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September and October: Preparations and Transitions

10/30/2012

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At Finca Rio Perla (FRP), September and October have been months of preparation and transition. We are busy preparing for our new alliance to work with some Costa Rican (Tico) specialists in alternative medicine.  The idea is that the farm and it's natural beauty would be part of a holistic body-mind-soul experience offered by several different professionals having different specialities.  The unifying theme is "living with nature" and how being "in touch with nature" is very healing body-mind-soul.   Thus, patients/visitors will have contact with alternative medicine specialists in an office-setting (which will also be provided on-site at Casa Central and/oror Posada Rustica), and a wide range of activities on the farm, including horseback riding, hiking, swimming, tilapia fishing, bird watching, making and/or eating freshly made dairy (cow and goat) products, collecting eggs, fresh fruits and vegetables, breads, marmelades, sugar cane juice, macadamia nuts, and more.  There will also be opprtunities to work in the gardens and plant trees.  And, of course, patients/visitors can eat a great meal and/or just chill out and enjoy the natural beauty.  We call it Agro-Eco-Salud La Perla.  Following our approach to Agro-Eco Practicalism, we will integrate principles of organic farming, permaculture and biodynamics in a balanced and realistic manner.  ==> More details coming next month ...

We are happy that Dan, from Michigan, returned to Finca Rio Perla for his 3rd visit as an intern.  Dan is a gentle person who loves the great outdoors.  In Michigan he works as a landscaper and also in construction.  Dan arrived in mid-September and left FRP at the end of October. Thanks once again to Dan for his support.

The end of September ushered in the Jewish New Year, and we were blessed to have a visit from Howard, from Canada (at least that is where he is living at the moment).  Howard has worked and lived in several "alternative" communities around the world including kibbutz in Israel and ashram in India, and it was great to have him visit Finca Rio Perla for a almost a week.  We look forward to a return visit from Howard (and his wife) in a couple of months.  Also, Howard has friends at University of Peace, near San Jose, that have recently visited Finca Rio Perla.

In October we had some major transitions with Efrain and Roger leaving FRP.  We have had a long association with Efrain (5 years) and Roger (1 year full-time, and some contract work in past years) and we wish them all the best.  At least we have some good memories and lots of evidence of their experience at FRP.  Vivian, Efrain's wife and Roger's sister left FRP a couple of months ago to be located closer to her parents in a nearby town.  Efrain's brother, Jose, who helped train our horses part-time also left FRP recently for a full-time job.  We thank Efrain and Vivian and their families (including Vivian's father and sister, who also worked for FRP some times) for their support.  Also, an intern, Scott left for greener pastures, after about 4 months at FRP. Scott brought a lot of humor to FRP, and whenever his name is mentioned, everyone laughs.  Jajajaja Scott.  

We are excited to welcome Esteban and Nestor, who are working with Wilfredo and Miguel.  Wilfredo and Miguel have stepped up, along with Sandra to manage the day-to-day farm activities.  We also are excited to welcome Freddy, who's familia has a dairy farm in neighboring San Bosco.  Freddy, who is bi-lingual and a local Tico dairy farmer and cheese-maker will help in administration and day-to-day communications, and in our farm production and marketing.  We think that the FRP team, which also includes Jose our carpenter, Dennis the taxi driver, and Narly our accountant (based in San Jose) is really a great TEAM. FRP and Agro-Eco-Salud La Perla.

The month of October ended with Hannah celebrating her 12th birthday.  Although she celebrated her birthday in Miami, she went shopping for presents for her friends at Finca Rio Perla on her special day.  As a surprise birthday present, Hannah is coming to Finca Rio Perla right after celebrating Halloween.  The goats are waiting for "Hannah the goat-hugger", and the horses and the cows and the chickens, and Pero Pero and Frankie are also all waiting for Hannah, and of course Lauren.  Lauren organized a great birthday weekend for Hannah, which including a pizza and painting party with 4 school friends, and her older sister Lea dropped by.  It was loud and fun and ended with the shofar blasting at 12 o'clock midnight when Hannah turned 12, and started her 13th year. From tween to teen. Trick or treat???  

