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While many developers and
builders in Costa Rica have recently skipped
town or stopped construction, Finca Las
Brisas is as usual moving in the opposite
direction – forward, in a big way. Majority Partner, Al Benner, his wife Deena
and family just spent the better part of
January in country, and activity at the
finca has reached a new level. Al worked
closely with Project Manager, Patrick Kelly
during this period, and listed below are
just a few of the many highlights and
upcoming milestones taking place at the
site:
But first… a campout !
Early in January, some of
the lot buyers and partners had a cookout at
the finca and then camped out in tents (Al
Benner slept in the top of the ranchito and
was kept company by some ripening hands of
bananas). Music was provided by Vidal
(playing a plastic cup), his son Rudolfo and
Jose Antonio on guitars along with Hector
and his brother Javier and our friend
Alberto the school teacher joining in on
vocals. We dined on coconut Thai-style
lobster with fresh cilantro and lemongrass
from our garden prepared by Project Manager
and part time chef, Patrick Kelly. The meal
was served on flame tempered banana leaves
that performed surprisingly well as plates
and bowls (a truly renewable/compostable
resource that we will use regularly for
sure). The stars were incredibly bright,
and a pleasant breeze was blowing. The
fire crackled and popped as Costa Rican
folks songs lingered in the sweet air.
Architecture:
Camping on the land was a terrific
experience as it opened our eyes to a
handful of design flaws in the plans for our
community center structure and these were
soon addressed with the help of Patrick’s
dad and architect, Doug Kelly. Patrick,
Doug, Al, and Al’s wife Deena spent several
hours putting their ideas together, and
several draft designs were considered. The
end result is an incredibly practical and
simple, yet elegant group of structures for
the community area. A local, certified
engineer now has these CAD files to finish
the engineering work. Soon after we will
have our building permit and begin
construction. We expect to get construction
under way during February.
Water: As this
update is being drafted, our permanent 3
inch water distribution lines are being
installed to all lots. A much larger water
tank is replacing the current tank (this one
will be re-located to the community center
location and positioned under a deck out of
sight). Solar powered booster pumps will
move the water to all lots.
Work trailer: The
attached outdoor work area has finally been
covered with standing seam roofing material
which will soon be covered with peel and
stick solar panels. We will be taking down
the existing and visually offensive solar
panel frame on the “can” and re-locating it
to the community center lot, placing it on
concrete footers down below on the south
slope in front of where the infinity pool
will go so it is out of sight. We will also
soon be adding a solar hot water system on
that bank....syphon pressure will move water
back up without power. We completed our
outdoor shower stall - made from local teak,
Madera negro (wood that last 100 years and
was fallen on site) and fallen Espavel from
down near the river....All espavel (wild
cashew) was milled on site at the river with
a chainsaw and the boards were trucked
around and stored - plenty of nice wood for
trim and rafters - looks like mahogany. A
living fence/wall of passion fruit (for
wine) and Chiote (a delicious green
vegetable) will soon be planted to hide the
container completely within a year.
The road: An
additional large drain pipe is being added,
and the public access road has been
completely re-graded the entire length, and
will soon have drainage ditches cleared.
All exposed soil areas will be covered in
gravel by the end of February. Our internal
road is in great shape and will be touched
up by Jorge, our local machine operator when
he returns to finish covering all our new
internal roads with fresh lastre (gravel).
Community interaction:
We decided to make level the severely
sloping soccer field at the nearby school,
creating a much more desirable destination
for futbol matches. In return we received
several loads of soil for fixing wash outs
caused over the years by over-grazing and
for our earthbag and earthen plaster
construction techniques that will reduce the
amount of concrete needed. This leveling
project was our official “ground breaking”
ceremony... no gold plated shovels, just a
win/win for the local community and the
finca.
We also recently hired,
Javier, the brother of Hector who works for
us. Javier will ride his horse to work each
day from Naranjal, bringing his 6 year old
son to the school in Naranjalito adjacent to
the finca. This will keep the school open,
as it was slated to close since there were
presently no children of school age set to
attend the upcoming school year. It also
keeps our friend Alberto his job. We are
also getting a lot of local interest in our
idea for the organic farmer’s market for the
area – meetings and planning continue.
Wood: Project
Manager Patrick Kelly is working w/ a local
wood dealer who is sourcing farm raised teak
and dead/fallen hardwood timbers and palm
thatch for us from surrounding fincas. We
will also be using some thatch and teak from
the neighboring Morales farm and some thatch
from palms that are out of sight lines on
our own farm – cutting during the proper
moon phase is critical to ensure a long
lasting roof for our community area rancho.
