‘Changes in Latitude’ Changes its Latitude!
Tuesday, September 8th, 2009
This photo is our new driveway, having recently abandoned the classic American pursuit for riches to farm and build a more peaceful life in C. America. This post focuses on one expatriate couple’s grass-roots endeavor to bring a healing arts sanctuary and eco-retreat to the rainforest, refocusing their lives on what matters most, “being here, now” rather than living for the future.
We found the perfect site. More accurately, la tierra nos encontró. It is secluded, bordered by three small waterfalls and a creek. We’re minutes from the gate to the National Park that is home to C. America’s highest peak, Volcan Baru, where one can enjoy views of the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean by simply turning around.
Michelle is planning yoga, massage, Reiki and medicine wheel offerings. Our guests will summit a volcano, pick coffee and cacao to take home, zip line in the rainforest canopy, enjoy whitewater rafting and explore beaches on two coasts that are separated by only 50 miles. At 7000 feet, we’re in the thin mountain air where cool nights push insects and snakes toward the coasts. Our backyard is the mountainous UNESCO World Heritage Site, International Park ‘Amistad’, which straddles the border with Costa Rica. ‘Amistad’ is Spanish for friendship.
We will add an eco-lodge to this land. The name is ‘El Santuario del Volcan Baru’ which translates to ‘The Sanctuary of the Volcano Baru. One goal is to preserve native vegetation while providing trails for visitors to access its wonders. Coffee will continue to be cultivated in the shade of native vegetation, along with the organic fruits and vegetables. There is much to learn about coffee culture. Boquete native Nico Guerra has been working this coffee plantation since he fell in love with it in 1953. One-third is planted with coffee, bananas, citrus, chayote, and beans. The remaining two-thirds is native habitat.
The delightful village of Boquete is ten minutes away, in “the valley of eternal spring”. The temperature hits 80 degrees (F) daily, but evenings and mornings often require a sweater. In Boquete, 18,000 residents include many expats from the European Union, N. America & South America. In the streets one hears French, German, Italian, English, and Spanish within a few blocks walk. There is a bar furnished entirely with art and furniture from Africa. Taxis are less than a dollar. Genuinely helpful locals abound …and their assistance is not contrived in pursuit of a tip.
Large multi-national corporations do not rule in Chiriqui. There is no Starbucks in Boquete; its coffee could not begin to compete; its canned faux Italian ambiance unnecessary. Wal-Mart? “Everyday low prices” are already here, without Chinese workers residing in company-owned factories in squalor reminiscent of the confederacy. Kraft “cheese”? Chiriquianos are accustomed to local dairy products from grass-fed cattle which they pass on the way to the rodeo. People live close to the land. Less is more. What seems to matter most to Chiriqui natives is family, fun, and friends. Work is the means to an end.
People here grasp that nobody’s dying wish is “more time at the office”. The culture here is very supportive for healing from the toxic consumer culture prevalent in the USA. Why not immigrate south and make room for another to immigrate north? Lessons from the dichotomy are relevant and poignant in this age of plastic surgery and antidepressant prescriptions. Paradise may not be in New Jersey, Orlando, or Salt Lake City …or anywhere thereabouts. What price, paradise? We don’t have the answer yet, but we have a solid direction which feels good.
At El Santuario, structures will be simple and primitive, yet comfortable, built with local materials from Chiriqui, with the smallest footprint possible for a healing arts sanctuary with seven artisanal bungalows and a modest home with a commercial kitchen and dining space for two dozen. Here we will discuss change from the heart as the focus of our work and our guest’s experience. Coffee will continue to be cultivated with longstanding local traditions that allow Boquete beans to win international cupping contests annually. Guests will have the option to pitch in for culinary rewards. There is much to learn about this finca (farm) and its present foreman, Nivardo Montezuma. These are valuable lessons.
Sr. Montezuma, like many of our new neighbors, is one of Panama’s indigenous Ngobe-Bugle, the largest group of pre-colonial peoples in the country. We must learn this culture if we are to be good neighbors. We hope to work with our new neighbors on a partnership basis, sharing with them in the yield of any crops we tend together. The Ngobe-Bugle are not divorced from their traditional culture and food supply, like most indigenous and post-colonial peoples in the USA. We look forward to creating a cooperative partnership with everyone working the land with us. We will improve our Spanish and study the Ngobe-Bugle language in order to learn from Srs. Guerra & Montezuma.
Another challenge will be striking a balance between the ecological preservation of the rainforest, the crops, and development of the healing arts eco-retreat that is ‘El Santuario’. This will be accomplished using alternative energy and waste management technologies. Our goal is generate our own power, compost, recycle, and operate “off-the-grid” as a self-sufficient operation. We will replant native vegetation as the sole form of landscaping on the two-thirds of land not under cultivation. We will stop to smell the flowers.
Preservation of wildlife is a critical goal, but we are newcomers here and Ngobe-Bugle have been known to over hunt. Without ant eaters, for example, there are far too many ants. For controlling the insect population, pesticides are a poor option to natural predators. To be organic and maintain the balance of the rainforest ecology, we must teach as well as learn. The beautiful 45-pound giant anteater is close to extinction. The ancestral headdresses of the Ngobe-Bugle are made from its fur. Yet, our modern Ngobe-Bugle neighbors create less than one percent of the average New Yorker’s waste, carbon footprint, and smog. They laugh more frequently, and walk daily in paradise (instead of sitting in traffic for 20% of their daylight hours).
For those of you following this blog to learn more about one family’s journey toward wellness in the rainforest, regular posts on this project will appear at Blogspot.com. This WordPress blog will continue to focus on Mexico, C. & S. American journeys. Please send comments and questions. Stay tuned and don’t be shy about visiting Boquete. The air and water are pure. Smiles are bountiful. Children safely roam the streets unattended. The climate is perfect.
We look forward to sharing our healing journey and to learning about yours. If we can share hints about living in harmony with nature as a meaningful alternative to consumer culture, we’ll consider our mission accomplished. Whenever we learn from our guests how to live more fulfilling lives outside of the ‘bigger, better, faster, more’ mentality that is destroying our ecology and culture, we will share such gems with future guests. We are all students and teachers.
Together, we can heal this planet; we can heal our communities; we can mend our relationships with those we love. We can accomplish these goals by living in respectful gratitude for what truly matters. At El Santuario del Volcan Baru, we will devote much energy toward discovery of the answer to the question, “What truly matters”? Most importantly, we will explore with guests methods for manifesting more of this precious commodity in our lives and yours.
As our dear friend June advises … Onward & Namaste!
