Apart from the fact that we are all getting pretty excited because the CARRERA CHIRRIPÓ (Chirripó Race) is just around the corner: February 25th, there have been some special things happening in San Gerardo recently:

• El Descanso Hotel has recently opened a new service for their clients and visitors to San Gerardo. A sauna might be EXACTLY what you want after your descent from Mt Chirripó or Cloudbridge Reserve. The sauna has capacity for a family or around 6 persons and costs $10 for a 20 minute session. You don’t have to be staying at El Descanso to use the sauna – just pop by the front desk and inquire. (And write and tell us how wonderful it was!)

• Costa Rica Holiday Homestay has just opened their new bilingual website brimming with useful information, photos, ideas and costs about how to get the most out of your Costa Rica vacation including Spanish classes, local tours, coffee picking (for fun!) artesania, cooking and much more. If you want to experience the REAL Costa Rica take a peek and see what a homestay offers. The San Gerardo families will give you a huge welcome and an unforgettable experience.

• Cafe Bambu has begun a series of “Musical Dinners” with the success of their Christmas event that sold out. Their second event in early January, in conjunction with Reserva Cloudbridge, featured a mouthwatering dinner of papoosas, chimichurri, filled platinos washed down with lemonade, and followed by traditional tamal asado and coffee. At the same time a local musical trio played rancheros, ballads and even international Latino favorites for everyone to join in with. It didn’t take long for the dinner guests to get out of their seats and begin dancing! Everyone voted it the best time and a rare chance to experience a traditional Costa Rican evening of food and music.

The next event, again in collaboration with Cloudbridge, will be this Thursday, February 2nd at 6 pm. There are a few spots available so get there early and enjoy a meal as well as the musicians AND a demo by local dancers Las Mariposas.

• Recently it came to our attention that a young Cabécar girl was winning national marathons! 13 year old Clara Salazar placed first in two marathons recently and has decided running is her passion. Living as she does much of the year in the Talamanca interior she and her community spend days walking from place to place and running, playing football and staying fit on their natural and wholly organic diet. It’s no wonder the Cabécar always place well in the Carrera Chirripó – women and men – and Clara is more than keen to enter this race, though she will have to wait until she’s 18 to be allowed to.

Thanks to Andy Jones Cox (Owner and Director of Vancouver North Shore’s Tutor Doctor), Maroulla Haile, Veronica Loat (President of North & West Vancouver’s Soroptimist Club) and Keith Nicoll of North Shore Athletics who helped with advice for Clara’s running as well as generous donations of running shoes to enable Clara to run even faster! We will be watching for her in the upcoming months when she competes both locally as well as in San Jose, Cartago and elsewhere – future Olympiad? Why not!

• Cloudbridge Reserve’s Linda Moskalyk, an arborist, ardent environmentalist and painter, announces her first Costa Rican exhibition of stunning paintings opening Thursday February 2nd at the National Gallery, San Jose. Known for her portrayals of trees and what they mean to us, in collage, oil and other media, Linda conveys a message of hope to all who value the forests as part of our natural heritage. At the same time Linda has arranged for the exhibition of children’s art from Escuela San Gerardo de Rivas that also describes our community’s love for the natural world. Both exhibitions continue until February 29th – don’t miss it!

• Lastly – Chirripó news! Bookings to climb the mountain and stay overnight during this summer season are very full. It’s still worth your while phoning and checking because apparently there are odd days available, but for many people your best bet will be to arrive in San Gerardo a day or two ahead of your schedule and make your reservations directly at the Parks Office that opens at 6:30 am. There are 10 tickets available each day for in-person reservations. Prices have also gone up slightly to climb the mountain. Increased costs of services as well as the recent upgrades account for this.
Please see the FAQ’s –on the Activities page for more information.
Remember – you can always buy a day pass that allows you to enter and hike the mountain whenever you like – it’s the lodge that fills up. It’s still recommended to stay overnight if you want to reach the peak, but if you are happy just exploring the park then a day pass will do it.
PURA VIDA!

