Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hacienda Blog

There was 1987. A swedish school teacher doing volunteering research in the Monteverde’s Cloud Forest, Costa Rica, became concerned about the destruction seen around the reserve. She knew that there were lots of trouble for the scientist and conservationist to stop the deforestation, since the lands were unprotected, and the goverment had no money to invest in the purchase of such a big area.

Later, back in Sweden, she told her class about what she saw, and, an idea became bigger. The children decided to collect money and save the Rainforest! One year later, they were able to purchase 14 hectares ( about 31 acres). The Children’s Eternal Rainforest was born!

Some time had passed, and thousands of girls and boys from all over the world were able to buy more than…23 000 hectares!!!!!! That is the size of this protected forest, now managed and sponsored by the Unicef and the Monteverde’s Conservation League.

Nowadays, as a tour guide, I have met some of the kids whom helped the Rainforest to grow along the years. Some guys of about my age; coming to Costa Rica, many of them for the first time, with the though of knowing what they did.

And, there is something magic in this place. Miles and miles of protected forest cover now what it was nothing but pastures; thousands and thousands of colorfull birds fly on the tree tops, tens of thousands of different sounds remain us that the forest is alive and, to me, this wildlife is the best pay for my efforts as a child, when I was collecting money…to buy a square feet for the forest, 25 years ago…

Last week I met Metreya Motel, a beautiful 6 years old girl from New York.

She came to visit Chachagua Rainforest with her parents, and, since the first sight, we all fell in love with her.

Thursday morning, I gave them a tour through the jungle, and, just at the very beggining of the trail, we stopped in order to talk about how the rain forest works. Suddenly, I made her a question, just to verify she was paying atention and, her answer was not only correct, but perfect!!

Metreya told me that she had learned how to read when she was 2 years old, and she’s an avid reader ever since. She is so interested in nature: The rain forest, plants and animals. And she is able to explain what is the interaction of creatures in this such a complex habitat. I was amazed.

This situation made me to wonder how many children all over the world are concerned about the conservation of the environment, and I feel so good thinking of education and training of them through different ways: Face to face in the classroom, Internet, Media and field work outdoors. Sometimes, children are subestimated, but, for sure, they have a lot to teach us.

Day after day, people all over the world talk about global warming, catastrophes, destruction and even about this ‘theories’ of the end of the planet this year, 2012… Personally, I don’t think so.

Millions and millions of Metreyas, Juliens, Owens, Wills and so (these are among the names of the kids I have met and work with during this year) are just waiting for their turn to say: Hey, here we are!!!!!! Let us take the future of the planet in our hands!

Just remember that we all, the present day’s adults, are just passing by, but, sooner or later, all these children become Presidents, Scientist, Doctors, Lawyers, Ecologist, and more…

Please, give them the chance to grow and say: Hey, you guys from the past, we made it, we built a better world!

I have been working in the tourism industry for more than 15 years: as a tour guide, as a recepcionist, as a waiter, as a manager. It doesn’t matter what position I have, the point is that every single job is enjoyable for me.

Humans have been doing tourism since the Roman times. We always have the curiosity of going somewhere, to taste new flavours, and to get new experiencies. And, that is exactly what my job is all about: to give that kind of experience that our visitors are looking for.

Because of the hundreds of tourist I have met in my life, I am able to write this blog. Because of them, my family lives much better than we used to live, because of all of those americans, europeans, canadians, chinese and japanese people, I have something interesting to talk about with my friends every day.

I am one of those, fortunately, whom are able to tell that love what they do. And, when you love your job, you do it not only for the money, but because it is your passion, and that’s a good reason to be a happy person.   I always tell people that, working as a Naturalist Guide in Costa Rica, I have the biggest and more beautiful office in the world, and for sure it is!

Every morning, when I wake up, I pray God for all the marvels I can see, and thank Him for make me so happy. And every day is a great chance to thank people for visiting us, because, when they come by and then go back home and tell others about what they have seen and done in my country, they help me to become happier, as well, ’cause, having more tourist every year, my hollidays seem to never ending!

Muchas gracias!

Hello, fellows!

To the present, tourism became a such important industry, and, for an emergent economy like Costa Rica, it is a good way to benefit people.

But, so far, many tourist  places are just that, tourist places, and people can get easily tired of them…

When you do ecoturism, you’re contribuiting with local comunities, because the tourist dollar is going to be expent in so many subjects, like food, transportation, salaries, and so. Also, you’re getting in touch with the reality, and learning about the local culture…this is the best way to delete some cliches that somehow we all have about some places, some people, some cultures.

I really love to show my country and all the marvels that is possible to find in this small paradise called Costa Rica!!!

See you here, guys, Pura Vida!

Costa Rica is a country with a large traditional cuisine.

The most important meal for us is breakfast, which is actually big: Gallo Pinto, fried plantains, eggs, sourcream, bread or corn tortillas, some fruit, coffee and juice…

Among all of these dishes, we can miss whatever but not the ‘gallo Pinto’, a combination of rice and beans, normally having some well chopped cilantro, sweet chilli pepper and some onion.

