About Tekana

Long before Tekana became a place of rest and renewal, the jungle here was untamed—a vast ocean of green where silence was broken only by the songs of birds and the whisper of the wind through the trees. It was in this very jungle that the story of Tekana was born.

Many generations ago, an elder of the Chorotega people, a wise man named Amák—meaning the seeker—wandered too far from his path. The forest closed in around him, and days turned into nights of uncertainty. Weary, hungry, and lost, Amák felt his strength fading, as though the jungle would claim him.

But in the moment when hope seemed gone, a vision appeared before him: a white horse, radiant and calm, its presence almost otherworldly. This horse carried no saddle, no reins, only the quiet grace of the wild. Amák, summoning his last strength, followed the horse as it walked steadily through the dense forest. Step by step, it guided him, until the shadows opened into light and the elder found his way back to his people.

Amák named the horse Tekana—from teka, meaning “one” in his Chorotega tongue, and with “na,” a breath of wholeness and oneness drawn from other native voices of Guanacaste. To him, Tekana was not just a horse, but a symbol of unity between human and nature, spirit and earth, hope and survival.

Today, the hotel stands as a testament to that story. Tekana is more than a place to stay—it is a reminder that in the heart of the jungle, even when the path is uncertain, there is always a way forward. To be here is to walk with the spirit of the white horse: to find balance, to find peace, and to find yourself—whole, one, connected.