Al final aquí hay los detalles para la Carrera Chirripó este ano – 2012. La fecha de la carrera es sábado el 25 de febrero, empezando como siempre a las 7 am.
El programa de los eventos para la fiesta Chirripó esta viene muy pronto. Por favor chequear a www.carrerachirripo.com y aquí para más información de:
Eventos para atletas
Eventos todo sábado de la carrera
La Copa Chirripó de futbol
El gran baile
El famoso BINGO
Exposiciones, comidas y mas

INSCRIPCIÓN PARA LA CARRERA
Fecha de inscripción: 04 de febrero.
Lugares donde puede inscribirse:
Salón Comunal San Gerardo de Rivas.
Feria del Agricultor San Isidro P.Z.
Tienda La Gloria San José.
Hora: 2:00 p.m.
Costo: 15.000 colones.

Inscripción para atletas afuera del país: preferiblemente que ellos contacten una persona, que ellos tengan toda la información necesaria y estos puedan inscribirlos.

225 espacios para participar.

Categorias:

■General masculina
■General femenina
■Veteranos A
■Veteranas
■Veteranos B
Salida de 1350 metros a 3400 metros en Chirripó. Recorrido total 34 km.

CHIRRIPO RACE 2012 AND REGISTRATION PROCEDURES
At last here is the information about this year’s Chirripó Race – 2012. The date of the race is Saturday February 25th, starting as usual at 7 am.
The program of events will be published soon – please check www.carrerachirripo.com and/or back here frequently to find out more about:
Athlete’s events
Events all day of the race
The Chirripó Cup Final Football Tournament
The dance
The famous BINGO
Exhibitions, refreshments and more

REGISTRATION FOR THE RACE
Registration date: February 4th
Registration locations:
Salón Comunal – San Gerardo de Rivas.
Agricultural Fair: San Isidro Pérez Zeledón
Tienda La Gloria, Avenida Central, San José.
You will need to bring your passport (international athletes), or cedula (nationals), a local address and phone number where you can be reached and the fee of 15,000 colones (approximately $30)
Athletes outside of the country at time of registration are encouraged to contact someone who can stand in line for them at one of the three locations, and is able to provide all the relevant information as well as pay the fee.
There are 225 spaces for athletes in the following categories:
• Adult males
• Adult females
• Veterans A
• Veterans B
• Female Veterans
Total distance: 34 km (from 1350 m to 3400 m exits)

It’s that time of year! You’re back from vacations and it’s time to plan the year ahead. And we’re wondering if volunteering might be in your plans… Here at Proyecto San Gerardo we’re busy doing the same – planning for next year and the busiest teaching/volunteering season that happens in January – May every year.

Costa Rica attracts many volunteers each year – to teach English, work on conservation projects and help out on community projects. Many volunteers end up in the city and miss out on discovering the real Costa Rica – the mountains, the birds and animals, the traditions and hospitality of a rural community. Here, at the base of Mt. Chirripó, you can have it all! Here’s a look at a typical day with Proyecto San Gerardo:

• Get up around 6:30 (yes you can because the sun and the birds will be willing you awake!)
• Have a delicious breakfast of ‘gallo pinto’ with your host family
• Enjoy a free morning to hike, photograph, meet friends, go to the hot pools or swim in the river, check your email, visit San Isidro for supplies or just laze away with a book. (Oh, don’t forget to plan your class!)
• Afternoon – teach class. You could be teaching Conversational English (ESL) to small groups of adults or youth at our school if you have your TEFL or TESOL qualification or similar. Teach Beginner French to local hotel/tour staff – if you speak French and have some experience teaching or tutoring. Or you could volunteer to teach basic computer skills at the community school to adults, youth and kids if you speak Spanish and know your way around a computer. Other volunteer opportunities include helping out in Proyecto San Gerardo’s village bakery: Café Bambú, First Aid Instructors, and Website and Computer Maintenance volunteers.
• Around 6 pm enjoy dinner with your family and relax. Not a whole lot to do around here and it gets dark about the same time, but there’s volleyball at the Community Salon, soccer or Frisbee in the plaza, other volunteers to hang out with, and at weekends there’s always a fiesta going on at one of the neighboring villages.

