Pachamama Caribe http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog Life from Punta Uva, Costa Rica Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:13:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 en A day trip to the Lagoons of the Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/07/23/a-day-trip-to-the-lagoons-of-the-gandoca-manzanillo-wildlife-refuge/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/07/23/a-day-trip-to-the-lagoons-of-the-gandoca-manzanillo-wildlife-refuge/#comments Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:13:19 +0000 cathy http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/07/23/a-day-trip-to-the-lagoons-of-the-gandoca-manzanillo-wildlife-refuge/ This week I took a trip with my kids and visiting in-laws week to the lagoons of the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge.  WOW!

refuge_lagoon
Gandoca Lagoon
Lagoon1

Our guide picked us up at 7 am and drove us out to Gandoca where we met up with our local guides who have a beautiful finca (farm) loaded with fruit trees and many sustainable living features ..You can also do this trip via boat out of Manzanillo and then kayak into the lagoons and we know several expert guides who will take care of all the details and guide the trip in the lagoons as well, but not everyone in our group wanted to paddle in kayaks ;0) We loaded into a small boat and our guides rowed us through the lagoons pointing our birds and different species of trees, but no one had to point out the Herons, Toucans, and Kingfishers  gliding by, the large troop of Spider Monkeys (Colorados) playing along the shore, or the other troop of Howler’s (Congos), but they did show us a Racoon (Mapache) we would not have seen and what we all thought was a Caiman or Mantee, but it was too quick…

Mangrove

Maybe it was just us hoping, but they did say perhaps…and both species are known to frequent the area…You can read more about the refuge below, but we rowed through the lagoons and then the mangroves to where they meet the Ocean a couple miles past Punta Mona and were treated to tour of the Turtle nesting area

vivero

where they have a nursery to hatch all the eggs they have saved from poachers and other unfortunate endings. It was nice to get out of the boat and see the beautiful coastline stretching from Punta Mona to the Sixaola River at the Panama border

OceanSixaolario

…this coast is very wild and the main nesting site for the endangered turtles in the area. Especially during the nesting season, I would say that this trip is very comparable to what people experience in Tortuguero (canals, mangroves, turtles, birding, wildlife) at a fraction of the cost and effort and in fact I prefer it because it is more isolated and wild and there is tons of wildlife. Plus where else will you see a whole community cooking with gas collected from their pigs ;0) 

Piggascooking

The other great thing is that you will rarely see another person out there because it is just so remote (i.e. no other boats screaming by etc)….this trip lasted about 5 hours and was very affordable…We’ve had several guests take the trip and said it was the favorite part of their Costa Rica trip (even better than the ziplines ;0)…Make sure to check out this hidden jewel on your trip to the South Caribbean of Costa Rica.

More on the Refuge 

The Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge 

The Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge is a much overlooked treasure, and is not to be missed by any visitor to the area. Although it begins protecting the beach near Cocles beach, the Refuge begins about 100 meters to the North of Pachamama on both sides of the road and extends some 30 km down to the Rio Sixaola which forms the Panamanian border, protecting along the way gorgeous beaches, coral reefs, lowland tropical forests (some primary), and several of Costa Rica’s most endangered habitats including the only jolillo palm swamp in Costa Rica. Created in 1985, the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge is one of the only humid tropical forests in Costa Rica and provides a wide range of lowland habitats with rare and unique plants, and it protects major freshwater and marine habitats, including one of the least-spoiled coral reefs on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. The refuge is classified as mixed use with regulations to protect land and water wildlife and their habitat because special provisions were made to allow residents of Manzanillo and Punta Uva to continue living in their community, which are within Refuge’s boundaries.The coral reefs that begin offshore from Punta Uva extend south to Manzanillo’s Punta Mona are part of the refuge’s protected zone.  The living reef supports more than thirty five types of coral, 11 species of sponge, 27 species of algae and 34 species of mollusk.  Beyond Punta Mona (Monkey Point) a couple mile hike or boat trip from Manzanillo are beaches that serve as important nesting grounds for the four species of endangered sea turtles that nest from March through July (green, hawksbill, leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles).  This is a major attraction for visitors because you can see the turtles lay their eggs and then learn about the viveros or nurseries where the eggs are brought to protect them from poachers and the elements in order to maximize bith rates.The refuge is also well-known for its rarely visited red and white mangrove swamp. It is the only red mangrove swamp remaining in Costa Rica. The swamp serves as a spawning site for Atlantic tarpon, oysters, and many other marine organisms. A true hidden gem in refuge is the Gandoca lagoon, where crocodiles, caimans, shrimps, manatees, snook and tarpon all contribute to the cycle of life. However, the beauty of the flora lining the lagoons and the abundance of Sloths, Spider monkeys, White Faced Capuuchins, and Congo (Howler) monkeys and of course Toucans, Trogons and the rest is unrivaled anywhere on the Caribbean coast. Parrots, toucans, red-capped manakins, collared aracaris (small toucans), and more than 360 other species of bird may also be found in the Gandoca-Manzanillo National Wildlife Refuge at various times of the year. 358 species of birds have been spotted, of which 102 are migratory, mainly coming from North America. This makes the Refuge and particularly the lagoons and mangroves a must-visit for birdwatching. 

