nature

912, 2013

quick hike to RDS waterfall

December 9th, 2013|

Some photos from a recent quick hike to our famous waterfall with fall interns. Why not become an RDS intern this winter and enjoy it yourself? It’s sunny here.

interns at the waterfall

RDS famous waterfall

waterfall sign

2708, 2013

Looking down from the top

August 27th, 2013|

river nature costa rica

Looking down from the top of one of the many waterfalls at RDS.

1908, 2013

Sunday hikes

August 19th, 2013|

Every Sunday we go on exploration hikes in the endless abundance of nature and beauty at our private wildlife refuge. Here are some pictures from the last few weekends:

2807, 2013

Armadillos

July 28th, 2013|

Among the wildlife we see daily at RDS are monkeys, toucans, iguanas, pizotes, scarlet macaws… just to name a few. But a few days ago we spotted Armadillos for the first time as they were foraging along the road. Armadillo means “little armored one” in Spanish.

armadillos costa rica

“Little armored one”.

707, 2013

Monkeys, fruit trees, and biodiversity

July 7th, 2013|

Our private wildlife refuge is home to incredible wildlife and amazing diversity. Amongst the many wild animals roaming around in the forest, and all the way to our doorsteps, are white faced monkeys. They feast on the abundant fruits that are high up in the trees all around us – mangoes, oranges, mountain apples, palm fruits, and many more.

Here are a few pictures taken a couple of days ago:

White faced monkeys Costa Rica

Monkeys Costa Rica

White faced monkeys Costa Rica

Usually, organic orchards are managed to get the maximum yield with the minimum effort. Trees are planted nice and organized with paths made. If needed fencing is added to protect the orchard from wildlife. Trees are pruned so that they grow wide rather than tall (to make the fruits easier to harvest), etc.

Our approach to growing fruit trees is different. First of all we don’t do any of the conventional orchard maintenance stuff. For example we don’t prune trees that much – by letting trees grow more freely we actively foster bio-diversity. The tallest branches provide lots of food for many bird species. A little lower you’ll find monkeys and other mammals. Everything plays a role. And there’s plenty for us too.

That’s one of the many reasons why we see so much wildlife every day here at RDS, including many rare species which thrive here. For example we often see wild turkeys and even wild pigs (which are extremely rare in the region).

We’re blessed with so many mature fruit trees around us it seems our continuous supply of fresh fruit is endless. And I attribute the trees’ rich production and strong health partly to the lack of conventional “maintenance” and “care”.

This year we planted many new fruit trees, including about a hundred banana trees of different varieties (sweet banana, red banana, plantain, and a bunch more local varieties), mango trees, avocado trees, papaya trees, serinum cherry trees, and more.

When planting fruit trees and planing orchards we take many aspects into consideration such as the overall flow of life at the farm, topography, accessibility, soil properties, sun and water exposure, etc… That’s more or less expected. But what’s unusual is that we accept to “share” the fruits with the wildlife around and even take active steps to promote bio-diversity. We’re not looking for the highest “yield” in the conventional sense.

3006, 2013

Incredible views

June 30th, 2013|

Raices del Sol is located in the gorgeous mountains of Costa Rica’s central valley, 2.5 hrs from San Jose’s international airport and about a half hour drive on a scenic dirt road to the pacific coast. Our private wildlife refuge borders the La Cangreja mountain chain which is Costa Rica’s newest and most virgin national park.

There are magnificent view points throughout the farm and on clear days you can see all the way to the coast from several of them. In this season we often look down at the cloudy valley in the early mornings and late afternoons while up here enjoying a majestic sky full of colors.

1406, 2013

Pizotes and other wild animals

June 14th, 2013|

There are countless wild Pizotes (wikipedia.org/wiki/Pizote) on our private wildlife refuge and in the thousands of acres of virgin forest bordering RDS. We are blessed with incredible wildlife and biodiversity such as is becoming increasingly rare in the world. We thrive to protect natural habitats (mainly by letting them be!) and foster true respect for nature. For us this translates in practical daily actions and long-term choices rather than being an empty word tossed around over a couple of industrial beers and a GMO-filled meal.

Other wild animals we see all the time include white-faced monkeys, foxes, wild chickens and wild turkeys, scarlet macaws, toucans, and a whole lot more. There are also wild pigs and even mountain lions but these are very allusive and to get to see them you’ll need to know how to be very quiet while exploring and spending time in the jungle.

pizote costa rica

Pizote

1306, 2013

One of the many springs at RDS

June 13th, 2013|

spring costa rica

One of the many springs on RDS’s private wildlife refuge.

Spring 3

Spring 2

1402, 2013

Collecting stones down by the river

February 14th, 2013|

sea of stones in costa rica

Collecting stones down by the river.

702, 2013

Colors of Costa Rica

February 7th, 2013|

lizard

Beautiful lizard at our front door.