What is Proyecto San Gerardo? We’re a community based non-profit organization registered in Costa Rica as well as in Canada to provide skills training and job opportunities via volunteers to rural communities in the Rivas sector of south-central Costa Rica. Our main activities are: English and Computer Training, Café Bambú Apprenticeships, First Aid and Disaster Preparedness training, a scholarship program for high school and university students, and this website.

Where will I live? Proyecto San Gerardo provides subsidized or free homestay accommodation including all food for qualified volunteers of 6 weeks or more (3 months for those teaching English. Our volunteers always find staying with a family a truly special experience; here are some opinions:
‘it was a lovely experience and I would live with the family again in a heartbeat. They were wonderful and made me feel just like one of their own.’ (Amber, Volunteer in 2009)
‘Our home stay family was fantastic. They included us very easily and warmly into their house and family. We went on a tour of their farm, and we talk a lot to practice our Spanish which is very much appreciated. The community is very welcoming, always greeting you when you are seen and allowed me to take part in their football training as well.’ (Kwame, Volunteer in 2011)

Cafe Bambu volunteers enjoy selling delicious pastries and coffee!

What are the costs? volunteers pay their travel to Costa Rica and bus to the neighboring town of San Isidro where they can be picked up. Apart from that there’s health insurance to take care of and a monthly $250 for accommodation/food/laundry if you don’t qualify for a subsidy. No fees! Proyecto San Gerardo prefers to attract qualified, motivated and capable volunteers and raise its funds elsewhere.

What type of person is best suited to volunteering with Proyecto San Gerardo? In a nutshell people of all ages who want to discover more about their own potential at the same time as giving to the community. Says one volunteer: ‘I have also learnt a lot about myself. Mainly that I need not worry so much and that I do not NEED lots of material THINGS in my life. It has been a great experience!’ Potential volunteers should be in good health and enjoy an outdoors life without missing internet, entertainment and shopping – because there isn’t any! We accept volunteers from 20 to 70, and can arrange rental accommodation if a family wants to volunteer but would like to stay together.

Volunteer Jessica with small group of Intermediate students January 2011

When does Proyecto San Gerardo need volunteers? For some voluntary positions like Café Bambu and website volunteers – all the time; for ESL classes we recruit volunteers for January – May and September – November. For computer classes and First Aid instruction our main need for volunteers is January – May. Check out the rest of this website for information about the weather, events and opportunities at different times of the year.

What else can volunteers do? San Gerardo is 1.5 hours by car (3-4 hours by bus) from the beach at Dominical. This unspoilt surfing destination is popular with young people and offers great opportunities for a weekend away. Other destinations relatively close include Parque Nacional Bailena, northern Panama including Bocas del Toro, and of course Mt Chirripó and the Talamanca Mountain Range. There is local mountain biking and horseback riding and in February many of our volunteers get involved in the national 4-day Carrera Chirripó (Chirripó race) – hosted locally – as participants or volunteers.

How do I volunteer? To get involved request an application form by writing to proyectosangerardo@gmail.com , or send your inquiries via the Contact Form at this website. We’ll get back to you quickly with more information and a Volunteer Kit if you are interested.

Welcome to the Proyecto San Gerardo team! From our supporting committees in Costa Rica and Vancouver, Canada and from all the community here – we can’t wait to meet you!

Computer classes for adult beginners March 2011

Welcome to a great new addition to San Gerardo: Café Bambú.

The bakery/pizzeria opened on Easter Sunday and serves up dishes to please early risers as well as visitors later in the day. We sampled the delicious banana nut muffins along with a cappuccino and noted the total price was just over 1,000 colones ($2) – now that would be hard to come by back home, or even in other parts of Costa Rica. Other items on the menu include whole-wheat bread, cookies, empanadas and of course pizza. You can choose 3 sizes of pizza, or buy it by the portion – and choose your toppings as every one is made fresh.

The café also offers internet (just spend 500 colones or more) and a small library of books and magazines to browse. It’s a great place to meet a friend or collapse after a grinding hike. Half of the business is baked goods and pizza to take away and soon Café Bambu hope to provide a pizza delivery service.

