It is December 31 2011 and we are looking forward  to 2012.  We also look back with gratitude for 2011.  It was a good
year.  A lot of lessons learned and a lot of progress (including goat housing and milking area, biodigestor, big greenhouse, horse stables and arena, chicken houses, Casa Comunal completed, adobe cob oven).  We also had experience hosting overnight groups with more than 20 persons, providing meals and areas for workshops, classes, yoga, etc.  We are quite blessed.

Gracias to our great staff, to our hospitality hosts Efrain, Vivian and Manuel, and also workers Miguel and Sandra, Roger, Esteban, Jose (carpenter), Jose (horse trainer), Dennis the taxi driver, and our accountant Narly, lawyer Alonso, and to Ami our website designer and travel coordinator. We also say gracias to all the visitors, guests, friends and family, and volunteers and interns for your support.

We are hanging out on the patio at the Posada Rustica, and watching a pair of toucans in a tree by the patio. They are really huge toucans, and so-so close. There are other birds, too. It is raining, and everything is a beautiful green.

Best wishes for a great 2012 to all. Dr. Paulo and Lauren

It has been raining a lot, but the green colors are more green than ever.  And lots of birds are around.  It is really special to be sitting in the Posada Rustica and drinking organic coffee from Finca Rio Perla.  We have planted about 700 coffee trees, half of them from seedlings we produced from the last remaining coffee tree in La Perla.  The coffee, too is from that last remaining coffee tree.  Vivian and Sandra have been producing the seedlings and maintaining a smalll nursery. We are planting coffee at out highest altitudes of about 750 feet (about 2,300 feet).  It is a beautiful view of the Caribbean.  At the bottom of the farm at about 350 meters (about 1,100 feet) we just planted some cacao, that we need to clean up and continue to plant other trees/shrubs/crops for shade and ground cover.

It has been great to go horseback riding with Efrain and Hannah and the guests and visitors and neighbors.  We have taken a couple of rides to the neighboring village San Bosco for ice cream.  We were joined by our neighbors Wilfredo and his daughter Estephania, who is in Hannah's grade at school.  David, and also Melanie and her kids Kai and Alani.  It was also nice to ride up the mountain from the new horse stable by the Posada Rustica past the macadamia farm way up the mountain to more than 900 meters (about 2,800 feet).  Going up and up the mountain was refreshing, and the views coming down were amazing.  Then we walked to the lookout to the big 100 foot waterfall and walked up to the smaller about 30 foot waterfall.  The water was really rushing from all the rains.  Hannah is comfortable with TeddyFreda.  it has been nice trying different horses.  Zeus is really a smooth ride, he is so big and gentle. Valentino is our oldest home born-raised pony and he is 4 years old and riding for a year.  My first ride on ChayaDov was incredible.  She just wants to run, and has a beautiful gallop.  Hannah has managed to keep up and we need to always wait for Efrain and the others.  It has been good to use the new horse arena for training and practice.  

We are still trying to expand and stabilize our outlet markets for goat milk and cheese, and cow cheeses, and eggs so that we can have more incentives for being more efficient and producing more. The smoked goat cheeses are getting better and better as we experiment, and the plain goat cheeses are great.  We are also growing more and more products used as feed for the chickens for egg laying, and the eggs are so delicious.  

Miguel and Esteban have been busy cutting pasture grasses up in the macadamia farm and bringing them down to the new horse stables.  Together with Efrain and Roger they weaved netted hay bags from rope to hold the pasture grasses in the horse stalls.  These pasture grass feeders might be temporary and will be replaced by wooden hay racks.   But, for the moment it seems to be a good technique if we hang the net hay bags high enough, so horses can not step into them.  We are still working on getting our feeding and clean-up routines efficient in the horse stables.    Oops, gotta run. Dr. Paulo

  

Well, we are still are in high spirits from a good Thanksgiving holiday and long weekend, and an eventful November at Finca Rio Perla.  And we are very upbeat heading into December.

Our major project for November has been finishing the new horse stable (for 16 horses) and associated infrastructure (storage areas, horse washing areas, riding arena, improved pasture, and new fencing for the horses around the new equestrian complex).  And, despite many challenges along the way ... we are moved the horses into their new stalls.  Hooray!!!  Jose and Roger did a great job with the carpentry work.  And, as usual, Efrain managed the process and was assisted by Miguel and Esteban.

Vivian and Sandra have continued with their work in the vegetable gardens, and the plant nurseries (for vegetables and trees) and making cheeses from goat and cow milk, and other delicious foods.  And as always, keeping all the hospitality areas in order and ready for receiving visitors and guests.

We had some nice visitors and guests the past few weeks.  In particular it was nice to host a small group of university students from the USA who are studying in Costa Rica, and also a family that has bought some land in a neighboring village.  Despite the rains everyone had positive experiences.  As we begin December we are getting more and more inquiries from potential visitors and guests ... and new reservations.  

Now we are focusing on planting more fruit trees and maintenance of all the recently planted fruit trees (and coffee and cacao trees) and forestry trees.  As we have been learning, tree maintenance is key to tree health and growth.  So, it is not just a matter of how many trees we plant, but how well we maintain them after planting.

We also are busy with trail maintenance and the "finish" for the equestrian complex.  All a labor of love.

We also are looking forward to a "productive" December with the goats, since 4 goats are very pregnant and expecting birthings in December.  Three cheers for our macho rams Max and Tevya (they are such cool dudes).  Also, some cows are pregnant and we are expecting some new births in December.

Thus, we are looking forward to December, to celebrate our blessings from 2011 and to move on to the new year 2012.

Pura Vida. Dr. Paulo