Driving toward the mountains of Talamanca, 45 minutes from Quepos-Manuel Antonio, is the town of Londres, and the Rural Tourism Project of  Los Campesinos Private Reserve. Created by three local costarricans, who wanted to share their tico traditions, great food, and their stories about growing up in the area and the old Costa Rica, but most important to give visitors the opportunity to experience the authentic side of the country, by spending a day hiking among farms, creeks, waterfalls, and wildlife in the primary and secondary forest. Los Campesinos reserve is located on a majestic mountain range between the Naranjo and Savegre rivers watersheds. The Reserve is part of the community of Quebrada Arroyo, and is managed by Don Miguel Mora, his brother Visaí and his wife Doña Juanita. Visitors have the opportunity to interact with the locals, walk in a hanging bridge, and if you feel even more adventures, you could experience a traditional manual tram (kind of a metal tram suspended by ropes) to get across the Savegre River. A day of memorable moments that could be added, if you are staying in the Manuel Antonio Area.
See our suggested itineraries, and asks us for more details at info@greenspot.travel

Here I am in the warm Costa Rican weather! Working — yes, it is all about work, but still a very nice opportunity I have to do it from here, reachable at any time for my clients who are getting their bags ready to come down here as well. And for those who are still trying to plan their vacation to this tropical country… my country.
Staying here in the Central Valley for the next 4 nights, while I make it down to my mom’s in the Arenal area.  It is funny the way the U.S restaurants and hotel chains like this one are better in foreign countries. I have to say it is actually quite pleasant to stay here (at the Holiday Inn by the International Airport), breakfast was good, service is very nice and the rooms are actually very clean and smell good!  Perhaps, a hotel option I could consider for the in and out of the country nights for people travelling on a budget with late flights into San Jose or early flights out. Oh … and I forgot to mention that local phone calls, international phone calls, internet and shuttle to the airport are services included in the rate.
More from me later…

Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Have Voted!  

Each year at this time, Condé Nast Traveler magazine releases the results from its annual Reader’s Choice Awards, ranking the best cities, islands, cruise lines, airlines, hotels, resorts, and car rental agencies worldwide. While all the winners will be announced in the November issue, awards were given out on October 15 and we are pleased to say Lapa Rios Ecolodge was named the Top Hotel in Central America!  ”The Condé Nast Traveler Reader’s Choice Awards are highly prized by our team as an indication that we are meeting and exceeding our guests’ expectations,” says Hans Pfister, president of Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality which operates Lapa Rios Rainforest Ecolodge.”To be named top hotel in Central America is an honor and provides us with the goal to work hard to keep that top ranking for 2010!”. 

This award follows a string of recognition for Lapa Rios including being named as a 2009 World Savers for its commitment to sustainability in the September issue of CondéNast Traveler, and the best nature and wilderness lodge by Away.com, the leading online destination for travelers planning their next vacation.

Meeting Doña Mara, the famous lady in our Costa Rica trips, was really special.

I learned how to make tortillas, not only from scratch, but on a wood stove, outside in a “Rancho” which is basically like a gazebo; a covered kitchen with a rustic, old-fashioned oven.

First we walked along the dirt road over to her neigbor’s farm where they grown sugar cane, corn, and lots of other fruits and vegetables. Here they take the fresh corn and grind it, making it into the corn flour called “masa.”   They also have an old-fashioned “Trapiche” which is a manually-operated sugar cane grinder.

In case you are wondering, Doña (which is pronounced Don-ya and means Señora or Mrs.) is the way all married or older ladies are addressed in Costa Rica. Men are addressed as Don - Don Luis, or Don Jose, etc.  It’s a sign of respect, even used among friends. Part of the travel experience is learning the culture right? For me it’s the part I love the most!

Doña Mara and I watched and waited for the corn masa, paid for it as well as for some “Limones” basically a cross between a lime, lemon and orange, to make fresh juice to go along with our tortillas, and “Tamal”.  Tamal is like a coconut & corn bread… so yummy.

Making tortillas is actually fairly easy, it’s amazing that we most often buy them in packages. But nothing compares to a fresh one off the stove. A little crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside.