The café is run by Proyecto San Gerardo as the building also houses English classes and soon the non-profit plans to offer an apprenticeship course for young girls not attending high school. They will learn how to bake, how to serve the public, manage money and run a restaurant. In exchange for the training they will assist Café Bambu’s new staff person: Ana Chavez, who comes from a hotel and restaurant background.

We give it 10/10 – come and try yourself!

Hours: Fridays & Saturdays from 9:30 am, Sundays from 9:00 am.
San Gerardo de Rivas – opposite the village school.

Bandera Azul raises 5 flags in San Gerardo

Saturday May 21st San Gerardo saw 5 flags raised in recognition of the efforts of many to protect our precious environment. The stars are awarded for the conservation of natural resources such as pure water, reforestation, and efforts to combat pollution through garbage pick-up and recycling programs. The five flags were awarded to the community of San Gerardo, the School, Cloudbridge Reserve, MINAE (Chirripó) and Hotel Pelicano. The two last entries are new and the community is keen to encourage other groups and businesses to sign up with the Bandera Azul program to increase conservation in San Gerardo.

Representatives of each entity spoke at the awards ceremony organized at the Salon Comunal and entertainment was provided by the traditional dancers: Las Mariposas, the school choir and Toni Pizote himself! The day was rounded out by the opening of a new gallery of sculpture at Hotel El Pelicano where Rafael Elizondo’s carvings have at last found a place to be shown to the public along with the history of their creator Don Macho – one of the pioneers of the area and especially Chirripo, and a great football enthusiast. “Galeria Arte & Cultura El Pelicano” is accessed through the hotel. Inquire at the hotel to look around.

Since then the Cabecar live about 2-3 days walk away – deep in the Talamanca Mountain range, where they keep cattle, grow corn and other crops and raise animals. But traditionally every year men, women and children – whole families, return to the Rivas district to pick coffee from October to February and for the past 20 years, participate in the annual Carrera Chirripó (Chirripó Race).

Talamanca indigenous pick coffee locally each year

While they reside in the area the community have had use of a house built on land generously loaned by Gonzalo Marin and his family in the Chespa twenty years ago. This facility has allowed the people to come and go to work easily and feel secure for the 4-5 months they are here. Unfortunately, the house like all other structures, has suffered the course of time, weather and use to the point that it became uninhabitable and leaders of the community approached the local Asociacion de Desarollo (local village council) in October 2010 for assistance in rebuilding.

After a few phone calls and conversations permission was granted to rebuild, featuring a reinforced metal structure clad in timber, and upgraded bathroom facilities. Some members of the San Gerardo community came forward to volunteer their time as builders, or resources such as welding equipment, tools, timber or cash. Likewise, some of the Cabecar stayed on to provide the labour.

New house close to finish February 2011 - clean, dry and secure.

The house was started in January and finished just in time for the Chirripó Race. The results – the before and after as you can see – are great! And it’s a great tribute to both communities, working together as they do during the coffee harvest and at other times, that this facility can be so quickly realized.

Costs for the rebuilding were born by workers who volunteered their time and talents and by local and regional donors who purchased materials. However, San Gerardo is planning to recuperate some of the costs via donations through the Church and a local event to raise funds. If you would like to contribute towards building the Cabecar House please contact us at mossco53@gmail.com. We will be happy to share more information about the house and gladly receive donations of cash, or if you live nearby, bedding or cooking utensils, for the house.

Fun note! February 26th saw the Carrera Chirripó (see next blog) for 2011 run with a new record of 3 hours and 9 minutes for the 36 km race up and down. Indigenous runners featured predominantly in both the men’s and women’s categories and placed within the top 5 in each.

