Unique
Expatriate Property For Sale MiraFlores
Lodge - Cultural & Ecological Center
‘A Caribbean
Hideaway On Costa Rica’s Talamanca Coast’
By Pamela Carpenter
Fifteen years
ago, I was living in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. As a single parent, I
had supported my two children, as a teacher and psychologist, through those
difficult high school years and sent them off to college.
My mother,
for whom I had cared through her illness, had passed away. All of a sudden
I found myself free of responsibilities to other people, and full of nostalgia
for Latin America, where I had grown up.
Ever since
I was a girl and young married woman, living in Panama, I had a dream of
owning a farm, and now that I could follow my dream, I happened
to see Out of Africa, cried all the way home, and decided to return to
Latin America.
I have always
been an adventurer/pioneer who loves her creature comforts. When I was
first married, we lived in the mountains of Panama where I led tours, taught
English through television to the local communities and cantinas, cooked
on a wood stove, washed diapers in the river and always dressed for dinner
lit by candles and drank wine from crystal goblets.
As the children
grew and needed a more conventional environment, we decided to move to
the city, where I started and directed a Montessori School. When I divorced,
I decided that the best preparation for my children’s’ future would be
to return to the United States. So here I was, in the eastern Mecca of
the ‘back to earth’ movement, hearing a lot of intellectual shoulds and
shouldn’ts about conservation and the environment, and I realized that
I had been a conservationist and environmentalist long before the concept
had become popular.
From Albert
Schweitzer’s philosophy, I had incorporated his reverence for all life,
and from Ghandi’s teachings, I learned respect for a peaceful approach
to all cultures. Now was my chance to really develop a place where I could
practice what everyone was reaching, a place where simplicity and modern
technology could exist in harmony and where productivity and earning a
living could be done without harming the environment or the local culture.
I could return
to the rain forests I so loved, which were rapidly being destroyed, and
create a flower farm where I could save some of the endangered plants and
propagate them to sell, providing a living for myself and the indigenous
peoples living on the edge of the rain forests. How to go about doing this?
I could write volumes about all the steps, successes and failures, in achieving
this dream, but it boiled down to hearing that the U.S.
Agency for
International Development was willing to fund projects to help the Caribbean
Basin Initiative find non-traditional products for export from the Caribbean.
Something other than bananas, coffee and sugar cane. And I wanted to grow
and sell tropical flowers and plant seeds.
A marriage
made in heaven. I wrote my first business plan, and, wonder of wonders,
received funding to collect rain forest plants and seeds and propagate
them in test farms in Panama and Costa Rica to see where they would thrive
most successfully. I traveled into the Amazon jungles of Brazil, and the
rain forests of Venezuela, Colombia, Panama, Costa Rica and the Caribbean
Islands, collecting plants and seeds. I visited the flower farms in Hawaii,
and the flower markets in Holland, Mexico and major cities in the United
States to learn about marketing the tropical flowers.
Although the
plants were collected from different types of rain forests, humid, dry
and high ‘cloud’, the result of the test farming showed that the majority
of the plants were most successful, without costly irrigation, in a climate
with no long dry season, such as the Caribbean coasts of both Panama and
Costa Rica.
At that time,
l989, Panama was suffering great political instability and a ban on exports.
I found myself in Miami with test flowers for the markets, and couldn’t
return to Panama because of the U.S. invasion. I, then, concentrated
my efforts on plant production and exportation from Costa Rica, where land
was being cleared for banana plantations and the jungle plants were being
destroyed. I was able to build up my collection in Costa Rica by saving
these plants. I found a sleepy village, Puerto Viejo, where there was good
land on the outskirts for a nursery and farm, available labor and members
of the community willing to work on this project.
I named the
business Miraflores (Look at the Flowers). We built a place in the
local BriBri style for me and my employees to live, with a plant packing
area below, using mostly reforested Laurel wood from the rain forest brought
in by oxen and milled with a chain saw.
We used fast
growing bamboo cane for walls and ceilings, and surrounded the building
area with flowers.