So how do you get there and what can you do?  There are a few main ways to enjoy the refuge.  One is to lay in your hammock at Pachamama and soak in it, or head down to Punta Uva beach or Manzanillo and relax, swim, snorkel, and even surf small reef breaks out at Punta Uva a couple months out of the year. Some of the best snorkeling along the coast is right in Punta Uva and all the dive boats come to Punta Uva to a huge beautiful reef with drop offs about ¼ mile offshore. The other ways include self-guided or guided jungle hikes with guides that know all the species of birds, animals, plants and can spot them for you when otherwise you would see nothing. In fact, many of the guided birdwatching and nature tours in the Refuge begin near Pachamama and just walk down the road to Manzanillo.  You’d be amazed how much you can see just on that couple mile hike (and then take the bus back ;0)…Hikes into the refuge can be a short as a ½ mile to see wildlife and some beautiful beach coves and sea stacks, to ½ day hikes into the primary forest and/or to Punta Mona, to full on adventures hiking out to Gandoca , watching the turtles lay eggs and then returning that night. 

The other way to enjoy the refuge is by boat.  You can head out of Punta Uva on a scuba trip to the reefs, or take a spin out to Punta Mona to see dolphins, turtles and the beautiful coast.  Of course there are also a number of fishng opportunities, with the most spectacular being the Tarpon fishing, but the boats always come back with catches or stories of red snapper, kingfish, jack, grouper, barracuda, mackerel and many more. 

To get to the Gandoca mangroves and lagoon there are two options.  You can take a boat out of Manzanillo and then transfer to kayaks to enter and explore the lagoon, or you can take a bus or taxi to Gandoca and hook up with local guides there who will row/guide you through the lagoons and mangroves on one of their boats. We have guides that take care of this from Pachamama pickup and drop off and can even arrange locally prepared meals at the destination or along the way.  The turtle watching works about the same way.  They pick up here at about 5:30 and head out to the beaches of Gandoca with approved local guides where you wait for turtles to come in and lay their eggs.  They usually come in about 7-10 p.m. and then you get dropped back off here at Pachamama with visions of magnificent turtles in your dreams ;-0)  So, don’t miss the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, El Rufigio during your vist to the So Caribbean of Costa Rica.

 

]]> http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/07/23/a-day-trip-to-the-lagoons-of-the-gandoca-manzanillo-wildlife-refuge/feed/ Hiking in Cahuita National Park http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/06/12/hiking-in-cahuita-national-park/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/06/12/hiking-in-cahuita-national-park/#comments Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:59:34 +0000 cathy http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/06/12/hiking-in-cahuita-national-park/ Hiking in Cahuita National Park