To register for the Carrera Chirripo you must attend one of the following locations on Saturday January 22nd:

• San Jose: Tienda la Gloria, Avenida Central, San Jose
• San Isidro de General: Oficina de Bienes Raices, Hotel Chirripó
• San Gerardo de Rivas: Salón Comunal

You will need to bring your passport (international athletes), or cedula (nationals), a local address and phone number where you can be reached and the fee.
Cost of admission: 15,000 colones (approximately US$30.00)

For more information please visit www.carrerachirripo.com

Rio Chirripo Retreat

Well at last everyone is saying ‘it smells like Christmas’! As I think I said last year I can’t relate to this as I’m looking for snow and jingle bells, but I can relate to the glorious long sunny afternoons and the promise of summer! The migratory birds have returned, the first of the coffee harvest is in and frijoles are sprouting healthily. We saw baby armadillos in the road the other day and there are lots more babies on the way in all directions!

Here are a few notices and a bit of news of our goings on in San Gerardo de Rivas:

NEW! Yoga Classes at Rio Chirripó Retreat. Every Sunday at 8 a.m. with a local qualified instructor.
Cost: just 1000 colones per session
Who can attend? It’s open to everybody (except for dogs because of the resident three cats!)
More information? Call Oriana at Rio Chirripó Retreat: 2742-5109 or 2742-5333

NEW! San Gerardo Film Reviews: The best movie of 2010 – ‘Remember Me’
English students with Proyecto San Gerardo are being encouraged to write film, music and book reviews for the blog. Here is the first contribution from Agustin Fernandez, a budding writer and film and music enthusiast. Agustin has won prizes for his writing and wants to try his hand at doing the same in English. Agustin is studying for his high school diploma through distance education and hopes one day to go to university. Here’s his review:

One of the best movies to see is ‘Remember Me’, with a great performance by Robert Pattinson, ‘Twilight’ actor. This movie is about a young, very problematic youth named Tyler, depressed by the death of his brother Michael, who was a musician. Michael had stopped working for himself and started to work in other businesses for his father. For this reason Robert blames his father for the suicide of his brother.
Robert liked to drink liquor, smoke, date, use drugs and one day he was arrested by police along with a friend. The friend decides to take revenge on the police
because of the scrimmage, and sets up Robert with the policeman’s daughter.

Which is good at first, but when she realizes the truth things changed for the worse. She leaves him and falls back into a state of depression, but eventually Robert was able to fix everything with his girl and was reconciled with his father. However, the attacks of September 11th when they destroyed the twin towers killed Robert too. A sad end to an excellent movie.

Agustin writes: I am a student of Proyecto San Gerardo, I like to watch movies and TV programs, and I enjoy listening to music and writing. I like to suggest good movies to watch.

Christmas is Coming!
Last weekend Christmas was officially proclaimed in the village with the annual Fiesta de la Patronata or Celebration of Christmas hosted by the local Church of San Gerardo. Every year the church community works hard to provide 3 days of fiesta including a Reinado (beauty pageant – but see below, with a twist!) football matches, music, bingo and wonderful food including festive tamales. The church also celebrates with Advent mass and nativities. This year we were blessed with brilliant sunshine so everyone turned out to enjoy the community fiesta and support the church.

This year’s highlights included a Reinado for MEN and one of the first competitions for our own women’s football team!

The Reinado took place on Friday evening in the new sports hall. 8 competitors vied for the crown but instead of 8 peaches and cream young ladies there were 8 husky, handsome men of mature age competing to be King of San Gerardo! The fun continued with obligatory dances with cross-dressed youngsters and the hall collapsed in laughter. In the end the top 3 were crowned with sombreros instead of coronas and Don Bernan Blanco stole the title. What a hoot!

Our local campionato has expanded to include women’s soccer teams at all levels so last Sunday we were lucky to see the second game of our valiant women’s team – which is less than one month old but now boasts a full crew and a trainer: Jose Manuel (Leilo) Ureña. The team has only a handful of experienced players but lots of enthusiasm, and their 1-10 defeat has only encouraged them to train harder! It’s great to see young and older women out on the football field for a change. Best of luck in your next game!

Graduations big and small

Grade 6 graduating students 2010

December is the month for graduations in Costa Rica and here in San Gerardo, as in every village and town, we celebrated school graduations for kindergarten and Grade 6 students. On December 17th we watched 14 proud Grade 6 students advance to high school (colegio), and the tiny kindergarten students join the older students in Escuela San Gerardo de Rivas. Academic prizes were awarded at each grade level and this year’s winners at Grade 6 level were Isaac Fonseca Monge (Proyecto San Gerardo student) and Jonathon Elizondo Chavez.