Often families visit Doña Mara and her family for the afternoon, to get a slice of rural Costa Rican culture, fill their bellies on tasty fresh food, and of course try their hand at making authentic tortillas. While it’s just one afternoon, and a fun and memorable experience for the travelers, it really helps the people there. It’s a direct contribution to not only Doña Mara’s family, but the neighbors where she buys her corn, and lots of GreenSpot travelers also visit the local school, and make donations to our community development project.

Another bonus is getting to meet her adorable grandkids!

It’s amazing to me how rising early (as is the norm in rural Costa Rica), spending the day in a breezy rancho, cooking (which I barely ever do at home), and just taking in the sights, sounds and views of the farm, can be the most relaxing, peaceful and heartwarming experience. There’s something to be said for taking pleasure in the simple things in life.

- Kelly Galaski

Have you met Doña Mara? Tell us about your experience!

We arrived at La Cusinga Rainforest Lodge after dark, and all that could be heard were the waves crashing below and the sounds of night. Here there is not only the wildlife you hope to see, but a variety of insects unimaginable. There are huge praying mantises, bright green grasshoppers, and lots of other unidentifiable creatures.

La Cusinga’s range of initiatives in sustainability include construction that fits well into the natural landscape, built with natural materials including the wooden lampshades, solar panels for electricity and water heating, extensive contribution to conservation and support to local schools, organic food grown onsite, and efficient water and energy conservation.

 
Our first walk in the morning greeted us with an abundance of wildlife. Only a few minutes onto the trail that leaves right from the outdoor dining area and main viewing deck, a family of howler monkeys were hanging lazily in the trees. They didn’t move an inch and let us watch them for quite a while and take pictures. The call of these small black monkeys can be heard, especially in the morning, in the distance and it sounds like a bunch of angry gorillas. When you see how small they are it is surprising that they can make such a loud, growling noise.

Next on the way we saw the rare and endangered green and black poison dart frogs. They are tiny but beautiful creatures. They even stuck around for us to take more pictures on the way back.

Down the trail towards the waves crashing on the rocks, our young guide told us he sees turtles every time he comes to this spot. We waited a few minutes, and sure enough, we saw the round brown shells just under the surface, and then a couple of heads pop out just enough to make it easier for us to see them. You can’t get close up to them here as they are down below swimming around the great big rocks but knowing that they are there and getting a small glimpse is exciting enough.

We ventured down another trail that led us to the beach which is part of the 800 acre nature preserve that makes up La Cusinga’s property.  The beach is wild, no amenities or development of any kind. Just you, the dense forest as a backdrop and the big, warm, waves.  We crossed through a cavernous tunnel under the rocks to a smaller cove to take a dip in the almost hot ocean waters.

On our way back the monkeys were still hanging about, not wanting to move in the heat we figured.

Then we were off for lunch, and we ate at a nearby cooperatively-owned ecolodge called Canto de Ballenas (Call of the Whales).  I have a friend who works there so he got the kitchen to whip us up a filling and tasty lunch of flavorful vegetables, rice & beans, and my favorite, garlic fish fillets.  Of course we had frescos of banana, pineapple and orange juice and fresh, strong coffee.

 
After lunch we continued down the road to the entrance to the National Marine Park, and “whale’s tail” where the long stretch of beach goes into a point shaped exactly as a whale’s tail. Pretty coincidental considering this is the part of the country the hump-backed whales visit each January and February as they migrate up the Pacific Ocean.  We walked along the beach to the end point where we sat down to take in the beautiful sunset.

We capped off our last night at the best restaurant in the region, called Citrus. It is absolutely beautiful, with luxurious details, outdoor candle-lit tables, mozaic tiles, pre-Colombian inspired art, not to mention delicious food and surprisingly good prices. Oscar, our great driver and I both had fish ceviche in coconut milk and cilantro, Jim and Usha shared a hot goat cheese salad and an eggplant lasagne and we toasted with a glass of wine to a wonderful week in Costa Rica.

