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As the
days grow shorter and the chill in the air
returns, the FLB team readies for an
exciting season down at that finca.
With
water use permit now in hand and
architectural plans almost completed for the
temporary caretaker/future student housing
villa and the community center, the team
looks forward to applying, testing, and
proving their concept of low-impact
construction techniques and
materials. Construction is expected to kick
off in the next 60 days.
 In
early September Guanacaste was hit by what
many people have referred to as the storm of
the century. Rain in September is a given in
Costa Rica, but this was no normal tropical
rain; for eight days, 24 hours a day, we
experienced heavy tropical downpour
resulting in serious damage and flooding.
The 4.5 kilometer road up to
FLB off the main paved road was in jeopardy
of being washed away, the situation was
grim.! Lucky for us we had Adalberto on our
side!
The entire public road from the
turn-off at the paved road all the way up to
our private drive has been significantly
improved with several new “cantarillas” or
drainpipes that will funnel water off the
road. The road will soon be re-graded and
then topped with a new coat of “lastre”
(gravel). This project was a combined effort
between FLB, tico and gringo neighbors, the
municipality of Nicoya and the town of
Maquenco who supplied the lastre. It is a
great thing for our growing community, and
we would like to thank all the parties
involved, including our 75 year old Tico
neighbor who was on site every morning at 6
am with a shovel.
In the
last two years we have planted hundreds of
fruit trees and they are maturing nicely
after this past rainy season. Our coffee
trees are about two feet high.
In
addition we planted our first garden so that
we can have some fresh produce when
construction starts.
 Another
interesting project has been recently
completed by our special projects “McGyver”
– Steve Gallant. Steve took our recently
purchased 1999 Toyota Hilux work truck
(diesel) and converted it to run on straight
vegetable oil. We also purchased a pump that
will allow us to pull up to any restaurant
in the area and pump the used fry oil right
into a barrel in our truck. Once filtering
is completed back at the finca, we will have
our own, almost free, clean burning fuel.
What has to date been dumped somewhere will
now be utilized. Future plans also include
pressing our own wild oil palm fruit/nuts to
extract the oil – there are thousands of
these trees growing wild in our region.
Last but
not least, we are organizing a “Get to Know
the Land” adventure campout at the finca in
late December and early January. FLB
partners and some of our lot owners will be
on site from around Dec. 29th right through
most of January to spend extended blocks of
time on the land. Some tents are being
rounded up from friends in CR and others are
being brought down. We now have reverse
osmosis/UV treated pure well water on site
to drink and a HOT shower set up. Plenty
of fresh fruit and vegetables will be
ripening and you can also check out the
goats and chickens we hope to have on site
soon.
Lodging
in the area can be found at
www.SamaraBeach.com
You can
also contact us directly for more
information at:
info@ fincalasbrisas.org
Darlene Coker at
813-679-5607
Most of
the FLB group will be staying in the sleepy
village of Carrillo – about 25 minutes to
the finca, and home to perhaps the most
beautiful beach in all of Costa Rica…
We are
now down to 14 available lot from our total
of 27…. We hope to see you at the Finca this
winter!
Pura
Vida –
The FLB
Team
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