Proyecto San Gerardo English Students Celebrate Success Dec 18th

The second graduation took place the next day for English students in Proyecto San Gerardo. They say it takes 7 years to become fully fluent in another language and so we celebrated the hard work and successes of our 16 students this semester. Among them two students advanced to new levels: Ericka Gonzalez advanced through Beginners to Beginners 2, and Karol Fernandez completed studies at Intermediate level and goes on to Advanced. We look forward to the next semester of English classes that begin January 4th in the Salon. Computer classes will start the following week in the school. Registration for both will take place January 4th from 2:30 – 4:30 in the Salon.

So, here’s wishing our over 2,000 readers a very Merry Christmas – Feliz Navidad! Thank you for your support this year as always and we wish you many happy visits to San Gerardo de Rivas! Pura Vida!

Community minded veterinarian hosts free spay/neuter clinic in Chirripó region.

Carla Crocker loves animals and for years she has rescued dogs off San Jose’s streets and given them food and shelter. Right now she has seven dogs at her place, and a rabbit! In order to save the many cats and dogs let loose in La Sabana Park Carla has teamed up with ANPA: Asociacion Protectora de Animales (www.anpacostarica.org) and last Sunday, October 24th, organized an all-day spay and neuter clinic by donation in nearby Herradura for all the Chirripó communities.

Carla arrived with Dr. Alex Jimenez, a practicing veterinarian who calmly handled about 30 cats and dogs within his six hour stint.

Years ago spaying or neutering your pet wasn’t considered important – unwanted offspring were abandoned in the streets and the populations were out of control. Cloudbridge Reserve has done much to educate the community and facilitate spay/neuter clinics so that on Sunday the home of Oswaldo and Jeti was packed full with folks from Herradura, San Gerardo, Los Angeles and all the way to Chimirrol. Some people brought a cat or a dog; others brought two, three or more and waited patiently for long hours while Dr Jimenez performed the operations that took about 15 minutes each.

Everyone helped out: Ellen came from Los Angeles to manage the line-up, others helped with shaving the pets or keeping the animals warm and quiet in the recuperation room. And after all that Dr Jimenez and Carla managed the 3.5 drive to San Jose and back to work the next day.

The day made a real difference in the protection of animals in this region. If you would like to help out please contact ANPA or Carla at carlacrocker@gmail.com.

San Gerardo has a new sports facility – a wonderful day had by all at the opening.

You can hear the cheers of volleyball enthusiasts every evening now!

After two years of planning and building the Asociacion de Dessarolla de San Gerardo de Rivas, along with supporting local deputados (Government representatives at all levels) and funders from Dirección Nacional de Desarrollo de la Comunidad (DINADECO) officially opened our new multi-use sports facility on Saturday October 16th. Everyone agreed that the provision of a sports hall will go a long way in providing healthy recreational opportunities for youth and adults alike in San Gerardo.

Planned uses include volleyball – a favourite sport for the wet wintry months, indoor soccer, dance classes and non sport activities such as social events, graduations, events surrounding the Carrera Chirripó and much more. The increased space, with outside car park and a beautifully updated kitchen has modernized and drastically improved facilities available.

The event, emceed by Kattia Padilla, included greetings from all levels of government and words of support for future funding (a planned second floor for offices, classrooms and workshops) from DINADECO. Interspersed were traditional dances performed by the elementary school dance troupe as well as local youth and a newly formed women’s dance group, whose member Sonia Padilla sewed all the costumes. The Asociacion provided delicious refreshments all day long and the day ended with a dance and disco.

So, Mt Chirripó may have been closed for October but there was plenty going on here!

Es una total aventura para el deportista que enfrentará un terreno difícil, donde la mayor satisfacción será convencerse de todo el potencial que tiene dentro de sí mismo. Sumado al privilegio de disfrutar de hermosos paisajes y riqueza natural, en un ambiente rural y acogedor.