- Kelly Galaski

After a yummy breakfast of homemade tortillas “con queso” (with cheese) and scrambled eggs, we were lucky enough to get visited by my favorite birds. Two chestnut-billed toucans arrived in the tree right above Jim and Usha’s cabin, giving us a great view of their spectacular colours and big bills. They sat above us in the branches long enough for us to watch them for a while and take in their beauty.

En route to La Cusinga Rainforest Lodge on the southern central Pacific Coast near Uvita, about an hour and a half away, we stopped at another private nature reserve called Hacienda Barú. Hacienda Barú has over 800 acres of forest, some converted from pasture 50 years ago to grow into dense rainforest. Jim and Usha wanted to do a canopy tour – ziplining so we were off for an adventure!  Hacienda Barú’s canopy tour is an ecological adventure, not just a fast ride through the trees. The guides are naturalists that bring their spotting scopes with them to point out and explain the varied wildlife on the way. There were three-toed sloths, leaf-cutter ants, and lots of different iguanas.

The reserve also has a butterfly farm and garden where six different species can be found, including their crysalids and the whole process can be seen. There is an orchid garden, a bird watching tower, and a soda for getting some filling Costa Rican food after getting a 3 hour adrenaline rush, or visiting the private beach.

- Kelly Galaski

Bird Watching in Costa Rica, Ecotourism are our specialty in Hacienda Baru. Our excellent naturalist guides will help you discover the wonders of the tropical rainforest, such as leaf cutter ants and sleepy sloths. On our tours you can experience everything from the Rainforest Canopy to Mangrove Swamps or the Jungle at Night, or enjoy the Beach.

Pablo Ureña’s family has been preserving primary forest on their farm for three generations.  As vast deserts of pineapple plantations encroach upon his property, and offers from Del Monte to sell his land are resisted, it becomes ever more apparent that his work is essential in maintaining the natural environment of the area, but he needs help.

After spending 12 years in the U.S., Pablo returned to the farm in Costa Rica to take care of his aging dad and to get back to a simpler life.  He named his farm Santuario Filaverde, or “Green Line Sanctuary”  because he knows the area is one of the last remaining pieces of primary forest in this land of corporate pineapple plantations. The forest is significant also because it continues the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor, providing essential habitat for resident capuchin monkeys, birds, and there is even a family of pumas, one of which they recently photographed.

Pablo, his son Juan Pablo, his dad and sister, had Jim, Usha and I over for lunch after our morning hike in the Los Cusingos Bird Sanctuary nearby. They made us some delicious vegetables including squash (ayote & chayote), rice and beans and chicken, with freshly blended “fresco” of pineapple juice. 

Then we set out for a walk on the farm, riding first in the back of the truck through the pasture towards their forest sanctuary. The most beautiful aspect of their forest is the towering matapalo or strangler fig trees and winding vines, evidence of it being never touched for hundreds of years.

Emerging out of the forest the contrast of the surrounding pineapple plantations is striking. Knowing that the area was all natural primary rainforest and is now a vast field of pineapples that are sprayed with pesticides and injected with hormones to grow faster makes you think twice about that next pineapple, and you hope that it has come from someone’s farm, grown naturally among other plants.

Pablo loves to give tours of his property, and makes a great snack of pupusas – fried tortillas filled with cheese, and coffee of course after the nice walk. His sense of humour and passion for his forest are contagious. All he needs is more visitors so that he can benefit from preserving this precious piece of nature.

-  Kelly Galaski

There are some people in this world that have such a passion for things it is contagious, and those that come into contact with them may be changed, even just a little bit, for the rest of their lives.

Luis Angel Rojas of the small community of Quizarrá, located within the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor in Costa Rica, is such a person. He loves birds – all kinds, little brown ones to big colourful ones. He is excited to show you when he sees one or tell you which one it is when he hears it. Over 200 species of birds arrive on his property – a mixture of primary rainforest, shade-grown coffee (with the largest trees I’ve ever seen in a coffee plantation – it looks more like a forest with some coffee plants in it), and butterfly gardens and a trail that goes down to the river below, that you can hear in the quiet of the night among the sounds of crickets and other night creatures.