We also located several down/dead Madera
negro trees for rancho posts on the finca
(these can last 100 years). Patrick and Al
even swam a large post across the swimhole
from the falls and hoisted it out onto some
rocks to dry. A hand winch is being
purchased to pull these logs out from their
resting places. The teak and Madera from
the nearby Gomez farm will be pulled out by
Oxen. The partners even purchased Patrick a
hi-def. video camera so he can begin to
capture all the action for a future
documentary on how we created our
self-sustaining tropical community.
Farm: Most all of
the bamboo, heart of palm, coffee, and fruit
trees that were planted are doing
great...some really taking off now w/
compost. The workers and community members
have been sharing LOTS of bananas -
delicious for sure. A large veggie garden
w/ sprinkler system and shade cloth has been
established not far from the community
center, and another site is earmarked on lot
23 for a sizeable garden as well. A chicken
house, along with sheep and/or goats is
planned in the coming months, as are fish
and shrimp ponds in the not too distant
future.
Trails: BIG
improvements here. We have cut in a new
main trail to the swim hole falls...it zig
zags down the side of the mountain past a
large Guanacaste tree....Lots of hardwood
steps have been made from fallen logs and
pinned w/ hardwood stakes or rebar. Some
stone steps have been installed as well.
The pre-existing trail to the upper falls
has been completely re-done w/ lots of steps
as well. Both trails are MUCH more
enjoyable. We are also adding a connecting
trail to the plunge pool, and eventually all
river trails will connect. The corral area
and old fruit trees have been cleaned up.
Any visible old internal fence lines have
been removed. Cows are all off the
property, and lots of pioneer trees are
starting to re-establish, but site lines are
being preserved and lots are well groomed.
Accommodations: We
have three locations picked out for platform
tents....these will allow visitors to stay
on site and in the future will eventually
provide for student intern housing. We will
start constructing the first platform down
from the community center with an ocean view
during February and March – it should be
ready with beds and furnishings by April for
visitors. (stop on down and check it out…we
now have hot showers as well J).
Fuel: Our Toyota
work truck is now converted to run on veggie
oil, and about ten area restaurants are
saving used oil for us. We are also working
on separating oil from the fruit heads on
the thousands of wild oil palms that dot the
surrounding hillsides. Another sustainable
trick – our muy intelligente work staff
informed us that we were real Gringos for
paying for chain bar oil for our newly
acquired chain saw (purchased from our
employee Antonio). Now we just pull up to
the local mechanic shop and pick up jugs of
used motor oil for free – it’s even better
than new bar oil for this use. It also
eliminates the need for the mechanic to
dispose of the used oil.
Yet another Fiesta:
A lamb roast put on by our Argentinean
friends and restaurateurs, Fernando and
Roxanna from El Colibri in Carrillo will
took place at the finca on February 2nd.
Many local people from the Carrillo, Samara,
and mountain communities were invited to
tour the property and enjoy a traditional
meal afterwards. We anxiously await
pictures from our Project Managers, Patrick
and Sarah Kelly who along with our friend
Hilary Nelson hosted the event. To view
these photos & regular updates regarding
activities at the finca, sign up for our Las
Brisas Facebook Group at:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?group.php&gid=120109975170
Hilary Nelson who is
helping us with a variety of Finca
activities on the ground in CR is now
running a very informative blog with lots of
to the minute Finca updates – visit the site
at:
http://www.fincalasbrisascr.blogspot.com/
Beach House Available:
The FLB partners have a 4 BR house rented
in easy walking distance from the beach in
Playa Carrillo now through April 2nd. We
have some windows of time where the house
will be vacant so if anyone is interested in
staying right above perhaps the nicest beach
in Costa Rica and 30 minutes from the finca,
please let us know. The month of February
is particularly open right now. March 8th
– 20th will also find majority partner, Al
Benner back on site again for those
interested in a personalized guided tour.
We have just ten lots
remaining with earnest interest in several
of these…If you have been a fence sitter for
a while regarding this project, you might
want to get down to CR sooner than later.
With construction starting this month, and
several interested parties visiting soon, we
don’t expect many of our remaining lots to
be around a whole lot longer – particularly
if the challenging times worldwide continue
or intensify.
Nature Note: Two
Gavilon Blancos (white hawks) have been
spotted circling our river valley on more
than one occasion – a rare and welcome site
in this part of Costa Rica, and magical to
watch from above… |
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