Gandoca

Gandoca is a community focused on the conservation of sea turtles. There is a turtle conservation program that all community members support and event with which they collaborate. We got to experience something amazing--we saw the baby sea turtles coming out of their nest and being set free to the ocean. They were absolutely adorable and it was beautiful to see them finding their own way to the water. They're guided by the sounds of the water. 

In the morning, we woke up early and watched the sunrise as we took a little walk on the beach. Unfortunately, it was cloudy so the sun was hiding behind the clouds but we still got to appreciate some nice colors. The beaches on the caribbean side are very pretty. In Gandoca, the sand was completely black and very soft. I realized I like the caribbean side better than the pacific.

Mishka

On Friday we travelled to Talamanca to visit an indigenous Bri Bri community. We had to drive to a river and get on a little boat for about an hour to get to the community. The boat had a an engine but the river is so shallow that the two people taking us had to use large sticks to push the ground. It was tough for them because we were going against the current. Luckily, we had Garrett in our boat, who collaborated with them by pushing the ground as well. 

Their main crop is the organic cacao. We toured their farm and got to see the different crops that they grow. 

We even managed to collect some Rambutans (called mamones chinos here). They're an Asian fruit that is very common in this area. Students at EARTH love it and always harvest a lot of them when they're in season. Their shape amazes me and the taste is delicious. The ones we had in Talamanca were a bit more sour than the ones I had at EARTH but they're all very tasty.

We got to see and participate in the processing of the cacao to make chocolate. They grind the seeds that were previously dried in the sun.

They take the grounded seeds and put them into the processor. They turn the handle which makes the cacao into a paste. The taste of it is bitter but really good.

Then they mixed that paste with some condensed milk and in another contained they mixed it with sugar for those who don't eat dairy (like myself). They gave us some pieces of banana to dip them in the chocolate which was absolutely delicious.

Visiting this community was an amazing experience. They definitely have developed a good tourism strategy and are aware of what they need to do to provide a good experience for tourists. They have comfortable cabins and clean bathrooms and they have organized activities that are appealing to tourists. 

*Mishka means "let's go" in the bri bri language

La Argentina

We visited La Argentina on Thursday. La Argentina is a more developed community located really close to EARTH campus. In this community, women have an important role and they have organized themselves to form associations where they all make a common craft. This community has a well developed agro-tourism plan. They receive visitors from around the world who stay in their homes and tour around different farms. Originally, they were helped by EARTH to start their tourism project but now they are working on their own and doing really well. They all collaborate and distribute the benefits evenly. 

LA POZA

La Poza is a little paradise for EARTH students. Here is where they go after class to relax and socialize. I feel that this beautiful and peaceful spot is such a prominent part of EARTH culture. 

There's a rope swing that students use to jump in the water. There is also another one that is higher. Students climb a tall tree and jump from a branch. And there's one that is where the current goes really fast that students use to "surf" (they get on a board and hold on to the rope as they play with the little waves that the river current makes).

EARTH

Yesterday we were scheduled to have work experience, in which we would get to work with students in one of their modules. However, once we got to the organic farm, we were told that they hadn't set up activities for us to work on. At the organic farm, we got to walk around and see the different crops. Also, we learned about the different types of compost making that they have and also organic fertilizers. Below is a picture that shows how fertilizer is made with the banana plant flower. They leave it in the sun which extracts the liquid that slowly fills up the plastic jug. 

Another module that caught my attention was the PERI URBAN farm. They have models for urban gardening that are really innovative. I loved the recycled materials used to make the perimeter of the garden beds. 

Below is a photo of the "salchichas" at the Peri Urban module, which really caught my attention. I had already seen them next to the EARTH campus cafeteria. The first time I saw them I thought they were hydroponic towers but they actually use no electricity. The idea is the same as how hydroponic towers work but the water is poured manually through water bottles cut in half that are placed on the tower.

El Triunfo

On Friday we visited a community called El Triunfo. This community is newer than Las Lomas. It started forming about 6 years ago when the government gave land to farmers. They call the are a settlement. Below is  a photo of Dionisia, the owner of the first farm we visited.

Dionisia showed us her field. The primary production of the community is plantains and papayas. 

Dionisia also grows a wide of other crops, such as corn.  

Five women from the community started a women's committee. We visited Karen, who was actually the president and one of the founders of the committee. She explained that it was an idea that came up when five women were sitting around a table having some coffee. They were realizing that women in general felt like they weren't a significant part of the production and labor in the farms. They wanted to empower women to take a more important role in the farms and help them realize that they can and should also work on the farm. The committee brought outside help for women to build greenhouses in their farms. This project helped women learn about growing crops in greenhouses. 

When we were leaving Karen's house, Nina noticed a tree with coconuts that were at a reachable height. She asked the owner of the house if we could take one. He came and got coconuts for all of us. He also opened them so that we could drink the water and try the coconut meat. It was the best gift I could've ever gotten from anyone. 