Luis is passionate about birds and everything that the natural surroundings of his farm provides.  We sat in a lookout perched on rocks above the river at the bottom of his property and talked about his dreams for the area. Usha wanted to know what they need to continue the conservation, increase the forest-cover and make the biological corridor successful. Luis told us that he would like to see programs that educate all of the producers/farmers in the area about sustainable agriculture, about farm diversification, about the benefits of planting fruit trees among coffee and pasture in order to create a healthier ecosystem and habitat for the birds and other animals of the area. He would love to see everyone aware of the abundance of migratory species that visit the exact same locations, year after year, so that they would know how important each and every tree is.

Luis also hopes that the market increases for sustainable, shade-grown coffeeso that more farmers will have reason to plant more trees, or convert their pasture back into coffee in order to strengthen the corridor as a passage for birds and animals.

We are now here at La Escondida, “the Hidden Farm,” which is both a home and a place for visitors to enjoy the natural, peaceful surroundings.  Usha and James have their own small “cabaña,” built by Luis and his son out of wood, including a re-used floor made of wood from an older home in the area.  It is a simple cabin, but you can look out to the forest and Los Cusingos bird sanctuary beyond, listen to the sounds of the forest, watch the toucans eat berries in the trees overhead, and contemplate the peacefulness of this special and little known place.

- Kelly Galaski

- Kelly Galaski

After a nice drive over the Talamanca mountains and through “Cerro la Muerte” a cloudy mountaintop where so many people died during the creation of the highway they call it the peak of death, we arrived at the small restaurant (called a ‘soda’ by Costa Ricans), El Tabacón, that is owned by the family I used to live with.  Doña Sidey and her daughter Daniela were waiting for us with fresh pineapple juice and the food prepared for us to start our “Costa Rican Typical Food” cooking lesson. We cut local vegetables from their farm called Ayote and Chayote, which are two different squashes that are really tasty when chopped up into small cubes and cooked with some onions, red peppers, cilantro and other simple ingredients that create a healthy dish.

Then Usha tried her hand at tortillas, flattening the corn flour and water mixture into it’s round shape and throwing them into the frying pan for just a few minutes, and then grilling them on an open flame. Mmmm, yummy homemade tortillas! We also had homemade guacamole, rice and beans, and a salad made with shredded cabbage, tomato and cucumber with lime juice and cilantro for a dressing.

It was great to see Sidey, who was my “host-mom” when I lived here last year, but was more like a really good friend and confidante. We welled up with tears at the sight of each other, and were so happy to see each other even though it was just last year when I was here but without a phone or internet it is hard for us to keep in touch. Her daughters came over to the soda, along with her husband and two little most adorable grandchildren (on tractor) and our driver said he could see by how my face lit up how happy I was to see them.  They are really wonderful people I’m lucky to be back. It’s amazing how some people can touch your heart and make you feel like family.

- Kelly Galaski

Today we arrived in another rural area of Costa Rica, the Alexander Skutch Biological Corridor. It is named after the ornithologist (bird biologist) that lived here on 100 acres of pristine rainforest for 60 years, with his wife, studying the birds and writing books about the nature he was surrounded by and the birds that fascinated him. Dr. Skutch is author of Birds of Costa Rica, the book carried by avid birdwatchers that visit the country. Today his home is preserved inside the Los Cusingos Bird Sanctuary which is open to the public for birdwatching tours and to see the ancient petroglyphs that lie deep within the forest.

The “Corridor” is so called because it is a designation given by the Ministry of Environment for areas that are between two protected nature reserves - in this case the Las Nubes cloud forest and Los Cusingos – which has the goal of increasing the total forested area to create one larger forested area for species to have a broader range of habitat.

The communities within this corridor mostly have sugar cane, coffee farms or pasture and therefore the forested areas are fragmented or separated by open spaces which means that species cannot move easily throughout the area. This necessitates initiatives such as the community-run tree nursery which grows and sells trees to farmers to dispurse throughout their coffee farms to create more sustainable shade-grown coffee. This also creates a need for incentives for the people to plant more trees, therefore there is a need for more demand for shade-grown coffee, more awareness on the benefits the tree cover can provide, and for more tourism to the area so that they can benefit monetarily from preserving the private forested farms.