Finca Rosa Blanca: a shade-grown, organic coffee farm & inn

A view of the central lodge building of Finca Rosa Blanca inn on a hill, set amidst the tropical forest. In this shot, clouds are coming in... a storm is brewing! It's absolutely gorgeous - both the setting and the buildings!!!! (Images Copyright (c) 2013 Wendee Nicole)

I'm finally getting the last photos from my trip to Costa Rica up on my blog. I can't believe it has been 4 months - wow! Where has the time gone? How is it August already? I have spent a month studying for the GRE (Graduate Record Exam) because I'm applying to a Ph.D. program at Stanford.

Although I am technically a Ph.D. candidate at Rice University, I took a leave of absence in 2005, while going through my divorce. I couldn't finish due to finances and just the stress of raising young kids and being in grad school as a single mom. For a long time, I actually didn't think I would ever go back to grad school but I started systematically researching the three options I had for after the kids are both off to college (which were: go to Africa for 6 months to a year, buy a cheap RV and pimp it out and drive around the US for a year figuring out where to live, or grad school) and came upon the EIPER program at Stanford and it just clicked. I sort of knew in my soul I was meant to be there. There is a story behind that too, which I'll tell soon, but I don't want to distract from the Costa Rica images!

At any rate, I took a practice GRE and did great in verbal but am still needing to get much faster at the math... you only have like 1.5 minutes average per question.  I picked up the math itself pretty quickly (nothing like cramming 12 years of primary math ed into 1-2 months of review...) but just need to improve on the speed. I will probably take it at the end of the month. Anyway I have no idea if I will get into this program but I am really hoping and praying I do. It is perfect for me and my interests and what I want to do with the next phase of my life, which is returning to conservation work and combining that with poverty alleviation which I feel increasingly drawn to due to my faith. If you are so inclined, I would be grateful for your prayers for my GRE and grad school application! I also may apply to the law school there for a joint PhD/JD program... I am still debating on that one in my mind. I really want to, but it depends on how I do on the LSAT - ha!

A solar panel provides electricity to power the lodge. The sky was cloudy so the shot isn't great, but you can see a bit more of the main lodge architecture here. I absolutely love white stucco and this type of building and the decor inside. Finca Rosa Blanca is run by American expatriates Glenn and Teri Jampol, who are the nicest people! They both attended Berkeley so it was fun talking to them about that place, and the Bay Area. /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// (err, that would be my kitty Pippin attempting to communicate in human... she is apparently better at speaking than written English, apparently... hear her say "hello" here).

This is the foyer inside the main lodge (the white building in the images above). I absolutely adore the white stucco and the wood flooring. Everything is decorated in such a beautiful style. I love it! When myself, Elizabeth and Paula stayed here 2 years ago after the Planet, People, Peace Conference we arrived late so it was after dark and had to leave at 4am to catch a 6am flight so we never got to see it during daylight or tour the coffee plantation so I was excited to come back and see it in its full glory. CANAECO (the Ecotourism Bureau of Costa Rica, of which Glenn is President) just announced the 4th Planet People Peace ("P3") Conference to be held this fall. I hope I can make it! This year it will be held in San Jose, which I feel like I "know" now after the tour of the city Heidi and I had.

My room and Heidi's rooms were in a separate building behind the main lodge. These are the patios set amidst the gorgeous landscaping. The roof is made from plastic tiles made from recycled banana bags! Cool, huh!

My own personal patio! Wish I lived here....

This was inside MY ROOM! This whole thing was just my room - wow! To the left it went to the bathroom, with my bedroom to the far left (I didnt get a photo of it for some reason), and to the right is the breakfast nook. The middle door goes out to the patio. 

A closer view of the breakfast nook. 

