are still living, their older sister Marina is 101 and the youngest, Teresita, is a mere 90 years old.

"But that's nothing!" Matarrita exclaims. "My mom lived to be 100 years old, and my great-grandmother reached 110 years old!" ●