Trail cahuita

The So Caribbean of Costa Rica has many natural wonders and although many are all around you wherever you are, some are designated areas…I’ll get to my favorite the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge a little later, but the Cahuita National Park is a great day trip from our area.  I had a few hours to burn before parent teacher conferences (kids are doing great in the Cahuita Complementaria Escuela and Colegio by the way :) so I decided to hike out to Cahuita Point and Punta Vargas.  All you need to do coming from the new bus station in Cahuita (which is what I did) is to walk towards the center of town (go right on the street after passing through their gauntlet of new shopping malls) along the brick paved street and at the end of that take a right and it takes you right to the park entrance.  Also at the end of that brick road (on your left corner) is Roberto’s Tours which is the only one I recommend for snorkeling in Cahuita.  He will take you out on a boat to the point for snorkeling and then you can get dropped off and hike back to town saving the round trip.  There are also guides out there who will walk back with you for a fee and tlk about the trees, ecosystems, animals etc.. There you need to sign in at the park entrance and leave a donation…mine is usually 500 colones. There are showers and bathrooms at the park entrance so you can even bring a change of clothes and be set for the day.. The trail is very nice, wide and clean, especially in the first mile because they rake it etc, but more importantly probably, it withstands rain and does not get muddy so it is nice in or after any weather. 

The trail follows the beach for the first mile with beautiful white sandy spots to feel all alone and then it weaves  into the jungle a bit on the way to Punta Cahuita….It’s about 4 km to the point which took me about 45 minutes walking briskly.  Along the way there are many little beach coves and some bridges you cross (walk on the nailed parts to ensure strongest part of the bridge or it gives a bit :)…

cahuitabeachtrail

This trip I mostly say lizards and crabs, but also a troop of howler monkeys and a Trogon, some Herrons, many ant/fly birds, and one vulture (lucky me)…Oftentimes at the point you will run into white faced monkeys, White Capucchin, or Cariblancas as they are known here. Near the point is the mangroves/river on your right and there are also some trals that head up that a bit, which can be much more natural and no people so I suggest taking a right there if you have time (right after the Perezoso River “sign”, or keep heading along…

mangrove

The trail gets much wilder toward the point because not as many people (including the people with rakes), make it that far and you feel all alone in the jungle with the animals covered by a nice cool canopy…Cahuita Point has a covered little picnic area…I always blow right by it because the real treasure to me is Punta Vargas…At Punta Cahuita you can see back to Cahuita, but you can not see all along the Playa Negra to Puerto Viejo…About 1km past unta Cahuita you arrive at Punta Vargas…This is about an hour from the park entrance for me, but count on 1.5-2 hours for a leisurely walk.. There is a sign, but you can also tell because there is a big sandy/coral point and you can hang out there and feel like you are on a deserted island because you can see both ways along tree-lined beaches and out to the coral reefs….it is a nice place for a rest or picnic.  You can also access the point more easily from the Ranger station in Puerto Vargas…What you do is catch the bus at Pachamama at 8:40, get off the bus from at the entrance to Puerto Vargas (you have to pull the cord or tell them..it is a mile or two before the turn into Cahuita) and then hike 1 km to the park entrance…there they do charge a  couple thousand colones and then head towards Punta vargas and Cahuita…Then you can hike to Cahuita, eat lunch hang out at the park, check out cahuuta and catch the 3 p,m bus to Manzanillo and it will drop you off back at Pachamama…Variations to this trip might be to catch a ride to the Sloth refuge (avarias del Caribe) a bit past Cahuita,

baby sloth wanting to play

 

or to get off the bus in Puerto Viejo on the way back and hang out there for awhile, grab dinner and catch the 7 pm bus back or dance the night away and taxis it back to Pachamama for a well deserved rest ;-)

]]> http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/06/12/hiking-in-cahuita-national-park/feed/ Community-based tourism in the Costa Rica Caribbean http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/04/27/community-based-tourism-in-the-costa-rica-caribbean/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/04/27/community-based-tourism-in-the-costa-rica-caribbean/#comments Sun, 27 Apr 2008 15:22:52 +0000 cathy http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/04/27/community-based-tourism-in-the-costa-rica-caribbean/ You often hear about sustainable tourism and it has almost become cliché, but what does it mean and how can we participate are common approaches I hear about from guests.  Without going into detail, sustainable tourism helps local communities to retain their culture and environment through effective and efficient use of resources that they control and manage. This brings positive benefits to the local community through preserving their way of life so they do not have to turn to other forms of income from their resources, or worse yet, dissolve the community in search of outside jobs.  Of course environmental preservation is important in all of this as well, and eco-tourism focuses on experiencing the environment in its natural form and leaving it in as good or better condition as when we arrived.…

