This documentary by writer and traveler Gaia Vince takes viewers to explore this wonderful country.

Vince and her family settled in the Pacific of Costa Rica for three months to find out why it is considered one of the happiest and most sustainable countries.

The show consists of three episodes each close to 46 minutes; the show is available in Channel 4 in the UK and available online. President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís makes an appearance in the series.

Information episode as described by Channel 4:

Episode 1: Gaia helps capture a rogue crocodile before travelling to Monteverde Cloud Forest and scaling a giant tree with scientists who preserve life forms. Then she meets President Luis Guillermo Solis.
Episode 2: Gaia takes a dip in a hot spring as she finds out how Costa Ricans have harnessed the power of active volcanoes. On the Pacific coast she helps build artificial reefs from unlikely recycled materials.

Episode 3: Gaia goes horse riding with a 99-year-old cowboy, takes a canoe trip to meet the indigenous Bribri and witnesses thousands of turtles arriving on a remote beach to lay their eggs.

In an interview with Channel 4, Vince explains that she went around the world for two-and-a-half years and witness firsthand how the human actions have changed the world we live in; she then wanted to know why Costa Rica being a developing country could actually be making so much difference in reference to sustainability and managing to come out top in the Happiness Index Survey.

“How on earth are they doing it? If they can do it, how inspiring is that? We can choose our future. We can dictate what sort of planet we want. I’m really interested and passionate about what’s happening there, and what our future’s going to be. It’s really important that human happiness and development is coupled with protecting the natural world. I think Costa Rica has been really pragmatic, they’ve looked at how it can work for people as well as the environment, and that’s the only way we can do it. If people don’t buy into it, it’s not going to work. So that was why this was important to me’, commented Vince during her interview.