Nicoya, Costa
Rica: Live
Longer, Better
Humberto Angulo
swears by
working hard,
drinking castor
oil every
morning and
keeping active
is the secret to
his longevity.
Angulo, a
resident of
Carrillo,
Guanacaste, is
getting ready to
celebrate his
98th birthday
and is looking
forward to his
100th.
Angulo told his
story to Irene
Rodríguez of the
La Nación of how
he lives today
like he did 30
years ago,
getting up each
morning at
5:30am, feeding
the chickens and
help out with
the house
chores.
"I am still here
because God
wants it, but I
have helped him
as well", said
Angulo, who
shares his
stories of how
as a child he
has gotten up at
the early hours
of the morning,
feeding the
animals before
heading out to
school.
"You must keep
moving, so that
God sees you
want to live",
says Angulo.
The almost 98
year old man
lives in area of
Guanacaste that
is
internationally
declared a "blue
zones", a region
of the world
where people
commonly live
active lives
past the age of
100 years.
In Costa Rica,
Carrillo, Santa
Cruz, Nicoya,
Hojancha and
Nandayure, all
in Guanacaste,
are "blue
zones".
Among other
"blue zones" in
the world are in
Sardinia, Italy;
Okinawa, Japan;
Loma Linda,
California, and
Icaria, Greece.
Scientists and
demographers
have classified
these longevity
hot-spots by
having common
healthy traits
and life
practices that
result in
higher-than-normal
longevity. The
name blue zone
seems to be
first employed
in a scientific
article by a
team of
demographers
working on
centenarians in
Sardinia in
2004.
In Costa Rica
life expectancy
is 78.7 years.
Currently there
are 9.995 Costa
Ricans over the
age of 90, of
which 417 are
over 100.
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