Day 9- Luis Naranjo and Organic Farming

Good morning, Readers! It is an early morning for me, as the rooster that lives on this property has decided once again to wake me just before the sun rises. Roosters on these properties are very common; this is not our first rooster that has woken me up! In fact, for those of you with a Droid, you understand the joke of having a rooster alarm clock like Ellie and I do!

Now the Social Flycatcher is joining in as well! What a concert!

Yesterday we traveled to a finca, a farm, that is lead by Luis Naranjo, his son Luis and his wife. Luis had adopted the philosophy of organic farming about twelve years ago and studied at a Costa Rican institute called the E.A.R.T.H. university. For about an hour, Luis lectured about his training and ideals and then we actually toured and worked some of the land with him.

His secret is to travel to the forest, to a secluded, non-human interfered section, and take a bag about the size of a small trash bag of soil to harvest. This allows him to farm the bacteria and microorganisms that live in the soil by propagating them; they will exponentially reproduce for him to use. These organisms are safer for his crops and his animals because they breakdown large molecules and allow the elements to be better absorbed. He grows the microorganisms in both liquid form for spraying and solid form in compost. His animals also are given small amounts of the microorganisms and their manure is then used to fertilize the crops. This way, the chemicals and enzymes are created naturally and do not use synthetics, which rob the soil of a balance between the abiotic, or non-living, properties and the microorganisms and plants.

While Luis does care about his land and his animals, his family is his first priority. His harvest allows him to provide very well as there are no subsidies or disaster insurance for farmers here in Costa Rica. But, a good farmer can receive a good salary and make almost as much as a medical professional thanks to the continuous growing season. Luis harvests every Wednesday with his son and two workers, they clean and bag all of the produce. Each small bag brings in about $0.50 and these are of all sorts of crops: spinach, mixed greens, cilantro, green onions. Different crops appeal to different customers at the Thursday feria, or farmer’s market. The Europeans and Americans seem to love the mixed greens, moreso than the Costa Ricans. But, prices are pretty fixed to allow for fair placement in the marketplace. The competition comes in the presentation of the wares, as cleaned produce and beautifully packaged goods win out over those who do not sell their produce clean. The fair starts at 5 AM on Thursday mornings and goes for 17 hours on both Thursdays and Fridays. Luis says that his entire stand usually sells by noon of the first day, while others may not be as lucky. His family and workers usually consumes about 1/3 of his total supply and he sells the rest.

The tour of the farm included the livestock, microorganism propagation “lab”, worm composting area, and the fields. Luis also has a small pond with carp that the family eats. We came to his beds, which he cuts into the hill. This allows for less runoff, while some others use rounded beds for their crops. He has about 15 40-to-50-ft beds up the side of his hill. The crops rotate every month and so he  plants the seedlings his wife has started in the greenhouse and adds compost once a month. He does this for about a year and then allows the beds to lie fallow and rest. This also helps guarantee that the soil will lose less nutrients to the crops. We dug right in, dear readers, no pun intended, and helped Luis with some lettuces.

After feeding us until we were completely full with both a snack of pineapple cake and cheese empanadas and a casado lunch, we talked for a bit, enjoyed some animals and birds, and piled back on the bus to return to our hotel. We packed last night because we have to travel on to the Bri Bri, the indigenous peoples today. Hopefully, though, we will see the three-toed sloth that lives on this property once again this morning. The sloth has become our mascot, I think, and we were so excited to see one yesterday. He looks like a hairy backpack, hanging from a tree and hardly moving. I was so excited to see him, and ran out the door, until I realized that he was a sloth… and that he would still be there maybe a full day after our first sighting! No need to run to see him.

Each day turns out to be an inspiring day, we are finding. Dr Lehman and Humberto have put together a wonderful trip for us and we are sad that it is almost at an end. We are becoming a bit homesick, although I think most of us agree that the remedy would have you all enjoy Costa Rica with us, instead of us returning to the cold and snow/ ice! Stay tuned for more on our trip to the BriBri!

Day 8- New Dawn Center and Medicinal Plants

Hello Readers!

