I’ve been here a year and a half now and I realize I’ve joined the local ranks of “small ventures with big hearts” – an irresistible state of being for those of us scratching a living in rural Costa Rica.
In my case it went like this: last year we had this brilliant idea of [...]

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Here we are in May – so close to winter though you would never know it as we are experiencing beautiful sunny, dry days and clear, starry nights. Fledgling birds have been around a while and everything is bursting with the promise of the growing season soon upon us. To celebrate we acquired 3 new [...]

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The annual race 17km up Mount Chirripó this year was a wet one. Rain fell heavily two days before the event – on the event day and after. Trails turned into muddy traps and rocks were slippery and perilous. Normally I would think ‘Too bad – but those athletes are so experienced, they’ll do fine’; [...]

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It was about a month ago, when the winter rains finally dwindled to a halt and people started saying “It smells like Christmas” that I realized I had a problem. Born in England and having spent 30 years in Vancouver Canada, I was accustomed to short dark days, bright lights and everything indoors; not this [...]

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We’ve just had to say good-bye to two terrific volunteers at Proyecto San Gerardo – and our reflections on their time here made me think it was about time I wrote a piece on volunteering in San Gerardo.

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Chirripo closed for October – nothing to do? On the contrary, here’s a list of fun activities to keep visitors to San Gerardo happy and provide many wonderful memories.

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Independence Day celebrations here in Costa Rica are definitely worth blogging about. September 15 happens to be the anniversary when almost all Central American countries celebrate their independence: Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica.
The tradition goes that a torch is lit in Guatemala City and carried throughout the towns and villages of Central America, [...]

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One of the most obvious attractions when visiting San Gerardo are the amazing varieties of birds – their resplendent plumage and captivating birdcall from dawn to dusk. I’ll never forget on the first trip seeing a neighbour’s bird feeder table piled high with bananas, and visiting every minute or two the scarlet and black tanagers [...]

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So, like everyone else here in rural Costa Rica we begin to grow more food for our own plates, and surplus to sell at the market. There’s a covered nursery for the seedlings: sweet peppers (chile) celery (apio) green beans (vinicas) lettuce (lechuga) and cilantro amongst others. One minute they are seeds, the next they [...]

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