Anyway, since the new arrangement with the Tico alternative medicine practitioners is supposed to begin soon, we will not talk any more, before the transformation begins.  Suffice to say, September and October were busy months of preparation and transition for Finca Rio Perla.  And, with a lot of expectations for the future.  Pura Vida, Dr. Paulo.
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Great Vibes at Finca Rio Perla in August

8/31/2012

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August was a fun month at Finca Rio Perla, with really great vibes.  We were really blessed with exceptional guests and super weather, and great experiences for all.  In addition, we managed to make a lot of progress in improving the gardens and planting more pasture for the horses.   Notably, Sandra has taken over responsibilities in the kitchen, and has been making amazing cheeses, baked goods (breads, pizzza, calazones), chileros, marmalades and traditional Tico cuisine. 

We hosted 2 large groups - of about 20 persons each - in August.  This  

More to come ...

  

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Trapiche La Perla: Our New Sugar Cane Mill 4th of July 2012

7/4/2012

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Today, to celebrate 4th of July we "mounted" the trapiche, which is a sugar cane mill.  It is actually an "antique' trapiche, over 100 hundred years old.  The frame is made from heavy and roughly hewn "almendra" (a type of almond) wood, and there are 3 pistons that are the rollers that squueze the juice out of sugar cane stalks that are feed into the rollers.  Efrain managed to borrow a pulley and chains from Freddy, from the next village of San Bosco.   So, Efrain, Roger, Jose, Miguel, Wilfredo and Scott were helping to mount the trapiche.  Audrey was busy photographing things.

Paulo bought the trapiche about 5 years ago from someone in the nearby village of Argentina.  Earth University was interested in this antique sugar mill to buy for it's new Guanacaste (Pacific coast) campus.  It was still set up with the brick ovens to boil the cane juice to make molasses, and molds for the brown sugar.  Efrain grew up in Guanacaste working with a trapiche from a young age.  So, he has always been excited about the trapiche.  When the trapiche was bought, Efrain, Roger and Jose were the team that took it apart and loaded it and transported it to the farm.  So, they knew how the trapiche was put together by taking it apart.

Only the mill part of the trapiche is being set up for Stage #1, so only sugar cane juice will be made by manual turning of the milling wheel. It is fun to make your own sugar cae juice. That is what we did today at Finca Rio Perla. 

Anyway, it was really quite a "process" to mount each piece of the trapiche mill.  There was already a beautiful roof with some clear roofing panels along with the zinc roofing panels, and 2 massive wood posts in the ground for the trapiche mounting process.  The 9 columns of the roof are all cement posts from an old corral that long ago been taken down (great recycling).  It was a struggle to get all the pieces mounted, and it included a lot of improvision with different tools, like hand saw and chain saw, to get everything in place.  But, everyone consulted on how to proceed and they worked together as a group.  A great team effort.

In the afternoon, Scott, Dennis. Lauren and Paulo went to clean the trapiche so that we could make sugar cane juice that was drinkable.  There luckily was a long hose and an attachment to allow the water from Salon La Perla to be used to clean the mud and muck and insects from the wood and metal rollers that had been sitting around for 5 years.  After a long while cleaning the trapiche, Dennis took a machete and went to the nearby sugar cane planting and cut about 10 stalks and together we ran them through the rollers and caught the raw juice in large pan.  Then we dipped our large cups in the large pan and poured it through a strainer into a second glass.  The pure sugar cane juice was so refreshing.  Scott immediately noted that it could easily be made into rum. But, so delicious when freshly squeezed.

So, the trapiche that was bought 5 years ago and "sitting around" for 5 years was finally mounted in 5 hours of really hard physical labor, and another hour or so of cleaning things up so that we could drink the raw sugar cane juice through a strainer.  A long, long time and a very sweet ending to a long period of anticipation.  The view from the trapiche is quite spectacular toward the Caribbean.

For the past 5 years the trapiche was always moved to the end of the priority list.  Finishing the trapiche marks the end of a period of an infrastructure building projects at Finca Rio Perla.  We are blessed to have such great people at Finca Rio Perla to do all these projects.  In the past year and a half we have finished the 16 horse barn, 40 goat housing and milking parlor and pasture area, a large greenhouse, and a biodigestor.  In addition we rennovated the cow milking area and improved the worm compost area next to the biodigestor. Also, we set up about 10 barrels of fermented organic "brews" for foliar applications next to the cow milking area.  Thanks/Gracias to all.  Pura Vida.  Dr. Paulo

        
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From "March Madness" to April Reflection and Springing Forward as a Family Farm Experience

4/29/2012

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March 2012 was a really great month at Finca Rio Perla, and we began April relishing in our experiemces of March and preparing for the early April holidays of Samana Santa and Passover.were a perfect time to reflect and ready ourselves to spring forward with a new dedication and direction.