A shot of the gorgeous pool. I have such a hilarious, fond memory of the last time I came here, with Elizabeth and Paula, and we arrived after dark and made our way to our rooms (which, that time, was in the main lodge, behind the pool) and we had to walk around it, and one of the two girls - I won't say who - was deathly afraid of toads, and there were like a hundred toads all around the pool at that time in the rain. At first we thought she was joking and just a bit leery but she was actually deathly afraid of them! It was cute. :)

Finca Rosa Blanca guide, Leo Vergnani (from Italy), took us on a tour of the lodge grounds and around the coffee plantation itself. Here he is sitting on the edge of a unique solar setup that heats water for the lodge.

This is Leo in the coffee plantation. He taught us SO much about how coffee is grown both here at Finca Rosa Blanca, and in different parts of the world, and later we went back and sampled it (pics to follow) with "cupping" - similar to wine tasting but with coffee. He was so funny with a hysterical dry wit that had Heidi and I cracking up. I took a few iPhone videos of him talking about coffee and hope to upload them here if I can figure out how. He has since moved to Belgium but his protege, Ulises Zúñiga, is now the coffee tour guide. This is an organic, shade-grown coffee product but it took a few years after the Jampols bought it to convert to organic because they have to make sure any chemical traces are gone from the soil.

They have banana (plantain) trees growing in the coffee plantation. Leo told us why but I can't remember!

Heidi and Leo on the trail up towards the main plantation.

Another view of the plantation during the tour.

This depulping machine is called a "chancador" in Spanish. It removes the pulp from the red coffee cherries after they're picked. It wasn't harvest season when we visited, so we didn't get to see it in action. 

This chute takes the de-pulped cherries ("grano" in Spanish) to a fermentation tank where they spend 2 days covered in the sweet mucilage or "miel." [OK, yes sweet mucilage sounds gross, but hey, you know it's just coffee cherry pulp remaining after depulping, right?]. Then it goes to the drying racks...

The drying racks, sometimes called African beds. (I think that has to do with the kind of coffee that is grown around the world). Glenn told me that they experimented with not fermenting the depulped cherries and just drying immediately, and they had a great flavor so they're doing about 50% of their crop this year that way. 

The green coffee beans... These are popular now for that "green coffee bean" extract that is getting a lot of attention! 

And then we went back to the El Tigre Vestido restaurant at Finca Rosa Blanca (which, by the way, is amazing!!) to try out the different coffees with "cupping." We tried Finca Rosa Blanca's espresso roast and the regular roast, as well as a cheap coffee sold in the country. They normally don't "cup" the crap coffee but have it there only to smell the grounds initially but I wanted to taste test/compare it and it was so fascinating to do so! It tasted like motor oil and garbage (not even kidding) compared to the lovely chocolate, caramel and cherry notes of the FRB coffees. 

Heidi and I laughed so hard doing this. You have to sip and then spit the coffee out, which is kind of gross and very funny! Especially with Leo and his cute/sexy accent. LOL. 

I was laughing so hard!! I don't even remember what about but it was fun :)

And they sell bags of the coffee... I finally opened a bag I was saving!

And last but not least, two photos totally out of place but which I forgot to post with my Playa Grande/Tamarindo beach images! I love this shot... It is the beach of Tamarindo, outside of the Hotel Daria where we stayed one night before heading to Finca Rosa Blanca. It is also where I dropped my iPhone in the ocean... and miraculously saved it with rice! 

Me, happy and content, at Hotel Las Tortugas Restaurant in the town of Playa Grande, where we ate before heading over to Tamarindo. 

Growing Bananas (sustainably)!

Earth University's sustainable banana farm - block 2 - which we visited on our second day in Costa Rica.  Finca means farm, so Finca Bananera Earth means "Earth Banana Farm." All photos Copyright (c) 2013 Wendee Nicole

On day 2, Heidi and I visited Earth University, which I'd previously visited in Oct 2011 for the Planet, People, Peace (P3) conference (there are some other really cool images from that visit here). The next P3 conference is coming up in Nov, and I'm considering attending again! It was really cool. Anyway, this was a trip to report on agritourism and sustainable agriculture practices, as well as ecotourism and Costa Rica's efforts to become the first - or one of the first - carbon-neutral nations in the world. Imagine the US government having an official policy of trying to become carbon-neutral? Even if Costa Rica doesn't achieve neutrality by the deadline - and there are rumors already of the date being pushed back - it is a commendable thing in itself that they have the goal. And they are certainly making efforts. I will be writing about it for Earth Island Journal and possibly another publication. Below are some images, and a video, from the banana farm visit. Earth University is a fascinating place, and they are a carbon-neutral operation. 