casamujerestrip

Anyway, community-based tourism is not much different except that it specifically offers the “..opportunity to access without barriers the essence of rural life, and to explore natural landscapes and the least visited natural areas, hand in hand with excellent campesino hosts..” (ACTUAR http://www.actuarcostarica.com). I recently went out with the ACTUAR group (The Costa Rican Community-based Rural Tourism Association) to visit the Casa de Las Mujeres to get a first hand glimpse of Bribri life. The trip starts off with a drive from Puerto Viejo to the Yorkin river where you take a trip in a dug out canoe through spectacular scenery and then you arrive in Yorkin, which is a small town within the Bribri indigenous reserve.  There you meet up with a Bribri guide and take a hike through organic banana and cacao plantations, swim in the refreshing pools of the Yorkin river and learn how chocolate is made and enjoy a traditional Bribri meal. At the Casa, you will hear inspiring stories of the Bribri lifestyle and experiences.  I came back very excited to share this experience with our guests and other people. These types of tours, and there are many more, allow the Bribri and other indigenous cultures, to preserve their way of life. 

cacao

However, our friends Barry and Nancy at the Bridge http://www.elpuente-thebridge.org are also providing a wonderful service. Our guests have enjoyed going over there on Thursdays to help prepare for the soup kitchen and meet some of the families (and Barry and Nancy of course). Here is a quick summary of their efforts from their 2007 annual report:El Puente - The Bridge is a human services organization operating in the Puerto Viejo de Talamanca area, on the Caribbean shore near Panama.  We provide educational assistance, food assistance, and microloans mainly to indigenous people in the southeastern part of Costa Rica.  Our goal is to help people help themselves to self-sufficiency.  In four years of operation, we:

  • assisted 82 children in attending 7 schools in the cantons of Limón and Talamanca;   
  • made 28 microloans (and are now looking for a full-time manager for this program);   
  • provide supplemental meals to about 150 people through a Community Kitchen operating three days a week;
  • provide seven families with a weekly bag of food in a work-for-food program;
  • developed a public Job Board to help young people find work.

 As of this report,  we are also:

  • conducting a Job Survey with over 180 employers from Manzanillo to Cahuita with the assistance of long-term volunteers;
  • continuing to develop a “green fund”, in the USA, intending to provide graduates of our microloan program with guaranteed loans administered through a Costa Rican bank for larger projects, such as: water systems for small groups of families, building a schoolhouse, building a medical clinic;
  • continuing the Education, Microloan, and Food programs, and performing other community service activities as they arise.

 We are a non-profit organization in the USA.  See us at http://www.elpuente-thebridge.org 

We love to support efforts like this because they help retain the natural and cultural environments that make the So Caribe of Costa Rica so special. So, on your next trip to the region, make sure to check some of these community-based efforts out and we’ll guarantee you’ll have a good time and be exposed to some of the wonderful places and people of our area while helping out at the same time.

Cathy Carroll.

 

]]> http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/04/27/community-based-tourism-in-the-costa-rica-caribbean/feed/ Tarpon in the air, literally http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/02/11/tarpon-in-the-air-literally/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/02/11/tarpon-in-the-air-literally/#comments Mon, 11 Feb 2008 15:35:48 +0000 cathy http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/02/11/tarpon-in-the-air-literally/ January was a lovely month in the Caribe. On the Puerto Viejo Satellite chart it shows as one of the rainier months, but we had a week of sunny days in a row and more generally some rains at night and early morning and sunny/shady days to enjoy the area. Feb has been turning out to be much of the same, but we did get a couple night time rains and some during the day the past couple days. Sure, there were a couple days where it was rainy, it is the rain forest, but all in all it turned out to be a great month from a weather  perspective.  Some activites we have been doing before school fires up again include my son and I riding bikes the other day down to Playa Grande on the way to Manzanillo and watch the surfers and it is a beautiful unvisited beach, and then down along both Punta Uva beaches with swims all along the way.  The girls have been taking surfing lessons with a local instructor and loving it (although can be a little sore from practicing their stand-ups)… Guests came to Pachamama in January from Costa Rica, Norway, Denmark, Holland, Canada, and the United States so it was a pretty international flavor around here and some wonderful new friends.