It was great to have 10 - 12 people lodging in the Posada Rustica, and often Finca Rio Perla staff and guests joining us for meals that were deliciously prepared by Lauren and Vivian, and our visitors ... especially Melanie.   It was great to have return guests like Melanie and her kids Kai (14 yrs old) and Alani (18 yrs. old), who helped with the horses and acted as guides and cooks and food servers and dishwashers.  They and other kids all helped in activities around the farm, including collecting and cleaning eggs, milking goats and cows, making cheese with gas from the bio-digestor and worm compost from the solid cow manure.  We had 8 families visit at FRP in March, and some young couples.  Everyone fit in well, and kids of all ages roamed around freely along with our amazing dogs, led by Pero Pero and Frankie and joined by Lucy, and the others. Of course, having 11-year old Hannah around always keeps things active with the kids and lively for the adults.  We wish that hannah could be at Finca Rio Perla more and more and more.

We are mostly getting families with mothers.  It is also a good vacation for the parents because the kids can go off safely and have fun in an open and free manner with other kids and adults.  

It has been amazing to see how children act and react in an open and free environment.  They act like they are open and free. Duh!!! You literally see - before your very own eyes-  that the barriers and inhibitions and fears disipate as children step outside their comfort zones at Finca Rio Perla.  To be witness to this unfolding of potential for children, and the possibility to facilitate a space/place for a child to feel open and free enought to identify and unleash their potential is really what we strive for at Finca Rio Perla. 

Anyway, the point is that, in March, we at Finca Rio Perla felt more and more that it has a special niche to fill as a destination for a family agr-eco tourism experience.  There are a lot of parents and young grandparents that grew up in the 60s, 70s, 80s that want their children and grandchildren to have an authentic hands-on experience with nature, to better appreciate the links between people and their food and nature in general.   We at Finca Rio Perla are excited by the opportunity and challenge to be a destination for family agro-eco tourism experience in a community setting.  The community setting, with local Costa Rican families demonstrates that this time of lifestyle is real and achievable and sustainable.
 
So, to change gears a bit and be more practical and less philosophic, what did we do in April to better prepare ourselves to be a destination for family agro-eco tourism experiences -- and also to be a destination for workshops and trainings, and other group visits for a minimum of 2 days/nights and a capacity of 25+ people in beds and extra capacity in tents with mattresses.

Anyway, on April 21, a group of us rode by horseback up to the top part of the farm, at about 750 meters (about 2,250 feet).  It was Paulo, Lauren, Efrain, Roger, Roger's son Fabian, Esteban, Jose, Miguel and Sandra and their kids Juliana and Camilla riding with them on 2 horses, Wilfredo, and his daughter Estefania on separate horses. So, 11 horses and 13 riders we dismounted at the newly finished fence to protect the coffee trees that have been planted there.  About 700 coffee trees have been planted, about 500 from seedlings from the lone coffee tree remaining on the mountain (which is located lower down on the farm).  Anyway, the view is stunning of the valley and out toward the Caribbean.  We all discussed planting the additional 200+ coffee seedlings that Sandra prepared, and to continue to plant coffee (also with trees we can buy from our neighbor Rodolfo).  Anyway, the plan is to continue planting coffee at the upper parts of the macadamia farm, where some of the macadamia trees are dead.  And, we will start to seriously cut out dead macadamia trees and rennovate living macadamia trees -- that are now de facto "organic macadamia" -- and start replanting and reforestation with citrus, fruits, and others. 

It was great to go horseback riding with most of the workers (and hiking to the lookout over the biggest waterfalls) and we had a great picnic lunch in the Salon La Perla, including delicious pizza made by Sandra and Vivian in the cobb oven.  Narly our accountant joined us at the Salon La Perla for lunch and Dennis, our taxi driver, was in and out.  There we discussed our plans, after passing through much of the farm by horseback.  The horse stables, goat and cow milking areas look great.  There is the new picnic table and bench in Salon La Perla so that we have 5 tables/10 benches for 30 persons (plus extra chairs to place at the table ends, if needed).  Jose sanded and varnished the wood floor of the classroom, and will be making some additional desks and chairs.