This is Michelle Medina, New Business Developer for Earth University product division. The banana plantation is actually a for-profit venture, whereas the university itself is nonprofit. However, 100% of the funds raised go into scholarships for Earth U students. They have shown that sustainability can be profitable. Some of the bananas go to Whole Foods in the US. 

The bags protect the bananas from pesticides. The banana plantation is not organic, but they employ various techniques to reduce the use of chemicals and other problems associated with traditional farms. Inside the bags they put chile pepper and garlic to repel insects, rather than chemicals. The plantation is still sprayed with fungicides to repel an otherwise devastating fungus called sigatoka. They spray by airplane - using GPS to make sure it is only sprayed on the plantation - 3 of 4 weeks, and during the other week, the plantation is sprayed with beneficial organisms. By using these beneficial microorganisms, they have been able to reduce chemical use by 30%. There are also fears of a new strain of Panama disease, a former version of which wiped out banana crops in the 1980s. Because all of the bananas are clones of one another and hence genetically identical, they are particularly susceptible to epidemics...

The banana man leads the "banana train." In other plantations, workers carry or drag all the banana bunches! Earth U created this trolley system to improve worker conditions.

Another view of the "banana train."

A video of the banana workers processing the bananas from the bunches. First they're cut into smaller bunches and then washed. I believe they use chlorine in this process and water, but don't quote me on that!

Heidi and I with our sexy hair nets!

The foam inserts are removed and the blue plastic is removed and recycled. They make plastic terra cotta roof tiles from the banana bags that are used all over Costa Rica.

Bananas!

The workers cut the bottom bananas to test the ripeness. A "good" bunch will be white inside, and green outside, and they take about two weeks after cutting to ripen. if they are too ripe when cut, they cant be shipped to other markets so are either composted, or they are sold to local markets. This bunch - he told us - were too ripe. 

Once bananas come off the banana train, they get washed and then placed on the conveyer belt, where workers put them in boxes.

The ones on the left go to local (Costa Rica) markets, while the ones on the right go to Europe. 

These bananas - the best quality - are shipped to Whole Foods markets in the U.S. 

Earth University student Niyi, from Nigeria, showed us around the university's intensive farm operations where students learn various aspects of sustainable ag. I visited here also in 2011! This "vehicle" is now planted with crops! They demonstrate how to make use of any and all items that would otherwise go into a landfill. 

  Niyi is a musician and you can see his cool Feliz Navidad (Merry Christmas) video from Earth University above!

A yummy cafe mocha from Earth University's Aroma coffee shop, made with Earth University coop coffee (CoopeDota carbon-neutral coffee). 

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Token Creek Eco-Inn near Madison

During my recent visit to Madison, Wisconsin, my friend Theresa and I stayed at this really neat eco-friendly Bed & Breakfast that someone recommended to me, the Token Creek Eco-Inn B&B. Being all ecofriendly and environmentally conscious myself, it appealed to my senses, naturally! We arrived in the evening after wandering around Madison and eating at Graze (see pics from Madison here) and proceeded to consume unnatural amounts of cheese with a little bit of crackers and let us not forget the wine!

We stayed in the largest room, the Capitol Room Suite. It has a king bed and a whirlpool tub! We were the only ones in the B&B that night.

Jean Schneider, the owner (along with her husband Jason, who we didn't meet), has been teaching workshops for a couple of years and finally opened the B&B part last year. In fact they are about to celebrate their one-year anniversary as a B&B! The workshops sound really interesting too - everything from cheese-making and soap making to gardening with dry stack stone beds. In the morning she made a delicious breakfast. She is a big foodie, like me!

Apparently a breakfast salad is a "thing" in Madison. It sounded kinda weird, but it was actually very refreshing and delicious!