jumpingtarpon

The Tarpon reference is one I thought was worthy of bringing up because we have had several guests now who have had some unforgettable tarpon experiences.  It started when a guest who happened to be a professional fisherman really wanted to land a Tarpon, but did not want to pay the crazy prices they charge for the dedicated fishing lodges and companies  up North and even here so  we found a local guide in Manzanillo who knows Tarpon, and most recently a young couple on their honeymoon went out and hooked several, including one two hour battle on a fly-rod with a monster (80 lbs/40kgs)…Oh yeah, the flyrod and then the reel finally broke and the big one got away..the memories will live on larger than life I am sure as it was all captured on video.  Some other activity highlights have been the usual canopy tours, but the BriBri reserve/waterfall tour has also been popular.  The Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife refuge is always a reliable good time.  Most people of late have just been going with a few tips and directions and forgoing a guide in favor of privacy in the immense jungle and isolated postcard beach coves…Que romantico!

Feel free to shoot us an e-mail asking us any and all questions about the area as we love to help people enjoy it to its fullest.

]]> http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2008/02/11/tarpon-in-the-air-literally/feed/ Seasons Greetings From Pachamama http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/12/23/seasons-greetings-from-pachamama/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/12/23/seasons-greetings-from-pachamama/#comments Mon, 24 Dec 2007 04:38:31 +0000 cathy http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/12/23/seasons-greetings-from-pachamama/ Seasons greetings to all from Pachamama!

 

Pacha x-mas 20071 013

Navidad is upon us and can be seen in the obvious scenery of lights and adornos, but also in the season’s greetings among friends in the streets and supers.  One thing that is missing from the So Caribe is the hustle and bustle of last minute shopping (except for picking up tamale fixins or a walk through Limon Centro) because there just is not too much retail around here.  Highlights of the season include the return of the Colorado monkeys (or Spiders) from a couple month hiatus.  First we found out they were around from guests out on the kayaks because they were up the river…with babies (the Monkeys that is),,and then they have started coming around, but the white-faced Capuchins (Cari-blancas) have been the dominating force as they swoop through to snack on the leaves and bananas. 

Pachamama Cari Blanca
Pachamama Toucan

We had this one banana tree (the kind with seedy bananas) that the toucans just loved and when it finally died off we missed them being so close to the house so we hung up some old plantains and the next morning 20 cari-blancas showed up and came down fearfully one by one and grabbed one.   Fortunately they saved some for the toucans, but we don’t really want to start feeding the animals intentionally or they might turn out like the ones in Cahuita and Manuel Antonio that start to steal your belongings ;-)

 

A couple other highlights include Monday Jazz nights at Magic Ginger, Costa Papito starting up jazz nights and a couple other places putting together some regular nights of reggae and calypso music.  This gives guests some nice options around dinner time for some entertainment.  Not sure if it is just because it is nearing high season, but it is welcomed.

Another Pachamama highlight was the arrival of a couple Canadian families to end up 2007 with us in the bungalows.  We remodeled the bungalows so we could offer a kitchen, have a bigger patio, and welcome larger groups, and it all worked out well because 9 people took over the 2 bedroom house and seemed to be have a great time.  The kids spent plenty of time together at the beach , around the property, and doing crafts etc…We’ll miss them, but glad they had fun and are off to other adventures across the country.  We had some great weather to welcome the end of the year with one all day all night rain and hope the sun holds up for the Navidad.  However you celebrate this time of year, the Pachamama family of Bill, Cathy, Cassidy, Liam, Linda & Lucy, and Maria & Alberto wish you the best!  As they often say here in Costa Rica “Nuevo Ano, Nueva Vida”, or New Year and New Life….