Day eight was a really great day! We cannot believe that this 14 day trip is going so quickly. We are happy to report that we’re all getting along well and that this has been a very rewarding trip.

Today, we traveled to the New Dawn Center, run by Ed Bernhardt, who lived in Pennsylvania and Ohio until he graduated college. A doctor of naturopathy, Ed’s garden houses many species of plants that are native to Costa Rica, but he also has many important plants from around the world.

First, we walked around the gardens and saw the workings of the farm. Because the growing season is 12 months a year, they rotate the crops that they grow to eat in three-month cycles. The cooperative has herbs, lettuces, tomatoes and hot peppers growing in their gardens.  The farm uses a system of composting from the kitchen to fertilize the vegetables and plants. (They also compost human waste for the bamboo stands around the property; we nicknamed this area the “squatty potty”!) We saw root spices like ginger and turmeric, which can last twenty years before needing replanted. They also use a lot of barks, leaves, and roots from trees to make teas and tinctures to remedy some common ailments.

The final impressive plant on the property was the large stands of bamboo. In the United States, we are afraid of bamboo plantings because of the ability to spread so easily and outcompete in our ecosystem; here, the plants are more aggressive and can compete with the bamboo. Thus, the idea of invasive species (other common ones in America include European Starlings, Zebra Mussels, or Gypsy Moths) can  change from area to area. The bamboo can also be used for building. Ed and Jessica have used the bamboo to build their buildings around the property.

The learning portions of the day centered around a powerpoint that discussed the healing properties of herbs. This talk was very interesting and we learned about traditional plants that can grow in the United States in our own gardens. For example, plants like cilantro, echinacea (coneflower) and parsley are very cleansing and prevent against colds and flus. Hombre grande is a tree that is a cure-all to the native population in Costa Rica. We definitely think that some of these tips can be used as supplements to our ideas of medicating for illness but we’re aware that these might interact with medicines we take and that for more serious illnesses, modern medicines can work quicker than some homeopathic. But, we all think we might try some of these things in our own lives.

Finally, we learned about acupressure as a means to release stress. We all left the center a little clearer and thinking about how we can supplement our traditional view of what healing is.

Hasta luego, todos!

Day 7- San Isidro Clinic and Los Cusingos

Hola! Que pasa?

Yesterday was such an inspiring day! In the morning we woke up and had a great breakfast at our beautiful hotel. Several of us walked the grounds and birdwatched first thing. We added a few new Life List birds! So exciting that we can just go out on our room, walk a few paces, and see some interesting wildlife.

After our gallo pinto, or rice and beans, we headed downtown to meet with a local doctor, Omar, who is a specialist in medical imaging. He presented a PowerPoint on the structure of the medical system here. The medical system is a social structure. The employees pay about 9% of their paycheck into the system, but they do get a 1% return back. There is an escalation system of clinics, hospitals, and specialists; each town at least has two to three days of doctor availability depending on the size of the town. Those who wish to can also go to a privatized doctor for about $40 to $50 out of pocket. To compare with American costs, a privatized specialist could cost $150 to visit, or a set of braces with checkups costs about $1000. The biggest differences we felt that there are between Costa Rican society and American society are the lack of lawyers and malpractice suits because of the strong insurance system and the fact that even those who are unemployed still pay into the system to make sure that their whole family and dependents can be covered. But, it can take six months to get into a radiologist and it’s based off of the severity of case. Overall, we felt that there is a more communal sense of responsibility on the part of the Costa Rican public and the fact that although the system is not perfect, the prices are very reasonable, even in the privatized community.

After a wonderful lunch, we went to Los Cusingos, a historical nature preserve that Alexander Skutch founded. Skutch was an American from Baltimore, Maryland, who, upon graduating Johns Hopkins, was hired by the United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) to work on banana cultures. He traveled Central America extensively and fell in love with the nature of the area. So, he set up his homestead in the Costa Rican rainforest and that homestead is now a historical site for tours and bird watching. Skutch was a very spiritual man and studied the religions and philosophies of the world when he was not working in naturalist studies. It was so inspiring to many of us.

until manana, readers!

