December 4th through the 10th saw Al Benner traveling to the finca for oversight of a variety of projects that are currently in various stages of completion. Ask Al about his trip and words like, “inspired” and “pumped” roll off his tongue. The following summary of the trip should help you understand why…

December in Guanacaste is a beautiful time of the year – the heavy rains have ended and the weather patterns are in transition, with many bright, sunny dry days mixed with an occasional cloudier, more humid day with a sporadic down pour.

The trip started auspiciously enough when Al and his friend Tom Lake stopped by to meet John Macleod from California who was coming by to see the progress of the project and take a closer look at the available lots. Al was due to meet John at the entrance to the Entre Dos Aguas lodge in Samara at 7:30 a.m., but when Al & Tom stopped by, John wasn’t there and the gate was closed. After waiting for John until well past 8 am, Tom and Al headed for the finca to meet re-forestation guru and Site Manager Christoph Hubmann for a tour of all the recently planted fruit and coffee groves and developing trail systems. Christoph was an hour late arriving which prompted Al to ask him what time it was….it was at that moment that Al and Tom realized that Tom’s cell phone clock they were tracking had not re-set to central time. Lesson learned – carry a watch!

The boys jumped in the car and headed down off the mountain, just in time to intercept John heading their way on the paved road – fortunately John is one of the more easy going guys you could ever meet…

The balance of the trip saw numerous developments that provided an ever increasing level of satisfaction for Al and his on site development team. Steve Gallant found his way from San Jose to Naranjalito in his ’63 Toyota Landcruiser. Steve was tasked with installing the peel and stick solar panels on the roof of the work trailer (a re-claimed and re-vitalized 20’ ocean container). Together, Al and Steve peeled off the backing and applied the photovoltaic strips onto elevated steel pans that will allow for air circulation and cooling of the PV strips. These were then rolled out to ensure no air bubbles were present. The pans were then mounted in sequence onto the welded frame above the sea can. The entire panel will be made “live” in early January when a professional solar power consultant visits the finca to hook everything up to the water pump so the 1,800 gallon water tank can be filled, from which several hundred newly planted fruit trees can be watered (it almost never rains in this part of Costa Rica between January and April).

Another significant development during the trip found Al attending the local bi-monthly town meeting in nearby Maquenco. Christoph had requested of the town leaders if they would be open to allowing the FLB partners to put a sign out along the main road adjacent to the turnoff. Al pulled into the meeting and as he got out of his rental car he realized his left front tire was hanging precariously over a 2 foot deep hole that had appeared out of nowhere – ugh.

The meeting went well with Al’s broken Spanish getting him buy for the most part. Things improved however, when Erin Smith, a recent college grad with a double major in Spanish who was attending the meeting decided to give Al some extra help as a translator. As a representative of a non-profit organization that was helping the town with their new public water lines, Erin was a big help and a very enthusiastic person who had fallen in love with Costa Rica. Soon Al had finalized his meeting, gotten approval for the sign (according to Erin only because of the sustainable theme of the community), had five friendly ticos push him out of the hole he inevitably began to roll into, and gave Erin a lift back to Samara (she was going to hitch hike – very common in CR). Soon every car headed to Samara, Carrillo, and Nosara will know the name Finca Las Brisas. So will the health clinic in Maquenco, as the partners plan on making a contribution to this regional health care facility.

Other milestones included Al spending two days with waste water system expert, Andrew Zwick. Only two days prior to arriving at the finca, Andrew and his tica bride-to-be Andrea became the proud parents of a baby boy – Owen. That makes two Owens that will be running wild on the finca! Andrew is in the process of working with a high tech systems provider whose product injects air into waste streams and by re-circulating the waste between a series of three chambers, can render the finished product 99.9% pure – ideal for providing nutrient rich water to landscaping and fruit trees (which by the way, along with the coffee bushes, are thriving – some of the bananas are over 12’ tall in just 8 months!). Together, Al and Andrew selected two centralized “processing” locations on the finca for these systems. Like the recently acquired micro-hydro system, the group hopes to obtain these systems at no charge or at cost and use the project as a model for these types of renewable systems.

Since the partners have rented a small tico-style house above Playa Carrillo for a good part of the winter, Al was able to offer lodging to both Steve and Andrew. This also afforded Al the opportunity to spend more time with his local support folks.

Future plans were discussed in the rancho during the heat of the day for the expansion of the sea can/work area with wooden overhangs, the soon to be constructed caretaker’s house for Andrew and Andrea, and rancho-style cover for the water tank that is sticking out halfway of the ground on the center of the back ridgeline. Details were also discussed for the new fence line along the neighboring Morales property, and the design and construction of the new entry gate.

Talk also turned to a picnic on the finca in January that will feature two of the local workers, Antonio and Rodolfo who have their own acoustic band that plays “typico” Costa Rican music. Al also paid a visit to local school teacher, friend, and neighbor, Alberto and his family, informing them about the picnic. Al was about to let Alberto know that he expected to be able to provide some solar panels for them to power fans and lights in the one room school, but he decided to wait and surprise him in January.

Finally, hats off to Antonio and Rodolfo, our local workers who have really kept the finca looking in tip top shape. Their ingenious methods (see photos of soil retention techniques along the driveway), hard work, and knowledge of plant materials (they are allowing all valuable trees and shrubs to rejuvenate by seed) while maintaining clear site lines and keeping unwanted brush from taking over the finca.

But the best news of all? Our one year old, ½ mile access road came through the “100 year rains” unscathed! Congratulations to Wayne, Keith and our road installation whiz, Gerald for over-engineering and constructing “the best road in Costa Rica” as it has come to be known…

PS – Congratulations in advance to Christoph Hubmann and his bride-to-be Magda on their pending marriage on the beach in Garza later this month… We are there in spirit and are sorry to be missing all that amazing Swiss/Caribbean food!

We can’t wait to get back to Costa Rica for the next chapter in our adventure, and hope you can be a part of it. The Benners and the Cokers will be on site between January 3rd and the 21st – Please let us know if you can join us for some fun at the finca (and on the playa) !