While traveling in Costa Rica with my family, I experienced 3 unforgettable moments of pure service. Each one left a mark. Here is the third and final one.
We are spending a few days in La Fortuna. Flipping through our Lonely Planet guidebook, I find a very brief mention of a farm worth visiting. Given the unpredictable weather that time of year, we waited until the last moment and ended up booking the tour at 8 a.m., for 10 a.m. the same day.
We were fine doing the tour in Spanish or English, but it turned out they had a French-speaking volunteer guide at the farm. Marion welcomed us warmly and led us through the garden, sharing names and stories of trees, plants, and herbs, picking them along the way for us to taste. Her knowledge and passion were admirable, and so was her life journey, which she briefly shared with us as we walked and talked. The tour lasted nearly two hours, ending with a spicy sugarcane juice we prepared together, infused with herbs we’d picked ourselves. We were already full of joy and gratitude.
But just as we were about to leave, Don Huber, the owner of the farm, quietly invited us to follow him. He led us through a wilder part of the land (more forest than garden!), and began pointing things out: a sloth, wrapped around its baby… a tiny frog sleeping beneath a leaf… another sloth, higher in the trees. It wasn’t part of the tour. It was just a gift: two extra hours of presence, generosity, and wonder. Later, as we were about to say goodbye for the second time, I asked him if they run night tours as well. So that same evening, we returned for another incredible moment.
The frogs and the snakes were awake, and the same mother and baby sloth were still there, offering us a peaceful and unexpected final moment.
What stays with me
- Show up with care, not with a sales pitch. Neither Marion nor Don Huber tried to sell us anything beyond the tour we had booked. They share what they love, generously and with sincerity. And that’s what made us want to come back.
- The clients who return are not the ones you chase. They’re the ones who’ve already paid for what you offer, and felt the value. They remember. They come back. And they share.(Finca Paraiso Organico, just 10 minutes from La Fortuna!)
- Your impact on a few matters more than your visibility to many. You don’t need a slick website or fancy marketing funnel. When the experience is real, people talk, and that’s the kind of growth I believe in.
I tend to choose my personal guides in life the same way I travel: I look for those quietly doing the work, not shouting about it. The ones who serve generously, out of love for what they do, not for the conversion rate. That’s also how I’ve chosen to build my own practice.
If this approach resonates with you, then maybe you and I should have a conversation.
Love, Delphine
Photo – DP – July 2025 – Costa Rica