Stories from ecoBURICA Costa Rica

Journal entry ecoburica Costa Rica

Hilary — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:09:48 +0000

I was up at 5:00 today. Getting to bed at 8:00pm will do that! Another night without rain. I was going to visit the police today to call Alex and to collect some shells but I’ll do forest paths instead. And paint the shower, it’s dried enough now. Arcadio gets almost all of the walking trails cleared! Good worker. I do about 10% of them, he does rest. Two huge trees fell over “Camino Arcadio”, new name. So instead of rerouting the trail we will build stairs over them. Be interesting for tourists to see the power of nature. Benjamin fishes most of day, paints some posts. It’s an excellent fishing day. The pelicans dive bomb all day. Benjamin catches a new record, 18 fish! We eat fish all day, lots to share too. He has a couple with 3 kids drop in for a visit from south pta Burica. Rains a bit in afternoon and I carve out some more punky bits from shower. No painting today, I spend a solid hour digging out platforms. The rains have washed mud up to base of a couple, need to get air at the joists and dry them before Benjamin paints with our black mix. Ben fishes into the night, I hit sack at 9:30.

Rite of passage pta Burica Costa Rica

Hilary — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:06:15 +0000

One day I had to make some telephone calls. Since there is no signal on the ecoburica site, one has to walk down the coast about 25 minutes to the local police detachment. The police here are super co-operative and let us use their phone to make calls whenever we need. So, I grabbed my “baston” (walking stick) and headed down the coast. the walk involves mostly level beach so it’s a pleasant stroll for 90% of the way. But, that 10% can be a killer! There are boulders you have to cross for about 100 meters, and then the infamous hole in the rock. (pics below) You can get through this hole at the absolute low tide, and the water is about thigh high. But, you have to time your run so that you don’t get caught by opposing waves. My first time on the walk, I had no idea how deep the water would be, so I climbed up the rock face and down the other side. Not recommended. One slip and you fall and at the very least break several bones. But I had some valuable gear with me and did not want to chance it getting wet. So, got to the station, made my calls and started the trek back. Which by the way passes some beach where the tides bring in an amazing plethora of sea shells. We’ll take you there when you come to ecoburica. So, I get to the hole and can’t discern when would be the best moment to run across. I don’t see any sand, just a whack of sea water splashing and crashing into the rock face. But, I know it can be done, my guys have done it, the police cross this way. And, I don’t want to miss the low tide and see my opportunity slip away. So, I pick my moment and crash into the water. A wave comes exploding in from the other side and drenches me up to my waist. But, I hang onto the rock face, wait for the surge to pass, and scamper around the rock to dry beach on the other side. Made it! What a rush! Pura Vida!

Hilary — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 02:28:09 +0000

Sitting in latitude 8 in Golfito’s best bar. Enjoyed an afternoon party here, celebrating the bartender’s birthday. Had some of the best ribs I’ve had anywhere, bar none. Given up on fixing the solar system this week, it ain’t gonna happen. I spoke with Larry, technician who understands the whole concept of solar. The Cobra inverter I had is good for camping, but not for the long term. I need an Outback sealed inverter, and that is something to source in Canada or USA. (Or, if somebody down here knows where I can get one I’m all ears!) Here are some photos for you all, hope to see you here before the rainy season comes again. Pura Vida!

ecoburica Costa Rica Jan 17 2012

Hilary — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 16:00:46 +0000

Murphy’s Law. The solar system continues to plague me. Now the inverter fried and I’ve had to return to Golfito to get it repaired or replaced. Pura Vida! It’s been an amazingly hot time here, 30C every day. The fishing has been absolutely spectacular. Benjamin caught 18 fish one day. So we gorged on fresh fish for three days! Proof is in the picture below! No set menu at “ecoburica”. If the fishing is good we’ll eat fish. Or if someone in the local area slaughters one of their chancos (pigs) we’ll be eating pork. Always lots of fruit and veggies on hand. You will have a healthy diet here, no deep fried food. Unless you count the cicarron, which is basically pig hide fried for a solid half hour. You end up with a crunchy and yes, tasty snack. But it can’t be doing my arteries any good! We saw whales for the first time this year. No humpback breaches yet, just the slow graceful arcing of the whales back, as it slices down the coast. A huge turtle (either a Pacific Ridley or a leatherback, not sure which) waddled its way to shore a few nights ago and dropped 53 eggs. Thankfully most of the locals respect them and do their best to protect the nest. Unfortunately there are some doughheads who still insist on eating them. Very few mosquitoes, hooray! Had a visit from the local cop shop as well, nice to know that the policia are just down the beach. I’ll tell you about my trek to get there in the next post. Problem right now is no electricity so no cold beer. So I better get on that project pronto. Catcha later! Here’s a few photos to whet your appetite.

Good help is hard to find!

Hilary — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 23:10:38 +0000

It is a never ending source of amazement and frustration, the search for good help. I had a solar system installed by this guy in Golfito, thought he would be the perfect handyman and even chef to have around. So he installed the system, cost a pretty penny too, not cheap. Then a branch fell on the solar panel and fried the batteries and inverter. Now, I paid the dude another $700 to ´´repair´´ the system. Some repair. The lights work for about 2 hours, and that is only if you don{t run the stereo! Forget about using the refrigerator! So I had to make a special trip back to town to go and get another battery. And the correct battery this time, deep cycle with heavy plates. And while I was in town I thought I´d do a little internet research on solar systems, something still did not seem right. Guess what? Mr. Electrician dude whose name will not be mentioned, did not install what is called a combiner box with fuses!! So it is no wonder everything fried! I mean, electricity 101, basic course. Fuses to ensure you do not harm your goodies. Sometimes it is just such a pain in the ass to rely on other people. Sorry for this rant, had to vent. Next post won´t happen until end of January. I hope to get back to you all with a more positive attitude, a few weeks at ecoburica on my own will give me a chance to relx, recover and maybe, just maybe, get everything ready so cold beer is on hand! Cheers and Happy New Year to all!