La aventura empezará el 22 de enero, los participantes y sus acompañantes podrán acampar el día antes o bien hospedarse en alguno de los hoteles de la zona. En Herradura podrán disfrutar un rato del ambiente nocturno, con música, baile y venta de comidas.

Para el domingo 23 de enero, está el desayuno a las 6:00am y la salida de esta aventura será a las 08:00am con un reto de más de 50 kilómetros, de caminos rurales, montañas, ríos y paisaje.
Aparta esta fecha en tu agenda de vacaciones, espera más información.
Estamos afinando algunos detalles, para que tengas una gran experiencia. Encuentra más información en español en www.vistasalchirripo.blogspot.com

Organiza: Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de Herradura de Rivas

Mountain bike adventure: “VISTAS AL CHIRRIPO”

A bike ride near the highest mountain in Costa Rica: Mt.Chirripó!

This is pure adventure for the athlete who likes to face difficult terrain, and enjoys a challenge to fulfill both physical and mental potential. In addition, enjoy the beautiful landscapes and natural wealth, as well as a friendly rural community.

The adventure begins January 22, participants and guests may camp the day before or stay in one of the hotels in the area. In Herradura there will be music, dancing and refreshments for sale.

The bike ride is on Sunday January 23rd, with breakfast at 6:00 am and the start at 8:00 am with a challenge of more than 50 kilometers of rural roads, mountains, rivers and natural landscape.

Set aside this date on your vacation agenda and look forward to more information.

Find more information in Spanish on www.vistasalchirripo.blogspot.com

Organizers: Development Association of Herradura de Rivas.

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 selling products (well, yes candy!) made out of dulce to promote our family trapiche (sugar mill). I made peanut brittle and coconut ice and took them out to ‘test drive’ on the community at a local event hosted by Bandera Azul. Both were successes but the peanut brittle (a.k.a. mani y dulce) was really unique. So we started selling it at other events and finally at the village store. From there on we won two contracts to sell at hotels and of course in our little soda.

So now I find myself with a peanut brittle cooking date every week and a bustling, but very tiny, business concern!
So much for ‘small venture – where does the ‘big hearts’ bit come in? Well, it’s the fact that for every package of dulce we sell we probably give away half again to events as fundraisers, or to friends or family popping by at cooking time. We’re just not full bloodied entrepreneurs!

San Gerardo is full of other such small ventures. Here’s a short list: fresh bread baked weekly, fresh cut flowers, sign-making, and all the wonderful artesania made by MUCACHI – the women’s crafts group who not only produce great gifts to take home after your holidays but use a lot of recycled products. There’s the egg-seller on Wednesdays, the fruit and vegetable van Fridays, Swiss cheese down in Canaan and for the many carnivores fresh pork anytime you can lay down enough colones to have someone butcher you a pig. There’s Jose who cuts men’s hair, Mr. Fix-It’s for anything and everything that can go wrong, the man in Herradura who still shoes horses from door to door, and horror of all horrors – the man who sells potions to rid your house of spiders or mice or whatever you want vanished. Women selling ‘Avon’, women with catalogues for clothes shoppers, and women with all sorts of items to sell in their houses for less than a dollar. Seamstresses, portrait painters and photographers. the hostel that is a home away from home. The list goes on…You can get your pants hemmed for $2, buy 50 oranges for less than that, and pay anyone with a car the gas to go into town.

Of course in a remote village where full time salaried work is hard to come by, and coffee prices drop annually because of international competition, everyone does ‘a bit of everything’. And how wonderful it is to find that almost all your needs can be met by someone in the community, and usually for a song. Who knows how long this will last – most of the youth now complete their high school education and their dreams are of university and city-bound jobs, not eking out a small living with humble trades and helping out their neighbours. But I hope some of this will survive, or at least we can capture this in memoirs of a very precious time when communities were self-sufficient out of individual necessity and communal regard.

Now for the next venture – our crop of miniature sweet peppers have mysteriously crossed with fiery jalapenos to produce a mixed harvest of unpredictable results! But the piquantes are superb for making salsa – I’ve already given away half the crop but there must be a way to turn this into a business??
Salsa San Gerardo anyone?