The rains fell sporadically for several days the last week of May, as an abnormally slow moving low pressure system camped out off the coast of El Salvador and proceeded to direct impulses of moisture laden air towards Costa Rica and drop rain onto the FLB team members and their families. 

Joining partners Al and Deena Benner, their twin 13 month old boys Owen and Coleman, Keith Jeffrey, Darlene and Ray Coker and son Ben, were Al’s parents, Dave and Sue, Deena’s parents Phyllis and Sheldon Seligsohn, and the beautiful and very talented Jules Sommer who was helping Deena and Al with the boys.

The trip started auspiciously enough with heavy rains as the Benner clan first arrived and made their way in a two car convoy from the Liberia airport on towards Samara. A stop off at the usual fruit stand in Nicoya found Al and Dave leaving behind an entire bag of fruit (which ironically a week later the ever so kind tica woman replaced at no charge, having committed to memory every single piece of fruit that had been paid for but left by accident – amazing). When the Cokers drove past the Maquenco entrance they were thinking it couldn't rain any harder when they spotted Alberto the school teacher and his wife next to the church stranded on broken motorcycle so they took them up the mountain and discovered our new road and improvements held beautifully during the rainy season.

The group stayed at the Villas Kalimbas in Samara and was graciously hosted by the proprietor, Roberto, originally from Italy.  Roberto cooks for his guests when inspired to  do so, and we were fortunate enough to enjoy his unique and delicious creations on four different nights. 

The beach was very close by, so the Benner boys enjoyed many early morning and late afternoon romps on the beach, Coleman doing his best imitation of Frankenstein walking about, and Owen pointing at everything in site, picking up sticks, and smearing sand on himself.   

Several members of the group enjoyed the nearby Wing Nuts zipline canopy tour, while others went fishing (the red snapper and sierra mackerel sushi was sensational). Sheldon somehow even landed a moray eel that was soon released. Deena, Phyllis, Dar and Ben enjoyed horseback riding on the beach and Darlene and Deena had a killer workout at the Nosara Yoga Institute. Keith, Dar and Ben took surf lessons across the way at C&C Surf school. Everyone got up many times - all are now hooked. Look for boards hanging from the walls of the community center next year!

Many nights found the group enjoying dinner at various restaurants along the beach watching the local beach dogs, evening beach soccer game, or the thirty or so horses wandering back from their pasture areas to their evening quarters. 

Keith spent quite a bit of time working on legal documents with our attorney Vanessa Calvo, and interviewing prospective Construction team members.  Al and Ray spent a good deal of time on the finca coordinating the various projects and site planning that were going on and giving a tour of the property to Tom and Julie Anderson who were visiting from Maryland. 

Andrew and Andrea Zwick stopped down from Monteverde to meet the group, and Andrew spent some time on site with Al reviewing the upcoming work that will fit out the work shed with solar panels that will power the pump to fill the 1,800 gallon water tank that will be put in place shortly. 

Other visits were made by builders Rhys Berman from California and Patrick and Sarah Kelly and their baby Eden from the San Jose area. 

As Howler Monkeys watched Steve Gallant and his fearless truck driver somehow got the 20 foot ocean container that Steve has since converted to a work and storage shed to the site despite muddy roads with hairpin turns, and narrow passages.  In a couple places the dual tires on one side actually road on nothing but air for a few feet (the tracks proved it!)

Hats off to Steve for persevering through the rain and continual shocks he received while welding on site.  Also thanks for the boogey boards and hammock.  Ben and Keith put the boards to good use early one evening when the surf was really up. 

Christoph Hubmann continued his instrumental role in the project, coordinating and overseeing the construction of a 12’ x 15’ “Ranchito” atop the community area hillside.

He also took and Dave and Al to a nearby nursery where over 300 fruit trees were secured.  Many of these grafted varieties will begin bearing fruit in the next 1-2 years.

The plantains and bananas that were planted as corms back in April are already 3’ tall. The living fence posts of “India des nuda” that our site crew, headed by Jose Antonio  planted in April have already produced 12 inches of growth. 

Native tree planting took place around the community area, as did the planting of some pineapples.  One hundred shade loving coffee plants are being brought down from Jose Antonio’s finca.  These will be planted on the partially shaded slopes just below the  community area. 

Our new road has held up well to the heavy down pours, but the wing walls at a couple of the culverts are being widened by our crew, as they were too narrow to properly retain the constantly shifting volcanic soil.  A fast growing ground cover is also being planted along the road banks to stabilize the soil.

Other big news included finding out that the white water view visible from the finca was recently purchased by Mel Gibson for a cool 26 million U.S. (see article on left). This is being turned into a 408 acres personal retreat and preserve for the actor. The purchase price has already dramatically increased the value of surrounding fincas which is great news for our lot owners. 

Al met with Eugenio and Alfredo Bermudez from the engineering firm, Deppat twice on site during the trip, and the 25 lot master plan is now nearing completion. We hope to have the finalized version up on our website within the next couple of weeks. 

All of the different fall sites we visited on the finca this trip were really cranked up from the rain, and the finca was incredibly lush and a vibrant green.  Several mornings found layers of fog drifting in and out just above the finca, producing an incredibly surreal effect.  Lots of birds were spotted on the property, including a large lineated woodpecker, and several mot mots and trogans.  Toads and baby iguanas were also seen scurrying about in the grass. A few mangos were still on the trees down by the corral, and provided much needed energy for the hike back up the mountain after one of the more robust hiking excursions. Lots of mushrooms that produce hallucinogenic effects if ingested were found growing out of cow pies in many places, and the old farmhouse on the other side of the river was entered and found to contain several hundred bats – the old building has aptly been named the “bat house”. 

The discoveries and journey continue…