]]> http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/12/23/seasons-greetings-from-pachamama/feed/ Bungalow Renovation Complete http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/11/06/bungalow-renovation-complete/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/11/06/bungalow-renovation-complete/#comments Wed, 07 Nov 2007 01:48:15 +0000 bill http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/11/06/bungalow-renovation-complete/ Pachamama has been a busy place the past couple months. We were very excited to welcome our first bungalow guests in mid-Oct after closing the bungalows down for two months to complete our renovations.  We were a bit worried at times about finishing on time and the noise, but the crew worked with us to build around our house guests’ schedules and get the last details done a few days before the first guests and Cathy had a well timed trip to Ikea and a couple other places to outfit the new kitchen and living rooms.  So what did we do? We installed a new 30′x10′ deck in front of the bungalows, put a full kitchen between them, and then enclosed the old patios and made them into living rooms complete with new ceiling fans and futons that fold out into beds. We decided against covering the entire new deck to give people much more room to view the trees, sky and everything living that inhabits them. We employed the services of a Punta Uva/Manzanillo builder called Eco-Development for the project and all of the wood we used was either from our wood storage from previous projects or was brought in from wood plantations in Costa Rica.  We also used “green” products and standards in all the construction which makes us and the land happy. Leaving the deck open turned out to be a great idea because guests have really enjoyed the terrace and we put new deck chairs and benches out there for hanging out and entertaining. So what if it rains?  Well, contrary to rumours, it does not rain all the time here and usually (if you can use the word usual here) it rains at night.  So, if it is pouring rain you just move back a little under the covered section of the porch and the rain gutters move the rain so you can enjoy the view and fresh air regardless.  We just had a couple of move from the 1 bedroom house to the bungalow with a kitchen and said they liked it more because of all the room and the views.
Patio of Bungalow with Kitchen

So what does all this mean to Pachamama?  Now we have another option for people who want a kitchen, and the really cool thing is that we can now open up the bungalows and make a 2 bedroom 2 bath house complete with 2 living rooms, 5 ceiling fans, and room for up to 8 people. However, the construction process was a bit taxing so we are done for awhile and it is nice to get back to “normal”.
Other updates, the Cari Blancas (White Faced Capuchin monkeys)
White-faced (Capuchin) monkey (or Mono Cariblanco) visting the garden

returned last week and today after not being around for a few months.  People were seeing them on the kayaks up the river, but some locals suggested that since have been so many congo (howler) monkeys on the property the past few months that the Cari Blancas stayed away (the howlers are a little initimidating with their large groups and loud noises). Other news is that we have been catching Bass and Snook pretty easily in the river and Green Jacks (hooreles?)  and Kingfish have been pretty plentiful…I went fishing on a boat with some guests last week and we brought home a 5 kilo Jack that we cooked up family style and it was just delicious and lasted for a couple days in tacos and salads….The sea was like glass that day and we went snorkeling off Punta Mona and could see a good 50′ with some nice fish and reefs..

We’ll try to be a little more frequent with the updates before the end of the year…oh yeah, the weather has been excellent in September and October…October is typically the driest month if you look on www.puertoviejosatellite.com and it has only rained a little at night with some clouds during the day to keep things cool..Some of the big storms out in the caribbean made the waves big a few days, but generally the swimming and snorkeling have been fairly decent..Who knows what November will bring, but so far it has been consistenly wonderful….back to the hammock ;0)

]]> http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/11/06/bungalow-renovation-complete/feed/ This land was made for you and me! http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/07/30/this-land-was-made-for-you-and-me/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/07/30/this-land-was-made-for-you-and-me/#comments Mon, 30 Jul 2007 20:16:12 +0000 bill http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/07/30/this-land-was-made-for-you-and-me/ July ended up with several nice sunny days strung together and the national holiday celebrating Guanacaste’s annexation into Costa Rica (that is the extent of my historical knowledge on the subject, but it is a cause for celebration here). The end result of this was that pretty much every hotel in the So. Caribe was booked and the beaches, local eateries, and streets were bustling with activity. Here at Pachamama things were still pretty quiet since we only have the two bungalows and house, but I was reminded how nice it is to have so many trees on the property because when you get back from a trip to “town” or the beach it just seems to drop 10 degrees in temperature when you walk through the gates of Pachamama and into our lush jungle gardens.