Casa Central has been fixed up, the floors inside the house and on the huge patio have all been sanded and varnished and holes/cracks filled in.  Casa Central is great for 4 - 6 persons, and can handle more. Now we will start painting the outside, but the house itself is in great shape.  Johnny, our main non-resident "artist" was with us horseback riding and he brought some new paintings that we bought.  We are looking forward to having some art classes and workshops.

After lunch we walked down to Casa Comuna to check it out.  Wow!!!!   Since the end of February, the Casa Comuna has undergone an amazing transformation to truely being "Casa Comuna".  Starting with Nadya and Nikola, and continuing with the special dedication and love of Dan, and final workmanship of Jose --- Casa Comuna is colorful, clean, open, comfortable, cozy, etc. with a capacity of 8 - 9 persons.  It is the ideal "group house", with a full kitchen and comfortable sleeping, eating and sitting spaces.

Then we walked to Casa Verde, the newly purchased house.  We made plans of how to fix it up for Wilfredo's family and the backyard to house his 3 horses.  Wilfredo and his family are a great addition to the community at Finca Rio Perla.  Estefania is 12 years old and a great horseback rider and loves to be a guide and is an artist along with her mother.  Wilfredo is an amazing "cowboy" and a great complement to Efrain when riding our horses.  Wilfredo was living and working on another farm nearby, and the place was leased/sold --- so he joined us at Finca Rio Perla.  The Casa Verde is a great little house with 2-3 bedrooms and a great location.

So, back at the Posada Rustica, which is still our main house, with a capacity for about 13 - 17 (depending if 2 persons per double bed), there were additional "touches" made to make it an even nicer place to sleep or eat or hang out.  The kitchen and eating facilities were busy during much of March, and they were up to the task of providing a comfortable experience. Of course, in a group house with a lot of people we would like to have thicker walls, but we can't rebuild the Posada Rustica ... we can only love it for what it is and for what we lovngly call it, Posada Rustica.

So, we have a great place and great people working with us.  Now, more attention to the plants.  We can host 25 - 30 persons in beds, and have both decentralized and centralized cooking/eating areas that can also be used for classrooms, workshops, etc.  We are ideally situtated for families because we are in fact a family farm that is actully a group of famillies living and working at Finca Rio Perla, and the "community" of Finca Rio Perla that makes it an ideal destination for family agro-eco tourism experiences. 

Of course, similar to us being vegetarian/pescatarian and claiming that we try to be inclusive and not exclusive, we also welcome all persons of all ages and all types of relationships.  We welcome everyone to have an agro-eco tourism experience at Finca Rio Perla.  Pura Vida, Dr. Paulo.  
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Lucy in the Sky with Perlas: Welcome to Finca Rio Perla ... I Love Lucy

3/10/2012

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We would like to officially welcome Lucy (that is short for her full name "Lucy in the Sky with Perlas") to Finca Rio Perla.
Lucy is our golden little puppy dog who was born December 25, 2011. She is totally golden, except for a white tip on her very long tail.  Her dad is our little stump-tailed "hotdog" Frankie (who does not seem to recognize his 3-month daughter who is almost as big as him) and Vivian's golden color small dog Lancy.  Lucy grew up with her mom and brothers (she is the only girl of the 6 puppies) down the road and I "received" her a couple of weeks ago as she was weaned.  It is so great that Lucy can still run up and down the mountain and visit her mom and brother Tobi (short for Beethoven) who looks like a tiny Panda bear.  It is also great when Vivian comes to the Posada Rustica with Lancy and Tobi and they can all hang out and play and eat together.  Lucy is like a cat, in that she is ferocious outside and with other animals (constantly beating up Tobi and getting scolded by Lancy), but she also loves to cuddle up and be playful and "purr". Of course "uncle" Perro Perro is there to guard over all the dogs, and he is really the father-figure for Lucy (and a platonic friend of Lancy), and Frankie (the real dad) is more of an uncle. But, the familia is together (mom, dad, Lucy, Tobi) ... and a couple other brothers are with nearby neighbors. We are so so happy to see our dogs run around free and amongst familia and friends.  And, they respond by being so so friendly and loving and loyal.  We really are blessed with our dogs Perro Perro, Frankie, and our newest addition - Lucy in the Sky with Perlas.  And also blessed to have Lancy and Tobi, etc. nearby.  I assume that it no surprise how Hannah the goat-hugger received the new addition to the Finca Rio Perla community -- with lots and lots of hugs and a loving welcome for her new roommate. 

