More than two hundred Bitcoin users descended on Uvita from January 18 to 20, a popular coastal area in Costa Rica. The Bitcoin Freedom Festival has been described as a spiritual gathering of those who celebrate the freedom of money, nature, and sovereignty. What many Bitcoin users are still discovering about this beautiful place along the South Pacific coast is that Uvita and Dominical, {the town 18 km north}, are the area known as the Bitcoin Jungle.
A unique Bitcoin festival
The Bitcoin Freedom Festival was held at The Awake Center in Uvita. When you arrive at the festival's aptly named Awake Center, you'll quickly realize that this will be unlike any other convention you've experienced. [Note: It reminded me of attending my first Slow Money Gathering in Boulder, Colorado in 2013 where they closed the conference using a Quaker style practice of silent meditation. Quakers gather in the silence and wait expectantly to come into the presence of the Divine and to be guided by the still, small voice by 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 the speakers were displayed, the most striking of which was the circular structure [the Shala] Which on Sunday serves as a place for ecstatic dancing. The shala is more reminiscent of a Buddhist temple than a conference site. The heart of the land was the cafeteria [The Cora] Which nourishes its visitors and where there was a small sign at the entrance in very small letters that only those fully present would notice it was the sign “Be, Don't Become”. The chef was generous and very proud of her role in feeding people all organic and vegetarian meals. For those who consider quality food to be medicine, she seemed happy when I said, “You and your team are the primary health care workers at the festival.” If this had been anything besides a gathering of Bitcoin customers it would have been the only food offered but unfortunately there were also generous portions of beef provided by an outside vendor in another part of the property for the carnivores. This festival also had a venue on the AWAKE grounds but not within the festival boundaries where merchants and vendors who accepted Bitcoin could have a booth and sell to festival attendees and the public in general.
To give you an idea of how special this event is, consider the following: When was the last time you attended a Bitcoin rally where shoes were taken off in meeting places like Quora and Shala and where many of the event organizers were barefoot for three days? Oh, with a river adjacent to the property? If your goal is to connect and join nature, it's easy to do. If your goal is to hold a corporate event, this is definitely not for you.
An incomparable country meets incomparable money
It is helpful to understand some of Costa Rica's cultural history as well as to understand the event. For example, Costa Rica was way ahead of its time in 2002 when it included the principle of “natural peace” in its constitution. Pax Natura means peace with nature. I know of no other country more concerned and loving towards nature, a culture that avoids waste, a culture that produces most of what it needs locally [including power] It has no permanent army. Costa Rica has always remained a neutral country and has never been involved in fighting between nations or tribes in Central America making this rare. And of course, the “Pura Vida” greeting is the perfect expression that you will hear often 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 off to the local community [Uvita and Dominical] It will attract many Bitcoin users to the region. By the final day of the festival, one of the organizers kept hearing comments from local shop owners saying, “You were right.” We met a merchant at a local farmer's market in Bahia on the Wednesday after the conference and she said her business was up 80% because of the conference. She's done so well since signing up for bitcoin two years ago that the merchant at the next booth started asking her how to accept bitcoin.[WalletTips:InadditiontobeingabletousetheBitcoinJungleappthePhoenixWalletworkedasWalletofSatoshiandStrikedidTheMuunWalletwouldworkbutinahighfeeenvironmentyoumightonlyuseitforpurchasesof$100ormoreIusedmyMuunWallettopayforourstayandtherewereasurprisingnumberofplacesthatacceptedBitcoinalmosteverywherewewentduringourtrip2weeksbeforeBitcoinusingBitcoinJungleThebeautyofBitcoinJungleisthatitallowstheusertoholdBitcoinandusetheCostaRicanpaymentsystemSinpewhichiswidelyusedinCostaRicaeenvironmentyoumightonlyuseitforpurchasesof0ormoreIusedmyMuunwallettopayforourlodgingandtherewereasurprisingnumberofplacesthatacceptedbitcoinNearlyeveryplacewewentduringatwoweektripacceptedbitcoinusingtheBitcoinJungleAppThebeautyoftheBitcoinJungleAppisitletstheuserholdbitcoinandusetheCostaRicanpaymentsystemSinpeCowhichiswidelyusedinstaRica[نصائحالمحفظة:بالإضافةإلىالقدرةعلىاستخدامتطبيقBitcoinJungle،عملتمحفظةPhoenixكمافعلتWalletofSatoshiوStrikeستعملمحفظةMuunولكنفيبيئةالرسومالمرتفعة،قدتستخدمهافقطفيعملياتشراءبقيمة100دولارأوأكثرلقداستخدمتمحفظةMuunالخاصةبيلدفعثمنإقامتناوكانهناكعددمذهلمنالأماكنالتيتقبلعملةالبيتكوينتقريبًاكلمكانذهبناإليهخلالرحلةمدتهاأسبوعينكانيقبلعملةالبيتكوينباستخدامتطبيقBitcoinJungleإنجمالتطبيقBitcoinJungleهوأنهيتيحللمستخدمالاحتفاظبعملةالبيتكوينواستخدامنظامالدفعالكوستاريكيSinpeوالذييستخدمعلىنطاقواسعفيكوستاريكا[Wallettips:InadditiontobeingabletousetheBitcoinJungleAppthePhoenixwalletworkedasdidWalletofSatoshiandStrikeTheMuunwalletwillworkbutinthehighfeeenvironmentyoumightonlyuseitforpurchasesof0ormoreIusedmyMuunwallettopayforourlodgingandtherewereasurprisingnumberofplacesthatacceptedbitcoinNearlyeveryplacewewentduringatwoweektripacceptedbitcoinusingtheBitcoinJungleAppThebeautyoftheBitcoinJungleAppisitletstheuserholdbitcoinandusetheCostaRicanpaymentsystemSinpewhichiswidelyusedinCostaRica
Connect with yourself so you can connect with others
It is difficult to express in words the tranquility of the place. However, the real heart of the place is the river that defines the southern border of the property. Since the conference was held during the dry season, the river had plenty of exposed rocks that those ambitious could jump into the ocean several kilometers away. Many conversations were made and friendships were made by festival goers enjoying relaxing in the river as all venues were outdoors 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. The owner of Awake indicated he had plans for a cold plunge but they weren't set up in time for the festival.
If you live or work in a place that experiences winter or cold, cloudy weather, this entire area will warm your body and soul from the inside out. You will literally feel the stress melt away if you allow yourself to slow down. In this age of too many screens, too many distractions, and too much craziness, this venue and festival is exactly what the doctor ordered. There have been meditation sessions, breathing work, and many mindfulness programs that focus on connecting with the self which, in this author's opinion, is the most important connection. a point. If we do not have a strong connection with ourselves, there is little chance that we will enjoy our connection with others.
Many Bitcoin users have made the pilgrimage to El Salvador since Bitcoin became legal currency there in September 2021. Give yourself a huge gift and check out its Central American neighbor. You will find that the Bitcoin Jungle is a deeply spiritual area located in a country and people in close contact with nature. Due to the hard work of the Bitcoin Jungle team, many merchants in the region have embraced Lightning adoption from the bottom up. It seems fitting that such a deep spiritual place would also embrace a deeply spiritual form of money. Pura vida.
This is a guest post by Mark Maria. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
