The first thing you notice about Filipe Godoy Gudoy is his Cobra “Air Cyclone” sneakers, which he hipply wears with the tongue folded forward and his well-fitting khaki pants tucked in. These shoes may have been designed for the basketball court, but Felipe, gets more use out of them around his yard, chopping wood, clearing brush with his machete and hunting vermin with his sling shot. “Best shoes I’ve had,” he avers. This is quite an endorsement; Felipe, who is 99, has worn through many pairs of shoes.

Felipe typifies the traditional male here in Nicoya, Costa Rica, an 80-mile long finger of land near the Nicaraguan border. For the past three weeks, a scientific team including demographers Dr. Michel Poulain and Dr. Luis Rosero, has studied the region’s census data and interviewed a representative sample of the oldest old here, including all of the region’s 22 centenarians. Dr. Gianni Pes, who discovered the original Blue Zone in Sardinia, designed and administered a survey to assess individual lifestyle and fitness. “There is no question that this is one of the most long-lived populations on earth,” says Dr. Pes. “To have two confirmed Blue Zones with so many long-lived males allows us to now do comparative studies.”

To understand how Nicoyans achieve longevity, one need only take a look at Felipe’s life.

Felipe grew up in the first half of the 20th century, when the peninsula was largely isolated from the rest of the world. The Pre-Colombian influence of the Chorotega indigenous people was still strong. People here followed the sun and seasons; they ate wildly exotic fruits when they ripened, they worked during daylight hours and slept soon after sundown. Their core diet consisted of the same foods Mesoamericans have eaten for 3,000 years — lye-fortified corn tortillas and beans — two of nature’s most perfect foods. Later, rice, pork and beef crept into the diet.

Like all centenarians here, Felipe benefited from Nicoya’s unique geography. Its relatively dry microclimate produces fewer infectious diseases and more hours of daily sunlight (important for maintaining adequate levels of Vitamin D) than Costa Rica’s more humid interior. The bizarrely high calcium levels in the area’s water table may explain the population’s stronger bones and fewer hip fractures. (If you’re over 50 and break your hip, you have a 25 percent chance of dying within a year.)

Felipe never married his first wife. “People didn’t marry back then because there weren’t churches or even roads,” he explains, rocking back and forth with his hands buried deep in his pockets. “We stayed together for 20 years, then she died of tetanus."

He waited 18 years before marrying his second wife, and they were together for 40 years before she died a few years ago. When I asked him if there were women in between, Felipe just chuckles. Nicoyan men have a reputation for enjoying spending time with women, an outlook that may perhaps explain their lower levels of stress.

A love of hard work also characterizes older Nicoyans. A popular prayer here goes, “God, grant that the dead rest in peace tonight and the living have the energy to work tomorrow.” Felipe’s first job was clearing forests for the first cattle hacienda in Nicoya. He quit that to start a job in the salt mines, where he hauled 80-pound bags for 12 hours a day. After that he fished professionally, before ending up a simple farmer. “I never did really like fish,” he confided.

In and around the hamlet of San Jesus, Felipe is known and loved. On any given afternoon, he’ll receive guests — neighbors, friends and grandchildren — in his backyard for conversation. They care about him and for him. Like most successful agers, he possesses an endearing charm that attracts people; he’s quick to laugh, patiently listens, and focuses on life’s blessings. Despite the fact he lives in tin-shack poverty and has buried two wives and three of his children, when asked how he is, he’ll always respond, “I’m fine, thanks to God.”

It’s hard to pinpoint the exact reasons why Felipe and other extremely old Nicoyans live such long, rich lives. We do know their secret does not lie in a pill or an expensive treatment but rather a combination of small factors. We know that they live in an environment favorable for longevity; that their lifestyle-- a combination of these small, seemingly insignificant habits –account for much of the explanation. And we know that it will take many years of research to come up with a complete answer.

Then again, perhaps the secret is a good pair of Cobra Air Cyclones.

Live Large,

Dan

P.S. See Monday’s Video and Dispatch for the Nicoya’s longevity formula.

P.S. S. We’d like to thank the family who runs Dorati Lodge in Hojacha. They put up with our insane hours with grace and patience. It is an excellent place to stay for anyone exploring Nicoya’s Blue Zone.