And of course it went along with something sweet: Blueberry streusel french toast with warm maple rum sauce - yummmmm!!

After breakfast, and before Theresa took me to the airport Jean showed us around outside. This is a hoop house (like a greenhouse) outside.

Theresa and Jean walking around. It was drizzling and raining all morning so we put on some of Jean's boots to explore!

A shot showing the garden and a side of the house/B&B.

She raises chickens too and uses the eggs in the breakfast.

Me being silly and taking a self-portrait with Jean in the background! I look like a dork! :)

This is a fire pit she built as part of her workshop, I believe.

Never mind the white mushroom on my head! Ha ha! I swear that hat, the way it's situated on my head, looks like I am all Mario Bros or something... At any rate it was so great to reconnect with my friend Theresa - it amazes me how God puts people in our lives when we are children that we still are connected to on a deep level as adults. It's like even as young people we really do form deep and real connections with particular people, and it is not random. Is there someone from your childhood you want to reconnect with? Go for it!

Seeing a wild sloth is on my bucket list. You?

Two-toed sloth in Costa Rica. Copyright (c) 2011 Jason Kremkau

I actually wrote up a bucket list a while ago, and one of the items on that list is to see a sloth in the wild. Two-toed, three-toed, I'm not particular. Along with mountain gorillas, sloths are my absolute favorite animal and have been since high school. And despite having been to Central and South America a few times, I have yet to see one. They have green fur, for Chrissakes. Green. What animal moves so slow that they have mold, ok not mold, algae, growing in their fur? That is my kind of animal! No I'm kidding. I'm more like Hammy the Hamster on caffeine in Over the Hedge. But, I do seriously relate to the goofy, annoying, always misunderstood Sid the Sloth in Ice Age, which is, by the way, my all-time favorite kids' movie and a serious contender for general fave. It's so funny and the dialogue between Sid and Manny is so spot-on. And it's about evolution!

At any rate, what brought on this post in the first place is that I may get an opportunity to cross "seeing a sloth in the wild" off my bucket list. I am headed to Costa Rica! I haven't been this excited about a trip in a while. My first and only other trip there was in 1999, when I was still married, and Discovery Channel sent me to live-blog about leatherback sea turtles (which you can see here, archived at the Wayback Machine, Love & Death on Turtle Beach - I've linked to day 6 of 11 days, but it is my favorite of all the posts). After that year, my marriage sort of started the downward spiral which I won't get into here! But it was a pinnacle of my career. I loved that trip so much. I remember being so in love with the country, with walking the beaches in the pitch-dark night looking for sea turtles with a gazillion stars overhead, and the phosphorescence in the sand at Santa Rosa National Park - estrellas de arena, or stars in the sand.

So naturally, I jumped at the opportunity to go again! The previous time I went to the Pacific Coast and Arenal Volcano (some of my photos here) but this time I get to go to the Caribbean coast! I can't tell you how important aquamarine waters are to my soul... ever since I first viewed that color in Australia as a college student in 1991, I have been absolutely in love with the crystal blue sea... so naturally I'm absolutely thrilled right now!

While there, I am going to cover the Planet, People, Peace conference, the 3rd annual international conference on international sustainable tourism. It will be held at Earth University in the town of Guácimo on the Caribbean coast. And after the two-day conference, I will be going to a couple of sustainable developments and ecolodges. We will be staying at the Selva Bananito - look at the photos! Doesn't it look amazing? I just read that there's no electricity there - wow! Or maybe just not for high-voltage things like hair dryers. At any rate, I will also be staying one night at the Almonds and Corals hotel located in the rainforest of the Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge - looks pretty sweet! I might just not come back...

While there, I hope to also see my old pal Jason Kremkau, an amazing photographer who accompanied me to the Galapagos Islands for a story we did for E/The Environmental Magazine - Cruising the Galapagos with a Carbon-Neutral Conscience. He now lives there, just a few miles from where I'll be staying.

But back to you - what animal is on your bucket list? Any wild creature you would just love to see before you kick the bucket?