Ecoburica in Costa Rica

Hilary — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 20:57:41 +0000

well, it’s a day to go to new year. i’m sitting in a marina bar called Fish Hook, having a cold beer and posting to the net. Finished all the preparations for receiving our guests, doing promo for a few days here. it’s a tough chore this advertising! Hope we can attract some visitors to my ocean front paradise. Everything is in place. Tent shelters are ready. Bar and larder are fully stocked. Grass is cut. And, monkeys have arrived! Bananas will be ripe in about a week, and those little buggers love to come and raid our banana grove. It’s OK, not as if we have a shortage! We hiked out thru Panama this time, a 3 hr trek along the coast, quite pleasant actually. Level ground and hard pack beach. A 4×4 trip thru the border crossing and back to Golfito. I’ll be spending New Years eve here in Golfito, no big party planned. Getting some provisions (like a new axle for the cart) and some other stuff that is just impossible to scavenge in the jungle. We’ll look into getting a couple of new batteries for the solar system as well, got to beef that up so the beer is cold all day/night. Firing up the generator is just a pain in the ass, the noise drives teh monkeys asway, and frankly I’d rather be looking at monkeys with a OK beer than no monkeys and a cold beer. Hey, call me crazy! So, here’s as few more photos. Check out our Youtube link direct from the website www.ecoburica.com for some cool video. Pura Vida !!

December 2011 at ecoburica Costa Rica

Hilary — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 01:13:18 +0000

Day 10 Costa Rica

Hilary — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 02:08:27 +0000

It’s now into double digit days here. Day 10. Back to Paso Canoas to buy the booze. Unbelievably well priced. Bottles of Frontera Cabernet Sauvignon (OK, I know it’s not the best wine in the world but it is quite good as a table wine) for $3.50. How about a bottle of Frangelico for $9.75? A 24 of Panama beer for $9.00. the list goes on. Needless to say, this would have posed some problem coming through customs with 33 bottles of booze/wine and 7 cases of beer! But having local help is worth every penny they get. Our cabbie, name will remain anonymous just in case, knows a route that skips customs. So we zap back to Golfito, stopped to make some photocopies in R. Claro. Couldn’t get my flashdrive accepted at any place, so hard copies it is. Thank goodness I did bring some along. Extra PR material. Fan and I start buying last materials at Ferreteria Chino, have to take a pause for lunch, they close at 1:00pm. We have lunch at Marischeria Blue Marlin. Fabulous fish! Rafael the owner is quite happy to showcase Don’s article, that’s one of the photos below, on his wall. And more bandanas of course. Hope to distribute another 50 tomorrow, paint the town ecoburica green! They will deliver the materials to Soda Muellecito tomorrow. I’m back here at Fish Hook Marina doing my emails. Shared some family photso with Harry’s wife Inta (Latvian, how small is this world!) and the rains have returned. In speaking with the bar mgr tonight, seems like tourism is taking a hit here. Bookings are down, but it is early in the season. So all is in place. Might have a chance to post some more tomorrow, but if not Pura Vida! Vamos!

Day 9 Costa Rica

Hilary — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:34:24 +0000

Well, we’re a couple days away from casting off and heading to ecoburica for the winter. Gear has been gathered. Renovations started on the boutique hotel just outside of Golfito. More about that some other post. Lost of bandanas handed out in this beautiful southern ocean town. Connections made and reinforced. New friends found (Harry and Patty). And within 60 hours we’ll be winging our way down the coast, heading for arguably the most beautiful beach/jungle in Costa Rica. Yes it is difficult to get there . But the journey is every bit as important as the destination. And as a bright young sage once said “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die tomorrow.” (James Dean) Pura Vida!

Day 6

Hilary — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 03:38:24 +0000

I missed a post. sorry about that. With all the activity I’m packing in I’m sure you’ll understand. Spent the better part of yesterday trying to get to Playa Cacao, but one of gustavo’s friends had taken off with his boat and motor. Gustavo and his buddy paddled me all the way to the potential drop site but after killing an hour waiting we gave up. I had it easy, did not do any paddling, the boys did the work. had a chance to catch up on journal entries. It was actually quite an interesting boat ride thru the mangroves.

and today was a total work day. Went to town to buy a bunch of wood/nails and plywood sheets to frame a new wall and entry to the house. Saw, hammer, measure, saw, hammer, measure. that was my day. changed the lock on teh door too. Now the upstairs has a private entry. this will eventually turn into a nice boutique hotel. For now it is pain in the ass construction/renovation project. I’ll take a pic tomorrow and post it. has potential.

Spent an evening in Hotel Roland, a high end hotel near the airport. More cards and bandanas but I was glad to get out of there. A band was playing in the bar, kind of jazzy salsa but blasting at about 100db. My ears are still ringing. And now I’m fading fast. time to catch a cab back to the house and sleep in tomorrow. I think my joints will be aching. found a good cabbie, charged me just 1,000C to get here, that’s only $2.00. And the truck taxi this afternoon was just 5,000C ($10) to bring all the building materials from town to the house. Pura Vida!