Earth to San Jose

On our way back from the beach, we took a little detour to the campus of EARTH University. EARTH stands for Escuela de Agricultura de la Region Tropical Humeda and is a private, non for profit university that educates and does research on sustainable agriculture in the tropics. We have had several graduates from the school at the Ranch and I thought it might be interesting to check out the campus. It is 3300 hectare property that was started partly by US aid and the Kellogg foundation, and contributions from the Costa Rica government. Their student population is primarily made up of people from Central and South America, Carribean islands, and Africa and much of their tuition is paid for through grants and other funding sources within the university. If you've ever bought bananas at Whole Foods, you may have heard of EARTH because they are one of their suppliers of organically grown bananas. Bananas are a fragile fruit and transporting them can be very tricky. At EARTH, there is a monorail of sorts that transports the not yet ripened fruit from point A to point B. In the photo, the banana train is crossing a main road. Although there is plenty to see at EARTH, we could only stay the afternoon because there were no dorms available.

The next day we headed to San Jose for a little city walking. My main interest was to see the Mercado Central where there is purported to be stalls filled with dry herbs for sale. Also because there is tasty cheap seafood there. What we found was a very organized indoor market with all sorts of souvenirs, leather goods, housewares, butcher shops, vegetable stands, fish stalls, natural health and supplement counters, and of course the herb guys. I was excited at how much of the dried herbs I recognized. I thought about purchasing herbs to prepare decoctions with at the Ranch but they don't really want outside material coming in if they don't know how it was grown.

Breakfast consisted of cafe con leche (milk coffee), shrimp rice, beetroot salad, french fries, and the world cup match between Switzerland and Spain. Yum!




Afterwards, we just strolled along the main drag and observed the josefinos (San Jose inhabitants) going about their day. Of course, these days, the whole country is Copa Mundial crazy! People stop to watch the game where ever they can, even in front of the electronics store.

Salty Cahuita

Hooray for mini vacations! Last week we traveled to Cahuita on the Caribbean coast.
Three buses and 11 hours later, we landed into one of the most delightful towns in Costa Rica.

Cahuita has a beautiful national park, black sand beach, white sand beach, and a town, made up of an interesting mix of people including the West Indies, China, and Italy. The Afro Caribbean influence is strongest and seen in the delicious coconut sauces and Rasta beats emanating from restaurants and bars. We spent most mornings splashing among the waves and even tried surfing. By lunch, everyone was in the shade watching Copa Mundial (World Cup). Heavy rains in the afternoon cools down the town so we can heat it back up with some Cahuita rum and a sweet mix of salsa, calypso, reggae, and hip hop dance moves. I gotta go back sometime. That whole area has a nice rhythm, muy tranquilo, beautiful water and beaches, and there are fruit trees everywhere! Breadfruit, mango, cacao, noni, akee, calabash, and my new favorite, soursop. Mmm mmm mmm! While on our hike through the national park, Matt climbed up a coconut tree so we could have fresh pipa, young coconut water, and the yummy meat. We also saw lots of animals like Howler monkeys, White faced capuchins, a Heliconia pit viper, and tons of new birds for us including a Laughing Falcon, a Common Black Hawk, a Willet, a couple large brown creeper, Bare crowned ant birds, Bay Wren, and a couple Red Throated Ant Tanagers. A very good trip indeed!

Biodiesel Man

Who is Biodiesel man you ask? Well it's that same guy whose been designing houses, obstacle courses, and massage decks. He wears many hats and figuring out how to make diesel gas out of used vegetable oil is one of those hats. Maybe Biodiesel Man will write in with more details of the project. For now, you'll just have to enjoy these photos.

Virtual Medicinal plant tour at Rancho Margot

Lately I have been keeping myself busy building another blog. It's still a work in progress but it feels good to put all the information that I've gathered over the last few months in one place, accessible to everyone. It brings together several of my favorite pastimes, taking photos, learning about plants, and sharing them with my friends and family online. I named it Livingfarmacy.wordpress.com so please check it out if you have the time. Eventually it should be linked to the Ranch website so guests can get a taste of what's here before they arrive.

Volcan Arenal and Cerro Chato

Arenal volcano was known as Arenal hill up until 1968 when it erupted and destroyed the small town of Tabacon. Since then, it is considered Costa Rica's most active volcano and they have tight restrictions against climbing the volcano. Arenal Observatory and Lodge, only about 10 kilometers from the Ranch, was built to house the seismology equipment and scientists who came to study it. Being only 2 km from the volcano, it offers surreal views of lava which flows night and day. Additionally there are daily spurts of smoke which produce deep thunderous rumbles that echo around the nearby valleys. Some days on the Ranch, we can't tell if there is rain coming or if it's just the volcano. Last week, we took a trip to the Observatory and hiked up the neighboring hill called Cerro Chato. This hill is well known for its tranquil blue lake at the top of this sleeping volcano. It was a strenuous hike especially since I was still recovering from a bout of the flu that's been going around Costa Rica, but I'm so glad we went. At the Observatory, there are stands of beautiful pines and the most amazing eucalyptus trees. They are called Rainbow bark because as their bark peels, it reveals bright gold, green, and red colors. It's almost like being in Willy Wonkas Chocolate factory and I sniffed the tree just to make sure it wasn't made of candy canes. After the hike, we had cheeseburgers and Imperial lagers at the restaurant. The perfect ending to an already excellent day.