So, see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKXfqpg-Q-k  and sing along with the Beatles  replacing "Perlas" for "Diamonds". 

And, remember, I Love Lucy. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_Lucy   We all love you Lucille Ball.

Pura Vida. Dr. Paulo 
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Greynolds Park in Miami, Tu Bishvat in Israel, and Finca Rio Perla: Trees of the World Unite

2/17/2012

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When not at Finca Rio Perla, and when in Miami, Paulo and Lauren religiously walk/hike at nearby Greynolds Park.  It is an amazing place, a real urban oasis.  Actually, Greynolds Park is famous as a hang-out for the "counter-culture" in the 1960s and 1970s, and now the venue of an annual "love in" in May. http://greynoldslovein.org/   In May 2011, the band Jefferson Starship played. http://www.jeffersonstarshipsf.com/  Yes, ... "Don't you need somebody to love .... "  Paul Kantner, cigarette in hand, and looking more like Keith Richards, the Jefferson Starship showed it can still create some good vibes: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm0SNU4w4t0 

But, we love Greynolds Park all the time, and the park staff, the nicest and most dedicated nature- and people-loving folks you will ever find -- told us that budget cuts were threatening the park, and resulting in cuts in their "benefits", like health insurance.
 
So, we presented the problem to Hannah, and her 11-year old brain spun around for a few moments and she blurted out: "Let's bake cookies and sell them to neighbors and collect money for the park."  And, with Lauren's guidance, "Budget-Cut Cookies" was established in the kitchen.  Hannah not only helped with the cookies, but also with preparation of the accompanying materials to explain why she was going door-to-door collecting $$$ for Greynolds Park.  Most of the cookies were chocolate chip, but Paulo had some Finca Rio Perla macadamia nuts stashed in his freezer in Washngton DC.  And, thus, some of the batches were macadamia-chocolate chip cookies.  Yum-Yum. 

Well, Finca Rio Perla decided to match every dollar that Hannah collected from her door-to-door sales, which she did rain-or-shine.  Hannah is a tenacious saleswomen, so it was hard to keep up in the kitchen.  In all, Hannah collected $104 and Finca Rio Perla added $112 so that Hannah could take a check for $216 (that's 12 times 18, where "Chai" is the number 18 and a traditional Jewish good luck number.

Hannah and Lauren were thinking of an appropriate day to bring the $216 check to Greynolds Park, and it was decided that it should be done in honor of the Jewish holiday, Tu Bishvat, on Feb 7 2012. The Jewish holiday called Tu Bishvat, is called the "New Year for Trees". see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/15_Shvat 

Tu Bishvat (Hebrew: ט״ו בשבט‎) is  a Jewish holiday, occurring on the 15th day of the  Hebrew month of Shevat (in 2012 this occurred from sunset on  February 7 through the time when  you can see three stars in the sky on February  8). It is also called  "Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot" (Hebrew: ראש השנה לאילנות‎), which means the "New Year of the  Trees". Tu Bishvat is one of four "New Years" mentioned in the Mishnah.  Just think, in Jewish tradition there is a special holiday to celebrate trees. "Etz Chaim", which means  - the tree of life - is actually a very powerfiul Jewish symbol. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etz_Chaim    In fact, it is the Torah, G-d's gift to humanity that is revered and praised symbolically as "Etz Chaim", the "tree of life".  Alternatively, humanity's gretest gift from G-d is the eternal "tree of life", deeply rooted in the soil. 

To further honor Tu Bishvat and to link Greynolds Park with Israel and Finca Rio Perla, we donated money to buy some trees in Israel to be planted by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), including the Childrens' Forest. http://www.jnf.org/
For Paul and Lauren it was a "deja vu" to make a contribution to JNF for planting trees in Israel, BUT-BUT instead of collecting spare change in bulky blue "pushkes" that would weigh so-so much, now it is all done over the internet with electronic transfers.  Oh well, I guess that that is called "progress" .... at least it is a smaller carbon footprint.  hahahaha

Anyway, the bottom line is that we love trees and parks and respect and honor all the persons who have dedicated their lives to working in parks -- usually with very very demanding work loads, and insufficient financial compensation.  These dedicated people are too often exploited because of their dedication and love of nature and people, and people and nature.  So, "Trees of the World Unite" ... power to the people who love trees ... being a "tree hugger" is a label to wear with pride.  

