THE NEWEST ARRIVAL AT MONTE AZUL

Last week when our construction crew arrived at work, they told me that they have a surprise. They handed me a bag and told me to be careful. I assumed that they wouldn’t really give me anything “that” dangerous but you never know what other people perceive as dangerous. I willingly took the bag and looked inside. Inside the bag was a turtle.

On their way to work through Chimirol they had spotted a turtle in the middle of the road. This is the main road that runs up the Chirripo Valley. The road is very curvy and can be quite dangerous to an unsuspecting and slow moving turtle. The workers, Cristian and Gerardo, stopped and picked up him. They thought that Monte Azul would be a much friendlier place to reside than along the busy road so they found a travelling bag and put him in the car for his short journey to his new home.

When the turtle was taken out of the bag he was quite feisty. He has a very formidable front tooth that could easily do damage to a finger. He was approximately 8” long from the front to the back of his shell. We set him down on the ground, took a few photos to commemorate his arrival and then watched as he headed towards the creek at the bottom of the hill. He could move quite fast. I hope to see him again one day.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN AT MONTE AZUL…

…AND USUALLY DOES! Last week we had our latest Artist in Residence at Monte Azul, Andrés Cañas. Andrés is a Costa Rican sculptor that lives in San Jose. He has been here several times before and has planned an art installation for Monte Azul using the rocks that are found everywhere on the property.

One his 2^nd day at the farm he went out on a rock finding excursion with Paolo, our waiter/barber/bread maker/house painter and heavy lifter…. They took the 1973 Toyota Landcruiser and headed up the valley trail bordering the Chirripó River. They had not been out for long when Carlos and I received a call from them asking for “a little help.”

While driving up the valley, they had apparently gotten a bit too close to the edge of the trail that dropped off into the creek. It was impossible to see this creek because it was covered by plants and forest growth. With all the rain the terrain was very wet and the weight of the car caused the creek’s bank to give way, taking the car with it. So Carlos and I tried to help get the car out but with the wet conditions it really needed much more assistance than Carlos and I ever could provide. We had the enormous fear that the car would tip over and then we would never be able to get it upright, especially since it was full of heavy rocks that had been collected for Andrés’ project.

The next day, our maintenance and kitchen staffs, with the help of a winch, chainsaw, brute force and a little ingenuity were able to free the Toyota from the mud and get it back on the road. It’s worth mentioning that before the heroic liberation, our other car got stuck trying to reach the first one. This car had to be saved first for the simple reason that it was just in the way.

There is always something happening at Monte Azul and you never know what it might be. This event didn’t slow Andrés down though. Like a true Costa Rican, he shook himself off, took it in stride and immediately got back to work on his installation without another thought.

I have attached a sneak peak of this work, any guesses as to what it might be?

INDEPENDENCE DAY

September 15 is Independence Day in Costa Rica. In 1821, Costa Rica, along with El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua (the 5 provinces that formed the Central American Federation) gained independence from Spain. Freedom was declared in Guatemala and began to spread. The news did not arrive in Costa Rica until almost 1 month later – October 13th. Even after the news arrived, Costa Rica did not officially receive its own independence until after a peaceful meeting with the Spanish army on October 29, 1821. However, September 15th is the official Independence Day.

The night before on the 14^th, there is the tradition of the Parade of Lanterns, Desfiles de Faroles. This tradition began in Guatemala the evening of September 14th and can be attributed to Dolores Bedoya who ran through the streets of a small town in Guatemala carrying a lantern or farole and shouting “Viva la patria” “Viva la libertad”. She was spreading the news of this independence and calling her fellow townspeople and countrymen to join her in the streets. Lanterns were used because none of these cities or towns had electricity at the time.

This tradition of parading through the streets has been carried out year after year in every small town and city in Costa Rica to reconfirm and declare the continued freedom from foreign rule. However, it was in 1953 that the tradition was officially moved to the local schools and the starting time of 6 PM began.

Children are the centerpiece of the celebration. Children learn to make the faroles in school and at home using all types of materials. The designs can range from simple boxes with Costa Rican designs to elaborate houses with intricate details. All of them include a candle for illumination. For instructions on how to make a simple farol, visit:

http://www.museocostarica.go.cr/en_en/recreo/farol-de-carreta.html

The festival includes traditional dances the parade of the lanterns and the singing of the national anthem. Like all Costa Rican festivals, there is music and lots of food that is made and sold by the local women including the traditional tamales. If you are ever in Costa Rica on September 14th, I urge you to attend one of these celebrations. Like everywhere in this country, all people are welcome. Independence Day here is not just about Costa Rica’s independence from Spain but also about people being free everywhere in the world – Viva la patria, viva la libertad!

LA GRANJA CONTINUES

The construction of the new animal barn, La Granja in Spanish, continues. The construction has been delayed by a few obstacles. First there was/is the rain. As the foundations for the support posts were excavated, they quickly filled with rain.. Every morning began with bailing water out of the holes so that the concrete footings could be poured. There are 32 of these foundation holes so it was a slow process.

The next obstacle was the lack of electricity on site. At first the construction relied on hand tools and lots of manual labor. This was not a real problem because the vertical posts are wood. When we started the roof beams it quickly became a problem The roof beams are thick metal. The cordless drill didn’t stand a chance against the thick steel beams. The drill lost its charge after just a few screw holes. So, we brought in a mini generator to construct the roof. In just a few days the beams were up and the metal roof was installed. We are no longer at the mercy of the rains.

We are now beginning the interior spaces. We will begin by dividing the space into separate animal areas. The first to be built will be for the adult and baby goats. I will keep you posted as the progress continues.

RAPPELLING OR ROCK CLIMBING ANYONE?

Last week when I was working in the studio it started to rain. I didn’t think anything of it. After all it is the rainy season in Costa Rica and it rains in the afternoon. Then, Carlos called me from Café Blue to see if I was OK. Apparently down at Café Blue which is only 300 meters away, quite a storm was in progress. Not only was it pouring but there were also very high winds. Usually when it rains, no matter how hard, the rain comes straight down.

At Café Blue, the winds were gusting, limbs were falling off the trees, chairs were tipping over in the restaurant, glasses were being blown off the tables and crashing onto the stone floor, and a large tree behind the restaurant fell over taking several shrubs, vines and bromeliads with it. All of this while very little rain and no winds were blowing at the studio. Then, across from Café Blue a large wall of vegetation fell from the cliff. This cliff is totally vertical and over the years all types of plants have grown onto this vertical face of rock including trees, vines, flowers, orchids and shrubs. No rock was ever visible.

The wind from this storm loosened the wall of plants and it detached from the rock in one big sheet of twisted plants and roots and fell to the ground, all in one single motion. The result is a perfectly clean rock face of approximately 120 feet tall.

Even before the cleanup of the vegetation began, which included Carlos in his best clothes dragging logs in the rain and Cristobal chopping away with his machete, ideas about setting up rock climbing and rappelling activities began. Adrian the hotel manager was immediately on the phone calling experts to make a site visit while Carlos was emailing a well known rappelling company near Arenal. One of the exciting things about living in Costa Rica is that you never know what will happen and where it will lead you. I will keep you posted on when you can expect to experience rock climbing and rappelling at Monte Azul. Or we may just light it up with pretty lights at night instead.