Partner families, the Cokers and the Benners, traveled to the finca for the better part of January and experienced along with their guests and visitors, many exciting events. The big news was that the solar panels were wired to the submersible pump and 30 seconds after flipping the switch, the 150 foot deep well began pumping crystal clear mountain water. The truly exhilarating part was that all the power was generated by the sun, and to everyone’s delight the pumping even continued when clouds covered the sky (even without the backup batteries being hooked up).

A few days later, after Ray, Al, and friend Sud Ram had installed several hundred feet of tubing, Christoph, Al, and Al’s friend Kevin were able to get the water pumping all the way up to the highest point on the finca, and into the 1,800 gallon water tank. This is great news, as it will enable the workers to begin watering all recently planted fruit trees and coffee bushes during the dry season.

Other milestones included the final four corner surveying for all lots, the beginning of the fence installation on the east side of the property, and the start of the stone walls on either side of the entry gate. Plans for the remainder of January and February include: A natural stone wall well cover and winch for the pump, an overhang extension for the workshop area that will enable work to be done in the shade, a shed to cover/shade the partially buried water tank, and additional water lines to be installed throughout the finca to the various lot locations. The creation of an additional parking area below the ridge lots and the leveling of the ground surrounding the workshop area are also planned, as is staging of the excess soil to later form retaining walls for a drainage area that will provide for cascading ponds for freshwater shrimp and bass.

The finca was bursting with color and the skies and ocean were the deepest blue for most of the trip, and several forays were made with different groups to tour the various falls and swim holes. Some cattle escaped from a neighbor’s fence and made their way onto our finca and a round up of sorts ensued with the help of Emelie, Ann, and Mark who were touring the property that day. Finca friend, Brad Baxter from Michigan stopped by for a few days with his daughter Katie, and ended up staying just up the street from the Benner’s rental house, and just a short walk up from Playa Carrillo (outstanding boogy boarding by the way)

A picnic was held at the rancho one evening with twenty five gringos and ticos enjoying themselves with good food and music. The group included our friend and school teacher neighbor, Alberto and his daughter, as well as our workers, Rudolfo and Antonio and their families. Ticos strummed on a guitar and several of our neighbors sang original songs well after the sun set. Neighbors, Steve and Angelina Phillips from down the road stopped by with their baby Marco, and the Benner boys Owen and Coleman made short order of the delicious fruit salad Angelina brought. La Roca restaurant provided their famous arroz y camorones, as well as some Imperial, and Darlene Coker did her usual awesome job of coordinating and hosting the event.

Another highlight was some fantastic fishing that Al, Kevin, and pending finca land owner, Scott Hartley and his friend Steve got into just a couple miles offshore of nearby Playa Garza… In a single day the boat landed twelve 8-10 lb. yellowfin tuna, a 40 lb amberjack, a 7 lb rock snapper, a 200 pound black marlin, a 300 lb. blue marlin, and two large sailfish – a “grand slam” and then some. The only blemish on the day occurred when Al was spotted eating a banana midway through the trip… The mate, Bill exclaimed “that’s a plantain, right?”.... then the boat broke into howls and laughter – Al was even told to “purge himself” !! (apparently, unknown to Al, bananas are thought to be very bad luck on fishing boats)… Al refused to believe this until minutes later he unexplainably lost two very large fish right at the boat….Al has since vowed to never bring bananas on a boat again...

Two other events will ensure increased exposure for the project. First the sign that had been approved by the municipality of Maquenco (where the turn off to the property exists at the main road) was installed. It is actually two signs that face at different angles in opposite directions. Secondly, Al happened to turn his cell phone on one day to place a call to his partner Ray back in the States, only to have his phone ring at that exact moment with a call from the environmental reporter from the “Tico Times”, Dave Sheridan. Dave proceeded to ask Al several questions about the project, obtained photos from Ray, and a write-up about the Las Brisas project is due out in February.

Deena Benner thoroughly enjoyed herself on the beach with her twin 21 month old boys (“soccer” with the ticos and splashing in the surf were a big hit) Emma and Hillary who came along to help out with the boys fell in love with Costa Rica, and “Tavo” the caretaker of the rental house was a big hit with the boys, as were the caged parrots (not) that imitated the local cat population beginning at 6 am.

Al and Kevin paid a visit to friend Howie Kramer at his mountain house that overlooks the finca from the mountaintop village of Zaragoza. Howie was treated to seared tuna for lunch for his 61st birthday, and Kevin stopped by a neighbor’s house to pick up a bag of freshly roasted, locally grown (in the backyard) coffee. Later that afternoon they also stopped up for a visit in Naranjal at the house of Rodolfo, one of the full time workers on the finca. Rodolfo and his dad, Vidal showed Kevin and Al all their fruit and nut trees, coffee and banana groves, and the friends left with hands full of fruit (tuna was later given to the family in return for their generosity, as they had also brought a bag of oranges to the fiesta and some homemade corn drink that unfortunately looked and tasted like pepto bismol). Rodolfo walks two hours down the mountain to work and two hours back up again each day…needless to say he and his dad are in excellent shape.

Rodolfo was a soccer star at his hometown until a knee injury cut his career short.

A very busy trip for Al concluded on Sunday the 20th with he and Kevin enjoying a relaxing and exhilarating experience – the zipline. Manu and John at Wingnuts in Samara do a great job, and the view of the area beaches from the tree tops and the surrounding wildlife are a “can’t miss” experience.

Finally, even with the lots now finally due to come out of the subdivision process in February, nine of the twenty four available have already been spoken for, with several more visitors due to tour the finca during February and March.

All in all a very exciting time to be a part of a very special project.

Note: Partners will be on site from Feb. 9th – 16th and again Feb. 22nd – 28th. If you find yourself in CR during these times, be sure to contact us and stop by for a visit. We should have our local cell phone up and running with voice mail by the 10th That number is: 506-329-8060.