 

Path through garden

 The Spider monkeys, or Colorados as they are known locally, made many appearances this past week and everyone always stops what they are doing to watch their acrobatics flying from tree to tree. These monkeys are pretty rare in the area, but use the river to move up and down from the mountain to feed and frolick (the monkey is in the middle ;-)

Spider-Colorado Monkey in Canopy

Our kids, Cassidy and Liam, kindly donated 20 2’ Almendro saplings they started from fallen fruit to the Monkey Bridge project to help develop habitat for monkeys in the area. We have also had many sloths popping in including this mother and baby. It is hard to get good pictures of the monkeys and sloths because of the lighting, but in this case the sloth was only about 10-15 feet off the ground so it was a little easier.

Pacha 7-30 007

 We are convinced that when we are not looking that the sloths move with lightning speed because they are always in a different tree an hour or so later…we’ll have to spy on them sometime.

 

And of course as always, our guests are the bright spot at Pachamama and this month we had some very special guests from Costa Rica, Mexico, France, Canada, Holland, England, and the United States. All our guests have unique stories, especially one this month that was a vet and spayed our dogs and fixed one’s broken leg while visiting us, but we decided not to name or talk about our guests in the blog. I’ll leave you with a song written this past week swinging in a bungalow hammock by a guest and longtime friend of the family. We all gathered around and he played guitar and sang our new theme song to the tune of “This land is your land”

This land is your land, this land is my land
From Punta Uva to Playa Negra
From Tortuguero to Puerto Viejo
This land was made for you and me!

I felt so free on, that plane from Limon
All the way, from San Jose
From what I see, it’s clear to me
That this land was made for you and me.

Well you can’t panic, lying on a hammock
There’s no high drama, at Pachamama
There is no fear, with Punta Uva beach so near
This land was made for you and me

There’s Howler monkeys, up in the high trees
I bet Stephen King, would like how they sing!
And the mid-day showers, make the beautiful flowers
This land was made for you and me

Thanks Bill & Cathy, bold Liam & Cassidy
Here’s three (or four) cheers, to these pioneers
Thanks for the vacation, in this wonderful nation
This land was made for you and me!

This land is your land, this land is my land
From Punta Uva, to Playa Negra
From Tortuguero to Puerto Viejo
This land was made for you and me!!!

 Thank you to Scott and all of our guests for making Pachamama a great place to be for us too!

]]> http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/07/30/this-land-was-made-for-you-and-me/feed/ Welcome to Pachamamacaribe.com and our blog http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/07/15/welcome-to-pachamamacaribecom-and-our-blog/ http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/07/15/welcome-to-pachamamacaribecom-and-our-blog/#comments Sun, 15 Jul 2007 13:34:58 +0000 bill http://www.pachamamacaribe.com/blog/2007/07/15/welcome-to-pachamamacaribecom-and-our-blog/ Bill & Cathy here, we’re really excited about our new website and thankful to Doug for all his hard work and assistance.  We liked our old site and it did a good job of conveying the beauty of Pachamama and Punta Uva, but we needed a little more room to describe all the neat things that go on here, and our committment to providing the best amenities and service possible to our guests.  We also wanted a guestbook for the memories and for people to get a glimpse into what it is like to stay here.  The blog will serve as our way to keep people up to date on recent activities and happpenings at and around Pachamama.  Probably the most exciting happening has been the arrival of our new Kayaks (Ocean Kayaks Frenzy).

Kayaking from the shore of Pachamama Caribe 

Now people can jump in a Kayak right on our property and cruise up the river to view all sorts or Monkeys, Sloths, birds and beautiful natural jungle settings, or Kayak down the river to the Blue flag Punta Uva Beach.  Lately there have been some excellent waves (for Punta Uva that is) for kayakers right off the point.  You jump on the little waves ride them 20 meters and the exit off and jump back on…Some people have gotten sunburnt from not wanting to come in…of course Punta Uva is usually much calmer and oftentimes as still as glass, which makes for 50+ feet visibility snorkeling, but usually it is more like 20.  July has been rainy, but more and more it is breaking early and we”re getting some nice sunny beach days for our plants and our guests…Recent guests have been from London on a Latin American adventure, two couples from Montreal, and several families from San Jose Costa Rica here for the break…We had an entire family from Heredia come up to our house and watch the Costa Rican sub 20 team…whatta blast and their friends son McDonald, scored the winning goal!…Come check us out and we’ll do our best to keep the blog entries coming every week or so.

 Bill & Cathy Carroll

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