Las Lomas

We visited a community called Las Lomas where we talked to 6 families that own farms. In 5 of these houses we talked to the male of the family but in one of them we talked to his wife. In all these households the males are the ones who mainly work on the farm and the women generally work at the house. All these families were welcoming and willing to answer our questions.

We learned a lot about this community. The majority of the farmers' main activity is dairy production. However, one of the farmers that we visited grew and processed aloe vera. Some of the fairy producers are attempting to form a cooperative/association. They are being helped by an organization called INFOCOP. This organization basically picked the president of the board of directors without considering the community members' votes. This made many upset and led some to not want to participate in the cooperative. It seems like there was a lack of communication when the cooperative's board of directors was formed; many community workers were not taken into consideration.

The natural capital of the community is truly breathtaking. They have a few waterfalls. Some of these don't have a path to them but there is one that has a trail made by one of the farmers (for the tourism). I was lucky enough to find this beautiful frog sitting on a leaf. 

This is a photo of Rodrigo Ureña, one of the farm owners. We had lunch at their farm after seeing the waterfall. He told us about the disfunctionality of the cooperative's board of directors and why some people are upset with the election of the president. He explained that the president should collaborate with the community but apparently the elected president only works at his own farm and doesn't assist the rest of the community members. 

cafe y caña de azúcar

We visited the University of Georgia research station in Monteverde where students and researchers from different parts of the world stay for periods on time while they work on certain projects or investigations. The UGA also has community engagement activities. They collaborate with the local community to produce organic coffee and other crops. Members of the community grow coffee beans with organic practices and use sustainable ways to process and package the coffee to sell it to visitors. The coffee bags are made out of recycled and banana paper. 

They benefit a lot from the university of Georgia, especially because the majority of their sales are from visitors of the university. Each community member profits accordingly to what he/she harvested. 

Another prominent crop in the community is the sugarcane. The main reason why they grow it is that it is a very traditional plant and very typical to their culture. Once they harvest the sugarcane, they extract the juice using a trapiche (picture below). The sugarcane is inserted in the hole and two people push the edges of the long horizontal wood stick, making it turn around. The juice can be drank but it is also used to make a honey out of it. 

Santa Elena

Today we woke up in Santa Elena and decided to go on a hike/climb up a mountain (Cerro Amigos) from which we could get an amazing view. The trail was very steep and it was difficult to go uphill with the heat but it was definitely worth it. Most touristic activities in Santa Elena and Monteverde cost money but this was the only thing that was for free. That shows how the community is taking advantage of the natural environment (the mountains, the cloud forest, etc) in order to attract tourism that contributes to their economic development. Monteverde uses the cloud forest and the adventure activities (zip lining, hiking, etc) as a way to market the community to tourists. 

Spiritual paint

When we got to the area where the pain was we had to keep quiet since it is some sort of sacred area for the community members. We took some of the paint and painted ourselves and each other. 

Green beauty

San Vicente, Guanacaste

San Vicente

On day 3 we visited San Vicente, a rural community in Guanacaste. Their main activity is pottery. We spent the night with host families and got to experience the real rural lifestyle. We saw where they get the clay from and we went on a spiritual walk/hike to the top of the mountain and the area where they get the paint for the pottery. The landscape is absolutely gorgeous and full of life.  

mangos, arroz y caña de azúcar

We saw some of their farm animals, including a GIANT pig (not pictured). 

This was one of the rice fields. They use a system called SRI, which improves their efficiency. It allows them to collect more rice with less manual labor and less water.

This is one of the tractors that we saw the workers use. This one has the red container which is where the other tractor offloads the harvested rice. 

On the first day we took a tour of the finca. We saw plantations of mangoes, rice, and sugar cane. All of it is grown with organic practices (no pesticides or chemicals). They can't say that they're an "organic farm" because to be able to do so, they would've had to start with organic practices, which they didn't. 

Tuanis

Today was the official first day of what's most likely going to be one of the best experiences of my life. I'm doing a program called Consortium for Sustainability in Earth University (located in Costa Rica). I'm participating in the Session II of the program which consists of two courses: "Rural Tourism: Searching for Sustainability in Rural Areas" and "Community Outreach, Leadership and Engagement: Finding Solutions for Rural Communities of Developing Countries." We will be in Costa Rica for four weeks learning about these two topics with a hands-on approach. If you want to know more about the program, go to this link: http://www.consortiumearth.org/

I've wanted to come to Costa Rica for so long--I cannot believe I'm already here! The ride from the San Jose airport to the Finca La Flor (one of the Earth University's campuses) was already breath-taking. I was amazed by the beauty of the physical environment (so much green!). I am so excited to be here and I can't wait to see more amazing landscapes and to get to interact with local communities as I learn about two areas of study that deeply interest me. 

The title of this post (tuanis) is a word that I learned today. In Costa Rican slang, it basically means "coolness."