Bread and Chocolate

Tom, owner of Bread and Chocolate, sets a great example for many of us ready to follow our passions. Originally a student of philosophy and sociology, he traveled to Costa Rica to pursue his passions in the kitchen. Bread and Chocolate is one of the most popular cafes in town. Their fair prices, organic ingredients, and amazing recipes are all reasons why its always an enjoyable experience. Tom spoke to us about the importance of being true to what you want to do and that the only way to be able to do forever is to do it in a sustainable way, sustainable for the community and the environment. 

Caribeans Tour

Paul, founder and owner of Caribeans is a real inspiration. He and his family left a cubicle lifestyle in the United States for deeper connection with the planet, their community, and their own family. Caribeans works directly with cocoa farmers to make their amazing chocolates. The direct relationships they have established are most beneficial to the farmers and allows Paul to truly add value to the bean and product, as opposed to simply raising price for profit. Their emphasis on quality rather than quantity is a lesson many manufacturers could take to heart to start making real changes to our health, our global supply chains, and our Earth. Check out their website: http://caribeanscr.com/ 

Shawandha and Jaguar Rescue Center

Ali setting up the shot at Shwandha. 

This week we interviewed the founder and owner of Shawandha Lounge, Mao. She is a European native that came to Puerto Viejo to escape the superficial life as a fashion designer in Ibiza, Spain. Shawandha prides itself on its organic construction, holistic approach towards integrating its clientele into the environment, and maintaing a sustainable and harmonious existence with all its neighbors.

Also, we interviewed the founders and owners of the Jaguar Rescue Center, Encar and Sandro. They have both dedicated their lives to the preservation of Costa Rica's wildlife. Their mentality is focused around being "naturalists." They strive to provide the animals, such as sloths, monkeys, jaguars, and birds, a habitat to recuperate that is contiguous with their natural surroundings so that when the animals are confident to return to the wild, they can do so at their own leisure. The Rescue Center also hosts passionate volunteers from around the globe. Hearing their stories about why their work is important to them, and the future they see for conservation was an enlightening experience.

3-toed sloth, admitted 12/24

Baby Jaguar resting. 

Witnessing the organization in action and getting the details from the behind the scenes was awesome! We are so excited to keep up the momentum and continue exploring other fantastic movements happening around us.

Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge

Yesterday we set off to accompany Dr. Don's groups on their tours. Alyssa and Edek went to the Kekoldi Indigeous Reserve and Ali and myself went to the Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge. A man named Tino was our guide. He showed us a bounty of plants and trees and told us about their purpose. We smelled the leaves that are the ingredient for the perfume Chanel No. 5, painted our faces with a chalky nut, and smelled a dozen different types of plants. We saw natural cilantro, lemongrass, ginger, sage, coconuts, coacoa fruits; tasted starfruits and oranges and a miracle nut.. SO much grows here in the rainforest.

We saw dozens of animals. Ali and I were able to hold a couple frogs, a baby bat, and a big spider. We saw sloths up in the trees, an anteater feeding on coconuts, too many insects, spiders and snakes to recount, caymans and turtles and toucans, howler monkeys - everything in its natural environment. We were so lucky to encounter it all, and the footage of these interactions looks fabulous. All of this was possible because Tino is an allstar jungle man. We tracked down a pack of howler monkeys as he ravaged the forest with his machete while simultaneously warning us of fire ants and covert barbed wires. It was a fabulously enjoyable eight hour hike and an amazing learning experience. Tino is an inspiration.

Manzanillo Bike Ride

Rode our bikes to Manzanillo this morning to grab some footage. Got some beautiful shots of the beach and the road in between Manzanillo and Puerto Viejo. Along the way Alyssa received her first lesson in road sharing etiquette when she was nearly hit by a few cars.

The town of Manzanillo was quite the bike ride ride from Cocles at 9am on an empty stomach, but once we arrived, we had more than earned ourselves a hearty meal of local cuisine. While eating, we were approached by some fellow American students who had just arrived from Panama on a shuttle bus, and were looking for a place to stay. Sadly we had to inform them that there wasn't much in the way of hostels or even hotels in the area for at least a few kilometers. On the bright side they informed us that we could get a private shuttle to the nearby Panama border for about $15 US. I like to always keep our options open.

We came upon a flock of interesting yellow tailed birds who scattered when we arrived. One of them perched on a very close palm tree, allowing us to catch some amazing close up shots of it. This area of the world is so lush with varying wildlife, that I don't feel like I'll ever be able to fully grasp the depth of of beautiful life and landscapes.

Below is just another one of the many breathtaking views we've been graced with.

Rainy Days

Here in the rainforest it just so happens to rain quite a lot.. obviously... so taking the camera out has been tricky the past couple of days. Instead, we have been focusing on making plans for next week, and we are booked up solid. Tomorrow night we will meet with Dr. Don for the first time and head to the Manzanillo Wildlife Center so we know how to get there on Monday. On Monday and Wednesday we will be going out on excursions with him and his group to an Indigenous reserve and the Manzanillo Wilflife Refuge. Today we went to the Jaguar Rescue Center and set up an interview for next Tuesday. Hopefully we will be going on some more nature tours on Thursday and Friday with a couple of locals we have met.

Yesterday, Ali and I went out on a hike into the jungle to try and scope out some good filming locations and to make sure we knew where Dr. Don's hotel was located. On our hike, we saw a toucan up in the trees and heard a pack of howler monkeys in the forest. We also encountered one too many giant spiders and heard some peculiar hisses... the nature is spectacular.

Today we're encountering some blistering winds monsoon style.. the power at our house has been iffy for the past couple of days and the waves are MASSIVE in the ocean. But all this rain is keeping the lush lands green as can be! When the sun comes back out, everything will be stellar on camera.

We are really loving it here. Fingers crossed that we get some decent weather for our excursions next week!!!

-J

UPDATE: Puerto Viejo

Hey everyone! Thanks for stopping by our field notes blog. Myself, Ali, and Edek have all been in Costa Rica now for five days, but it feels like much longer. We spent the first night in San Jose at a hostel. The family who owned the hostel were amazingly accommodating and they, along with other friends we made, had great advice for us and our trip.

After a shaky, wild four hour bus drive, we managed to arrive here on the Caribbean coast at Puerto Viejo. The town is pocket-sized, littered with small bars, cafes, restaurants, and shops. We found the company that is leasing us our house in Cocles, and a man named Kendall drove us there. Casa Rameen is so much more beautiful than any of us had anticipated.

The past few days we have been going out to get footage of the beautiful environment here and have been making connections with locals. We spent a lot of time working out technical aspects of the documenting process and uploaded some of the footage to my laptop. Let me just say, the HD setting of this camera is gorgeous! Alyssa arrived last night as well, so our team is now consisting of four members here in Cocles.

Teryn and Laura are still working diligently from San Fran and Chicago, and Laura was able to set up a relationship with us and ATEC and Dr. Don. ATEC focus on adventure tours that promote conservation, and Dr. Don is a Canadian practitioner and professor who is bringing a group here to go out on these nature tours. We met with ATEC in Puerto Viejo and were able to set up a meeting with Dr. Don on Sunday. Monday and Wednesday we will be accompanying and documenting his group on their nature tours.

Last night at the bar we were able to meet some genuine locals with phenomenal stories. Edek was chatting up everyone (he is the captain of interpersonal skills). We are hopeful that we can feature these interesting individuals for some key highlights for the documentary that will discuss globalization and localization.

Things are progressing quite eloquently, and it seems that we are making the right connections and finding the right stories here. We will update soon!