At that time,
there was practically no place for visitors to stay in Puerto Viejo, and
many travelers, among them students, biologists, bird watchers, and others
interested in the rain forest, as well as the beach and coral reefs, wanted
to know if I had rooms for rent. From the plants rescued from the clearing
of the banana plantations, I was able to propagate and sell enough rhizomes
and flowers to expand my house into Miraflores Lodge, which started as
the first ecological bed and breakfast in the area.
It was the
beginning of the Green Revolution, and my visitors were delighted and amazed
that they could live comfortably and safely in the heart of nature. They
could watch hummingbirds fly through their rooms, which were built in such
a way as to capture the breezes from the sea and the Talamanca Range. They
had no need for air conditioning. At first I had no refrigeration or electricity,
but everyone was fascinated by the wonderful meals prepared over a wood
fire with locally grown products, such as yuca, fish, plantains, fruits
of all kinds, and coconuts. Bread was baked on the wood fire. We
picked cacao from our own trees, and roasted the beans to make hot chocolate
and fudge with coconut milk.
I had learned
from my indigenous neighbors, who are Afro-Caribbean and members of the
BriBri community, the uses of the local plants for food and medicines,
and I shared this information with my guests, adding my own gourmet touch.
I also supported and encouraged my neighbors to lead guided walks, teach
traditional ways of crafts, foods and herbal preparations, and generally
share their wisdom, which they have turned into many productive businesses.
And I continue to use my china and crystal, and, although, my guests can
be as informal as they wish, I dress for dinner.
Speaking of
which, what constituted my life as an inn keeper? For starters, the
world came to me. I had no need to look for stimuli outside of the Lodge,
as people from all over the world were my guests, and we always found a
common interest, whatever it might be. New friendships were formed among
widely diverse guests. They inspired me to continue to discover more about
the flora and fauna of the Talamanca. Guests send pictures of their lives
and homes; they have invited me to visit them, and many return or send
friends to Miraflores. I was able to keep up with the world and its events
through the guests.
The interests
of the guests were varied and because of their interests I presented workshops
on such subjects as sweat lodges, basket making, chocolate making, planting
medicinal plant gardens, organic foods, flower decorations, yoga, a visit
from the local Shaman, massage therapy, and the Course in Miracles.
I had student groups to come and learn about the area, dive groups, bird-watchers,
beach clean-ups. Every morning I gave an orientation talk to my guests
on the history and culture of the Talamanca. I taught my staff some English
and a lot about Eco-Tourism. And, of course, all through the years I continued
to develop my collection of plants, selling them to other hotels and eco-lodges.
I became the “Johnny Appleseed” for the Heliconia plants in Costa Rica.
I was already
a member of The Heliconia International Society, and became a founding
member of ATEC, Talamanca Association for Eco-Tourism and Conservation.
I attended national and international conferences to share our experiences
on how to maintain a balance between development and the environment. The
Miraflores model has been a pioneer in sustainable development in tourism.
Through the
years more and more people from all over the world have come to settle
in the area, appreciating the beauties of the jungle and the simple life,
bringing with them parts of many cultures, building small guest cottages
and sharing their cuisine with visitors in their intimate rancho
cafes. There are also a few more traditional guest facilities with swimming
pools and cable TV, but Miraflores remains unique with its flowers, tranquillity
and beauty attracting visitors looking for these qualities.
As I said earlier,
I am a pioneer. I came to the jungle and created Miraflores. As I read
the comments written by my guests in my guest book, I realize what a positive
experience this has been for so many people, myself included, and I feel
that is has been a success. These comments and the loving appreciation
of so many have kept me going for many years, but the time has come to
move on. I completed my dream.
My new dream
for Miraflores is that someone who loves nature will purchase it. There
are so many opportunities for growth and for new adventures in tranquil
living in this beautiful coastal region. I’ve made many life long friends
here, and I will always carry the warmth of the Costa Rican people of Talamanca,
and the magic of the rain forest in my heart.
Go to page
two of this article and learn how you can purchase Miraflores Lodge - Click
Here -