So, in May 2012, make sure you celebrate May Day, of course, but also check your calenders for "Love Fest 2012" at Greynolds Park if you are in the Miami area.  Otherwise, we hope that you can visit us at Finca Rio Perla in Costa Rica, or a JNF park in Israel, or anywhere else in the world celebrating nature.  Pura Vida - To Life - L'chaim, Dr. Paulo 
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Finca Rio Perla Equestrian Center is Moving Ahead

1/19/2012

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January and the beginning of 2012 has been a great month for the Equestrian Center at Finca Rio Perla.  As we have experienced, once again, building basic infrastructure is a necessary and expensive 1st stage in moving ahead.  The real challenge begins after the basic infrastructure is completed, and then the 2nd stage is the "finish", and the 3rd stage is organizing the operation and mainteance. To make thngs even more "fun", there is often overlap between the 3 stages, and also there are adjustments and revisions and updates during theses 3 stages, and the subsequent day-to-day activities.

So, for example, once the 16 stalls were all completed, including automatic water dispensers, we needed to add hay racks for placing cut grasses from the farm, and feed boxes for purchased feed.  Jose, our carpenter made a prototype hay rack, and then, with Lauren's leadership and suggestions from Efrain, Roger, Miguel and Estaban we modified the design.  And, what an incredible design ... that minimizes the amount of wood needed.  Likewise for the feed boxes.  So, with the new design, Jose used freshly cut wood from a large Choncho Blanco tree that had been hit by lightening.  Jose did the sawing of the tree onsite in the field, and we carried the pieces of wood to the horse stables. 

Besides the "finish", the entire operation and maintenance of the horses has changed since they moved into stalls.   Placing sawdust on the ground in the horse stalls and cleaning ("mucking") the horse manure is also generating big piles of compost that we will be using in the gardens when it is ready.  In addition, we are cutting improved pasture grasses from our macadamia farm, about 2 km up the mountain, and bringing it down to the stablo with our new car-drawn wagon.  We are fixing up a wagon for our work oxen that might also be an option for the future.

There is a lot of work to operate and maintain the new Equestrian Center at Finca Rio Perla, but the results to date are literally AMAZING.  The horses look better than ever, and getting horses ready for riding and then for taking off the saddles and other riding equipment (including riding helmets) and placing back in the nearby storage sheds is so much easier. Plus, the wash racks are right next to the stable and this makes grooming horses before and after rides much easier.  This is a great way for visitors to have a hands-on experience with the horses that they are riding.

Also, one of the most thrilling sights to see is the end of the day round-up of the horses to come back to the stable as they run as a herd with Volcan Turrialba smoking in the background.   This is real Pura Vida.

Lauren has been studying the herd's social dynamics, and this too is an amazing aspect of having a "horse community".  Like people, there is a social hierarchy and interesting inter-horse dynamics.  We are really lucky to have a friendly and social herd of horses, and of course this helps make riding in groups such a pleasure.  Our younger horses too, are more and more approachable in the stalls, and this increases the bonds between our horses and us.

With all of these improvements with the horses, the horseback riding experience is even better and better.  We have 2 major rides designed for visitors (and of course ourselves), and also several specially designed options for experienced riders.  For inexperienced riders, they quickly become more experienced after some instruction and practice in our horse arena.

Ride #1 is up the mountain as far as the trail goes, which is above the macadamia farm.  The views are incredible and the air gets cooler and cooler as you ride from 450 meters at the horse stable to about 650 - 750 meters at the macadamia farm, and close to 900 meters at the top.  Then, coming back down the mountian we dismount and hike through the macadamia farm to 2 different waterfalls and go swimmig in the pools.  Ride #2 is a ride through local villages to a neighboring farm that makes organic ice cream and yoghurts.  Yum yum.  The ride through the countryside is really colorful and peaceful.  Both of these rides take about 2 - 3 hours (or more).  

Anyway, that seems to be enough for the moment, lots more to talk about.  Pura Vida, Dr. Paulo  
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From 2011 to 2012. Happy New Year from Finca Rio Perla

12/31/2011

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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

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Cafe Organica La Perla and Horseback Riding for Ice Cream

12/26/2011

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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

  
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December 2011: The Beginning of the Last Month of a Good Year

12/1/2011

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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
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