Alta Mira

7-30-11

So we met to leave for Alta Mira at 6, which means we left at 6:30. On the way we spotted many of the pilgrims making their way toward Cartago for the dia de la Virgin de Los Angeles, the patron saint of CR. For this religious festival over 1 million Costa Ricans will visit the Basilica, many will walk for days to reach the cathedral.

The roads on the way there weren’t bad, just really curvy. Needless to say I took my Dramamine and slept most of the way. We stopped for breakfast at a roadside restaurant in the paramo, which is the Costa Rican highlands, and it is very cold there. It was colder than the volcano, probably about 50 degrees, but the weather was beautiful. It was a wonderful clear day. The restaurant was very good; we tried a lot of what profesora called “real’ typical Costa Rican food, like heart of palm and agua dulce, both indigenous foods. They were really good! I was surprised that I like the heart of palm. I got a fried yucca pancake thing and the Costa Rican equivalent of hash browns and eggs.  The air was so fresh; it reminded me of Boone in the fall. Karen and I got these amazing carrot muffins to take with us for the rest of the ride. The views were amazing, the diversity and variety of scenery and climate in CR is really amazing, and the mountains here remind me of North Carolina. On the way we passed through the Perez Zeledon district which is where one of my case studies for my thesis was located! It was really cool to see the area where all the events I read about actually took place.  I even saw the signs for the co-op and the two communities (Las Palmas and Santa Cruz). We also passed through the new addition of pineapple to a region formerly coffee. It was pineapples as far as the eye could see, and everything was broken up into Del Monte zones, denoted by large signs.

                We arrived at Alta Mira a bit ahead of schedule. We were greeted by Jessica, one of the project leaders. Jessica is in her mid-late 20s and very knowledgeable about the project that she has grown up with. We had a delicious lunch in the community restaurant owned by several of the local women (designed by a local artist, and built by the community). The food was simple and delicious; almost all of the food was produced locally and walked over to the restaurant. They had some of the best juices I have had in CR, and afterward we got traditionally made coffee that was so rich in flavor it didn’t need milk or sugar.  The community is working to develop a small tourism sector, although tourism is not their main focus.  After lunch we had some free time which Karen, Rebecca and I used to explore the cool looking jungle gym and house (which we found out later was the bus stop...). Both were designed by the local artist using solid waste from other communities in CR. The dinosaur jungle gym was my favorite. It was a net made from old tires and illegal fishing wire that connected to a concrete and rebar frame. Of course we had to climb it and have a photo op! When we eventually climbed down, the view was great!, we had a tour of the major project facilities and several of the member’s farms to take with Jessica.

The project was founded in 1997 after the international crisis in coffee prices shook the foundation of economy of this coffee producing town. Many people began to leave the community for other jobs and regions of the country. Almost all the young people left. Several in the town were interested in diversify and beginning to farm organically and sustainably to take care of their land. The also began to work more closely with Parque International La Amistad, which borders their community. They began several reforestation projects, began to develop their organic framework and negotiated with outside NGOs and organizations to redevelop their community. We walked through several of their reforestation, conservation zones in which the forest had returned successfully after 16 years of natural regeneration.  We crossed several suspension bridges also designed by the local artist using the same solid waste materials. They were super fun since you could jump on them and bounce due to the use of old tires! We walked through several plots owned by different families in the program. They farm in covered plots, not greenhouses, but covered with fabric which protects the plants from too much sun and wind. We were also able to see examples of soil regeneration through their organic composting experiments and reintroduction or “mountain micro-organisms” from the rainforest. We hiked up the mountain and saw several more farm examples as well as sustainable pig and cattle livestock farming (all the leftovers from the restaurant goes to feed the pigs). At the cattle ranch, we learned how local farmers are finding ways to make their cows healthier without the use of steroid injections, hormones, or the use of broad spectrum antibiotics through the use of native grasses as feeds and several extracts from their forest preserves. These options are not just earth friendly, but economically friendly for the farmer as well. He/she is not dependent on buying fertilizer, pesticides and pills from large foreign companies to guarantee his crop and farm viability. It makes him more independent and creates more pride in their work.

                As we finished the farm tour we walked through more of the conservation forest area. One of the plots was an example of bad NGO advice as the community was told to plant a type of cedar trees normally only found at higher elevations for their shade grown coffee. After the trees reached maturity they would be able to log the cedar trees and replant. However,  the root  system of the tree they were recommended for the shade grown coffee actually interfered with the coffee plants and killed them. The community learns through trial and error, but prefers to use their own local knowledge rather than the non-specific NGO advice they have sometimes been given in the past, although they do appreciate the help of NGOs in funding and capacity building projects in the community.  In the case of this plot the community has plans to cut it down and reforest with native plants.

After we passed through the farming section we went to meet Pancho, the local artist. Pancho is a very interesting person. He is probably in his thirties (it’s hard to tell with the dreads) and lives in the forest in his own conservation zone with his golden retriever. He lives in a tree house with collections of all his material sorted surrounding his living space. It looked like something from a movie. He had gourds, piles of tires, nuts and seeds, thousands of bottles and tiles (for his mosaics) and all sorts of interestingly shaped things from the forest. He showed us some of the various projects that he has done around CR, from bridges to sculptures, to kid’s playgrounds in national parks, to an office shaped like a whale for a tourism company at the beach.  His visions are endless in their variety and creativity, and each of them is built using solid waste produced somewhere in CR. From buoys and fishing line to tires and bottles, he has found an innovative new life for the trash of our modern lives. Pancho is also an amateur botanist and he has dozens of fruiting plants and flowers in his garden and amphitheater/camping area. He has designed and built an outdoor camping area and theater where he hopes to eventually have a music and arts festival. We ate our way through his garden and played with the sculpture/instruments at the amphitheater. Meeting someone as different as Pancho was a once in a lifetime experience!

After Pancho’s tour we walked back down the mountain to the headquarters to have a discussion about what we had seen and talk with Enrique, one of the founding farmers of the program. We sat up on the roof of the restaurant while watching the most beautiful sunset. It was amazing to have the opportunity to interview them and I had so many questions to ask. I’ve already decided to use the trips I’ve taken for this class as raw material for my capstone paper for anthropology! There are about 70 full members, and 200 beneficiaries of the program each of which own their own land or business but operate it under the association’s sustainability framework.  After the discussion we were shown the variety of products that the people in the organization produce and market: honey, cosmetic products, shampoo, coffee, jam, soap, as well as organic produce and the tourism activities they engage in as well. When the conversation was over, we all went down stairs to eat another wonderful meal prepared by the women owners of the restaurant. Karen’s wisdom teeth are impacted and coming in, and Kelsey was feeling sick as well so the Ticos sprang into action getting natural medicinal products and our driver reveled that he had studies acupuncture and digipuncture (sp?(acupuncture without  the needles). He used the pressure points on Karen’ head to relieve the pain from her tooth! And Carlos (our guide for the next morning) came back with a root that you chew on which works as a local anesthetic. Since I’ve been here I’ve noticed that when someone is sick the first response is not necessarily a pill, it’s usually is a natural medicinal alternative.  The amazing thing is that these techniques worked when the pain pills Karen had been taking did not. Since most of us were exhausted after our long hikes and several were not feeling well, it was an early night with some hammock time to set us all straight.