Eco tours; Costa Rica Property for sale

April - a strong finish to the dry season

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Zane with finca mangos

Zane takes a plunge even after 5 months with no rain

VERY large freshwater shrimp claw down by the finca's Rio Frio

Zane and Mom, Lauren from Eugene

Coming off a big sales month in March, during which time four agreements of sale were signed, spirits were high and expectations for the project ever expanding.

Highlights included a very interesting and productive meeting with architect couple, Evangelina and Lucca from Nosara, who provided some excellent ideas for the community center structure and associated waste water systems. Abe Acton, President of Costa Coast Construction from Samara also spent a considerable amount of time on and off site with us discussing all sorts of possibilities for environmentally friendly materials and construction techniques. Abe is passionate about doing the right thing for the community, and is even involved with helping the nearby town of Samara to establish it’s own recycling center. We were also was in close contact with another sustainable, “off grid” building expert further up the coast, who he plans to visit with the team in July.

Time was also spent reviewing ongoing projects on the finca with Site Manager, Christoph Hubmann. Some of the recently completed projects include a new fence line installed along the eastern boundary of the property, wing walls for the main entry gate constructed from local river rock by the FLB site crew, and continued watering of the 600+ fruit trees and coffee groves. Upcoming projects include: An extension for the work shed to allow for shaded outdoor workspace, a small pump house for the well pump, and a rancho-style cover for the water tank. Additional fruit, nut, and spice trees will be planted this rainy season, along with giant bamboo for construction and heart of palm (palmito).

Observations made on site included: finding several large “hands” of bananas (not yet ripe) on the banana plants that were planted just one year ago. The old mango trees down by the corral were also loaded with fruit, and Lauren and Zane from Oregon, along with Al were treated to some exceptional tree ripened mangos. Other interesting happenings included finding an exotic “mot-mot” tail feather, as well as an enormous fresh water shrimp claw (think ceviche) down along the river.

Perhaps the biggest news obtained on the trip was that the local municipalities of Naranjalitio and Maquenco got together with the help of local school teacher Don Alberto, and raised funds (FLB contributed) to re-grade and gravel the entire road from the pavement turn-off all the way to the school adjacent to the finca – 70 loads of “lastre” gravel in all!

We also visited with finca worker Jose Antonio at his home in the hills of nearby Naranjal – what a lovely area and what good company. Upon returning to the States, we learned of the loss of Jose Antonio’s father – our sincerest sympathy goes out to Antonio and his family during this difficult time.

The team will be returning to Costa Rica and the finca for the better part of July (“little summer”). If you find yourself heading in our direction at that time, please be sure to contact us so we can plan to get together.

Hasta Luego…


Architects Lucca and Evangelina from Nosara	Bananas after just one year growth	Christoph makes contribution to the road up to the finca from the main road to Samara	Cows love melons in the dry season	Crystal clear view from Rancho

Ventilation block at the Naranjalito school	A pleasant afternoon at the Rafa homestead	Doesn't look like much, but the 60 year old homestead has 1 to 3 ft wide solid hardwood floors!	Entry Gate	Finca neighbor's window for controlled ventilation

Finca traffic jam	Finca view from the top of Zaragoza mountain	Finca worker Jose Antonio and his daughter	Lot 3 owner, surfer and teacher Dave Cunningham	Mot Mot tail feather

Sandra from Vajra Sol Adventure Yoga visits finca