Days 5 and 6- Cerro de la Muerte and Trip to San Isidro

Did you miss us dear blog readers? We had no wi-fi last night and could not catch up with you!

We stayed at a fabulous cabin site called Paradiso Quetzal in the Cerro de la Muerte, which means mountain of death. Very ominous! This area is in the cloud forests of Costa Rica, which are colder than you would think! The temperature this morning was probably in the mid 40s when we woke up and it had been raining all night. The cloud forest is a high elevation forest, also known as a fog forest, and accounts for less than one percent of the world’s forestry. The grounds of our hotel was beautiful and we were served family style for our meals in the main chateau. The hummingbird feeding area is the best, though; the hotel has stationed several feeders in the area so that people can observe from the dining room.

This morning we woke up and took a hike up and down searching for the Resplendent Quetzal, a most beloved bird of the isthmus. Well, dear readers, we saw but one Quetzal, a female, in the avocado trees on the property. These birds only feed on avocados so this is why we look for them there. The hike back was tiring but we made it back to a wonderful breakfast. In the afternoon, we chose to either take a further walk on the grounds or sit around the fire with coffee, drying our clothes. On the way out of Cerro de la Muerte, we had talks about the soils of Costa Rica. In this area, there are peat bogs with highly acidic soils; the biodiversity of the area in terms of animals is slim and includes only three lizards, one mammal and one frog.

We arrived in San Isidro and was given the chance to explore the streets around the square. The marketplace has stands of fresh fruit and meat and random sundries. Most of us found a heladeria with ice cream to taste while we walked around the beautifully pruned park. An ice cream cone costs about $1USD total. We also purchased Humberto a Santa hat, because his twinkling eyes and white beard remind many of us of Santa Claus!

We arrived at Papa de Paramo, in San Isidro, at about 5 pm. The site is beautiful! Tomorrow morning, the plans are to start with birdwatching and travel to a medical center to meet some medics! Stay tuned!

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Answers to questions and day 4

Hola todos!

Some of you are asking some questions! Keep them coming!
It has been generally warm; right now in Arenal it is VERY rainy and in the 70s. When we were in Canas, just 45 km away, it was in the mid-80s and humid. Right now we are at the tail end of the rainy season, which we wonder if that is accounting for the amount of rain we are having.
Went back and finished the one blog. We used the sugar cane as a toothbrush to squeegie our teeth because of its super fibrous nature.

On to day four! We set out to the Arenal National Park to see the Arenal volcano. Delroy was our guide for the day; he comes from the eastern coast of Costa Rica. We hiked through tall wild cane and identified more trees. Because of the recent eruptions, the site is disturbed and we consider the species in this area first successional species, which means that they are the first to colonize a new area. This may include ferns, small herbs and easily grown trees like Cecropiaceae (a plant with palmately shaped leaves), Piperaceae (the pepper family like black and pink pepper), Asteraceae (sunflower family), and Ericaceae (blueberry and other bell shaped flowers). We got to see Clusia stenophylla, the autograph tree, which has very thick, waxy leaves and exudes a very sticky sap from its leaves. It’s called the autograph tree because of the ability to write on the leaves.

The volcano has recently erupted twice- in 1968 and 1992. The eruptions are not like Hawaiian eruptions where large floes of lava are seen coming down the mountain. Instead, rocks, silt and gas are released creating a rainshower much like meteorites on the landscape. The expulsion of these rocks can create large craters, some as large as a bus!

Next, many of the students went on Ecoglide’s zip line tour. As Kristen writes, it was “awesome and terrifying”. There were a total of 18 platforms through the trees and the ziplines were 30 m above ground. This gave amazing views of the greenery and the scenery. You could see to Nicaragua. Tory truly cemented her new nickname “Tor-zan”. She has been christened Tor-zan after the rainforest walk because she had to lose her flipflops, as they were too slippery. Now, she jumped off the Tarzan Swing, a free fall above the ground.

