| Erin Van Rheenen,
author of the very helpful book, Living Abroad in Costa Rica, came
researching her way through the south side of Lake Arenal on June
1-2. She's preparing a second edition of her 2004 book. About 30 residents
brought food and drink to Casa Manana B&B the evening of June
1 to meet Erin, some quite familiar with and thankful for the first
edition. Earlier in the day, Erin had the chance to visit the homes
of five of our expats. At La Reserva, the 100-acre former dairy farm
which Roberta Ward Smiley and Daniel Spreen have for the last few
years devoted to reforestation, Erin encountered developer Kendall
Sanborn of Atlanta, who was purchasing over a thousand of La Reserva's
stock for his two developments, one on the north side of the lake
and one on the coast near Ocotal. Roberta's trees are two feet tall,
more or less, and cost $1. Roberta and Dan have several thousand trees
left of 30 different native species. Kendall chose 19 species. His
lake development's website is www.turtlecovelakeclub.com. It is hoped
that other developers scraping roads up and across the vastly pastured
hillsides will get the reforestation message. Eventually they may
provide a long animal corridor between Monteverde and the national
parks north of the lake.
Erin was impressed with Roberta's
book project, which has descriptions and illustrations
|
of the more than
160 species of birds that Roberta has identified at La Reserva. Now
living in San Francisco after some years of residence in the Central
Valley, Erin volunteered to contact publishing persons on Roberta's
behalf. Her new Living Abroad in Costa Rica will be out in 2007. Her
website is www.livingabroadincostarica.com.
Among the attendees at the
Casa Manana party was Mara Mordini, a Peace Corps volunteer who
was recently plunked down in the village of Parcelas on the high
mesa between the lake and the coastal lowlands. Mara is dependent
on bus transportation, so gregarious and thoughtful Helen Hollenbeck
drove up the mountainside to transport Mara to the Gringo shindig.
Among the topics at the June 10 meeting of the ecological association
Fuentes Verdes was to be the water problems at Parcelas.
Also sharing their expatriate
insights with Erin were relative newcomers Ed and Leslie Woods,
who are building a home and studio above Rock River Lodge. They
plan to open a B&B in addition to offering classes in stained
glass, mosaics, and jewelry. Their phone number is 692-1204.
Tico entrepreneurs from San
Jose are seeking investors to help make the village of Tronadora
an ecotourism destination. We're interested to see a master plan.
|