The recipe is really simple:

Take some rice, specially if it is from the night before, some black or red beans with a little broth, some cilantro and the onions, well chopped, and a little spoon of chopped sweet chilli pepper.

Once all the ingredients are ready, fry the cilantro, onion and pepper in some olive oil, then, add the rice, the beans and the broth. Keep them frying in the oil for a couple of minutes and then mix them up.

Now, serve them with some hot sauce, the sourcream, bread, plantains and the eggs. Get a good cup of coffee and some juice and…Bon appetite!!!!!

Once in a while, people can tell that all of that said about conservation of the forest and sustainable development is just wasted time.

Well, each person thinks different than others, so, I have learned that, if a have a feeling  and that one is good, I have to do it.

One week ago, I was planting some trees with Andres, my 4 years old nephew.

-This tree will grow, in 5 years, as tall as your house is, you know?-I told him. -Hmm-he replied-I though you were going to say that, in 5 years, this tree becomes the house of 100 birds, uncle…Won’t it be?

I smiled back to him, and said: -Yes, my boy, it will be!

What a simple way to see the future! That is why, no matter what, I’ll keep my efforts in order to conserve the environment, because, since that morning, I have decided to think like a little boy…

Costa Rica is located in Central America, a narrow and beautiful piece of land in the center of the continent. For many years, our neighbors were involved in civil wars, mean while Costa Rica lived in peace.

Our goverments, since 1948, believe in education of the people, and, for me, that makes the difference.

About the 13% of the national budget goes toward education. Elementary school and High school education are free for everyone.

Costa Rica is known as the happiest country in the world, and I believe so. We have a huge army of school kids, and our air force is big…the biggest in the world…more than 850 species of birds!

I love my little piece of land. And we lo ve tho show how we live for real.

That makes us to say Pura Vida, Costa Rica!

Come and visit us, you’ll feel in home.

One of the FAQ’s about our place is: How come you guys advertise Chachagua?

Well, as many other companies, we have a website, and we go on Social Network…but, to us, the most important marketing ever is the mouth to mouth.

This is exactly why we try to know everyone who visit us. Every single person in the world is different, and everybody has a storie to tell.

Chachagua Rainforest Hotel & Hacienda is a small place, we have only 28 rooms, and it’s never crowded. That allows us to talk to all of our guest, and, after a couple of hours, we become friends to them all. Our staff is native to the area, so, we know about the place, about our forest and about farming and the Hacienda’s work, since this has been our way of living since we were born. We all are farmers.

Our visitors always like to know about how to milk a cow, when and how the pigs give birth live, how to use medicinal plants.

They always want to know about the life in the rain forest, how is the interaction of a an air plant and a frog, what the cats eat in the forest and so…And here we are to tech and learn every day!

One of the things I love about my job is the fact that, everyday, there will be something new in the jungle.

You might walk throughout the forest time after time the whole night, but next morning, nothing will be on the same spot or the same position you saw it a couple of hours ago. That means that there is plenty of life in there.

Every single thing works for itself and for the others, everything in nature has a reason to be, and nothing is wasted.

It is amazing, I mean, just to walk and listen all of those sounds…the water running down the stream, the bird’s songs, the crickets, the frogs…once in a while, maybe hear the monkeys howling, or simply listen the wind blowing through the trees…

It is a magnificent experience to be in the jungle when it’s raining, seeing how everything comes active, and then, you realize that  you are part of the total…

I invite you guys to come and live that magical experience, if some day you thought that the world it’s getting crowded and life goes to fast for you, come over here, and you’ll change your mind.

That is the real experience you should be in…for sure, there is nothing like this.

This is why, I can tell you, folks…I am never working, I am always living in a hollydays, since I work with nature.

One of the most common animals found in the rain forest of Costa Rica is the Three-toed Sloth (Bradypus variegatus)

From the same order of ant-eaters and armadillos, the Three-toed Sloth is a lazy animal who sleeps more than 15 hours a day. They are usually associated to the Cecropia tree, where is frequent to see the animal resting or hanging up side down. The sloth seems to like the leaves from Cecropia more than any other species of tree, but it is known that the cecropine, an alkaloid found in these leaves, as well as the excess of cellulose found on Cecropias could kill an animal with a very slow metabolism like the sloth. One of the reasons for this preference is that, since the sloth needs lot of hit in order to digest it’s food, and also, the cecropia tree has a weak trunk, this friendly mammal uses it for food, home and protection.

When they need to go to the bathroom, once a week, the three-toed sloth climbs down to the ground, digs a hole with it’s chunked tail, do whatever he has to do and, finally, covers it all with litter… then, it takes the whole day to go back up!

Three-toed sloth is eaten by jaguars, boa constrictor snakes and harpy eagles. Sometimes, while they are doing their needs on the ground, they are also attacked by coyotes, but this is not frequent. The sloth has a symbiosis with an algae, which covers it’s fur, giving them a kind of green or brownish color and working for camouflage up there. The algae grows fine on him, and sometimes the sloth  is seen licking his fur, maybe getting some nutrients from the algae.

Here, some pictures borrowed from the web, about this nice animal.