For those of us too afraid of heights (including your author of this blog), we chose to do some more cultural highlights of La Fortuna. La Fortuna is a small town, bustling with international visitors and citizens. Our small group walked around the town, stopping in shops and buying postcards. Each town is centered around a plaza with a church on one side. We met Juan, a street vendor with the “best shish kabobs in Costa Rica”, as proclaimed by his American friend. The shish kabobs were basted in a green chile fresh salsa which was just a little hot and flavored with cilantro to taste amazingly fresh. To follow, we had ice cream cones flavored with cactus fruit, guanabana, and coconut. We made a friend as well- a small dog who really wanted some pork off of our sticks!

Next, we all met back up and, donning our bathsuits and watergear, we headed down the side of a slope to the local hot springs. Not like the springs in the Appalachians, this was a stream, a riffle like habitat, that was warm, probably 100-105 degrees. We soaked in the hot springs to release tension from the climbing and the adrenaline rush before we headed back to our cabinitas.

Dear readers, it has been raining hard since.

Stay tuned!!

Day 3- Travel to Arenal

Hello all from Arenal!

Yesterday, we packed up and traveled through the rainforests of Costa Rica on a shortcut to Lake Arenal. We are just north of Lake Arenal in La Fortuna. We got here around noon after about a two hour drive through some bumpy back roads.While driving through the countryside, Humberto told us about the power resources in the country. Only 50% of the power supply comes from non-renewable resources like petroleum. About 10% of the country’s power comes from large windmill farms and 40% comes from hydroelectric power. Much like the Roman aqueduct system, the Costa Ricans have harnessed the power of the lakes near the Atlantic coast and move the water through a system of turbines towards the Pacific coast. This turbine system also serves to slow the force of the water, which moves quickly and with strong momentum across the country.

Arenal is part of a volcanic area more in the center of Costa Rica than Canas. Our view from our cabinitas actually looks out onto the lake and over to the volcano. The birds have changed to more colorful and bright species, including several hummingbird species, like the Rufous tailed Hummingbird.

Right up the road from our cabinitas is a butterfly conservatory, which breeds and releases native butterfly species. These butterflies are kept in gardens that support the natural reproduction of the butterflies. The conservationists collect the larvae and pupae each day and breed them using netted laundry baskets. After the butterflies emerge from their chrysalises, they are released into specific territories that have their native foods, whether that be fermenting fruit or crushed grasshoppers. Needless to say, our resident invertebrate specialist, Bethany, was quite happy today as her biological studies have mostly centered around invertebrates and insects.  The rain started while we were completing our rainforest walk and has not yet stopped, dear readers. Stay tuned for more information on our muddy travels today on Day 4!

 

Day 2 in Canas

Hello Family and Friends!

We are just starting day three, but thought we should give you an update on Day 2.

We woke early in the morning to Kiskadees calling outside of our window and had a breakfast of tortillas, rice & beans, and a sausage that looks like a hot dog. The vegetarians of the trip, of which we have two, got a plate of toast and fruit, which made us all wish we were also vegetarians! Fresh pineapple slices and juices have been served tableside as well.

From the restaurant, we set off for the day hike around the property. The climate is technically dry forest, but Humberto, our trusted guide, let us know that it’s a bit humid in this part and so our diversity would be more mixed. We identified trees around the property including the Moraceae (fig family), Sterculiaceae (cacao and other fruits), and Rutaceae (citrus). We saw an amazing little plant which sends electrostatic impulses and folds on itself when touched. We got to each green oranges, which they call mandarins, right off the plant. One plant, called Neem, is used by locals as an insecticide.

The animal life in this area includes many wild birds, iguanas and Howler Monkeys. These monkeys sound like dogs howling hoarsely at nearby lookers-on. We also cut raw sugar cane and sucked on the juices. The sugar cane plant can also be used as a toothbrush because of its fibrous nature, which we thought was rather ironic.

After the three hour tour, and a rest period, we went to the big cat sanctuary to see many rescued animals from zoos and other establishments. Toucans, pumas/ mountain lions, ocelots and white-faced capuchin monkeys were amongst the more exciting creatures. We were highly amused to see the white tailed deer as an exciting species to the Costa Ricans.

Stay tuned as we travel today to the volcano Arenal and butterfly sanctuary!

Adios!