La Fortuna Part 1 - Village Life, Permaculture, and a Broken Chicken Coop

On January 12th, I set off for La Fortuna, or rather Sonafluca, a small village 10 kilometers outside of La Fortuna. The original plan was to spend a few days in La Fortuna, but since I couldn't find a suitable accommodation there, I booked a room slightly outside the town that I immediately liked. I hadn't really thought it through, though, because it's a bit difficult to get from point A to point B in the region without paying a fortune. And the alternatives are scarce. In the end, it was a good decision, as I really enjoyed the 6 days there and was then ready for the slightly more touristy La Fortuna.

I took a boat from Tortuguero for about an hour and a half, covering the approximately 40 kilometers to a boat dock on the nearest road. From there, I took a bus to Siquirres. There, I had to switch to another bus that took me to La Fortuna. I had something to eat there and then tried to get an Uber, but without success. The waiter at the restaurant then arranged a driver for me, and that's how I arrived at Noemy's beautiful property in the evening.

The next day, Noemy took me on a tour of her one-hectare property, which is essentially a huge permaculture garden. Permaculture is a sustainable concept for agriculture and gardening where natural ecosystems are imitated and managed in an ecological way. For many people, permaculture is a philosophy of life, and you can feel the passion and idealism in Noemy, for which she even ended her marriage.

She told me that the government had given land to poor families several decades ago. Her parents were given 11 hectares of land in Sonafluca at that time, and when they both died, they bequeathed about one hectare each to their 10 children. That's how Noemy came to her property about 20 years ago and started planting according to the principles of permaculture. Diversity is particularly important, so she planted a variety of trees and other plants, especially those that are threatened, rare, or important for wildlife.

Since there were no restaurants or similar establishments near my accommodation and I only had a small kitchen with an electric kettle in my hut, I had to get creative. For breakfast, as always, I had fresh fruits with yogurt and granola, and sometimes I ate with Amy in the evenings. When I think about it, I don't even know what I ate there. Baguette with cream cheese or instant noodles or some snack. But since Noemy lives alone with her 20-year-old son, who is often away (education, girlfriend, etc.), she was happy to have company for meals from time to time. Then we would have traditional Costa Rican cuisine with ingredients partly from her own cultivation. For dessert, we would sometimes have fresh cocoa beans, which have delicious flesh. Or processed and ground cocoa beans that tasted almost like ready-made dark chocolate. When Noemy has time, she also makes chocolate herself. Unfortunately, she is currently overwhelmed with work because her son is often not around, and she cannot manage the one-hectare property alone. Occasionally, she has volunteers, mostly tourists, who help her out. But often they have no experience in permaculture or are not used to hard work, so they end up creating more work than being helpful. As a result, the garden seemed a bit neglected. Especially compared to the pictures she showed me or the ones available online. Her son is currently undergoing training to become a waiter and wants to work in the United States or on a cruise ship. When he has earned enough money, he wants to come back and expand the property, maybe with 2 nice new huts for tourists and more profitable cultivation. And Noemy would like to offer tours and courses in permaculture and processing plants. She also wants to learn more about permaculture and attend seminars herself. However, at the moment, she lacks the time and money to realize all of this. She also told me that she wants to expand the kitchen in my hut, meaning she wants to get a stove and a refrigerator. But she currently lacks the funds for that as well.

You could feel that both of them have a dream and they want to live it. But it is difficult to make it a reality, and I had the feeling that Noemy was somewhat desperate. She would like to give away half of the property and is currently looking for buyers. So, if anyone is interested...

During the tour of the property, she also showed me the chicken coop, which unfortunately had some leaks, leading to her chickens being killed by a snake. Since she has no experience and no time to repair it, I thought about repairing the chicken coop for her.

On the way to the hardware store and the supermarket, I also took some pictures of Sonafluca. Basically, it had almost everything you need. Well, except for good bread. And the yogurt was sold out once.

Noemy also once told me about the children from the village who used to visit her regularly. Their parents are or were apparently drug addicts and hardly took care of the children. So, one day, the children came to Noemy and asked for food. She came up with the idea to let the children have a piece of land that they could plant themselves, regularly care for it, and then harvest their own produce. That went well for a while, but now the children rarely come by, and their piece of garden has become overgrown. I got to meet the children once when Noemy's neighbors' parents visited, and as a result, there was a huge pot of soup. The next day, there was still so much left that she invited the children. Although I could hardly communicate with them, Noemy translated a bit for me and told me that one of the girls had just said that she only gets to eat cornflakes at home. The other neighboring children apparently spend the whole day alone at home because their mother leaves for work at 6 a.m. and doesn't return until late in the evening.

I also learned that there are some drug addicts in the village who sometimes steal fruit and other things. I would never have learned all of this if I hadn't stayed with a local in the village.

And of course, I also saw some animals here. Mostly birds, some of which I already knew, but also a few new species. Most of them were on Noemy's property. My favorite bird so far, a Broad-billed Motmot, often sat near my favorite spot, and we would observe each other.

I also photographed some amazing caterpillars, bizarre insects, spiders, and frogs.

After spending 6 days at the Jardín de Permacultura in Sonafluca, I continued on to La Fortuna. There, I hiked and rode around the Arenal Volcano, visited the hot springs, and met old and made new acquaintances. I will tell you more about that next time.

Best regards