Andrew & I with Rafi, Suzanne, Flor & Fidel When we arrived at La Biosfera late Saturday night, we walked up the steep muddy driveway to the lodge area and met Suzanne, the owner who immediately poured us some mugs of the most delicious home brewed herbal tea. She is a VERY interesting character (check our her "Curious Character" profile). Originally from Buffalo, NY, Suzanne's an ex-marine now in her early 50’s, living on a piece of land she owns just outside of Jinotega. Although she lives alone, she has lots of visitors like us coming through all the time (though maybe not as many as she would like). In a few words I guess I would describe her as eccentric, tough and very generous!
There was also an Argentine family staying there (Rafi, Flor and their 3 year old son, Fidel) when we arrived who were equally as interesting and mystical, but unfortunately they had to leave the next day. Rafi spoke the most English of them though we tried our best to speak in Spanish as much as possible (and then Andrew and I both had dreams in Spanish, FINALLY!). We talked about just about everything including the meaning of life, water vibrations, UFO's, herbal remedies, etc… Later, when we were getting ready for bed I told Andrew that I felt like we had stepped into – Andrew cut me off and finished my sentence perfectly – another universe…
There was also an Argentine family staying there (Rafi, Flor and their 3 year old son, Fidel) when we arrived who were equally as interesting and mystical, but unfortunately they had to leave the next day. Rafi spoke the most English of them though we tried our best to speak in Spanish as much as possible (and then Andrew and I both had dreams in Spanish, FINALLY!). We talked about just about everything including the meaning of life, water vibrations, UFO's, herbal remedies, etc… Later, when we were getting ready for bed I told Andrew that I felt like we had stepped into – Andrew cut me off and finished my sentence perfectly – another universe…
The PVC chicken coop structure coming together In the morning we got ready to start some work and said our goodbyes to Rafi, Flor and Fidel – we hadn’t known them for long but for some reason it felt like years. We took a tour of the property with Suzanne, which is huge and so green! There is a waterfall and small river, the bat cave is wicked cool, and the potential for forest preservation and education is enormous! There isn’t too much infrastructure there right now, and lots to do to get some more in there. We did some high priority work for the day including scrubbing the algae off of the walkway so no one would slip and fall. The next day we did some more manual work, as well as put our engineering skills to the test with the design of a lightweight, mobile chicken coop (which we chose to make out of PVC pipe, inspired by the photo booth structure Kim and Nate made for our wedding) as well as a support structure for the squash greenhouse. The chicken coop became our pet project for the next few days, and it turned out very well, we think. Assuming she can be caught, the pet chicken (originally known as "cena", meaning "dinner", but after many battles with the pet dog now known as "cena the warrior chicken") can chill in there now, along with some egg-laying hens Suzanne plans to buy from a neighbour. It was a really fun project even though Andrew and I had some trouble working together as we both like to take the lead on designs, lol.
Amanda and I putting the filling in the strudel After a few more days we got some new visitors! Michael and Amanda are in their early 20's and are basically searching for the meaning of life. They were kind of funny to talk to, and in a weird way, reminded me a bit of Andrew and I when we were their age travelling in Australia (oh so long ago now!). They were very enthusiastic about everything, and really seemed to take what we said, and anyone else said, to heart. We talked about all kinds of wacky, fun things such as, again, the meaning of life, vibrations, water, mermaids, fractals (patterns that repeat on all scales, for example the Fibonacci Spiral found in nature; snail shells; broccoli), free energy, the Bermuda Triangle (which by the way it looks like it could be the location of Atlantis based on some underground quartz pyramids! Seriously! Check Youtube!), pyramid power, DMT, etc. From what I gathered, Amanda grew up in a very religious family and had, only in the last couple of years, begun to question her beliefs. It must have been a very stressful and scary time for her, but now she says she is re-discovering the meaning in her life, and determining what is really important to her. Michael is a free spirit who appreciates nature more than most 20-year-old guys I've known. He thinks outside the box and is in search of new experiences. They make a very good couple, finishing each-other's sentences, sharing the same open-minded philosophies, and they are very supportive of each other. We had a really good time getting to know them over a few days. We even spent one evening making German Strudel with a Nica twist! I used the recipe that Oma taught me before we left the Yukon, but we had to substitute some of the ingredients (instead of apple and raisin filling, we used guava, passionfruit, raspberry extract & coconut oil), and we baked it in a wood-fired cobb oven so it tasted a little smokey which wasn't the best, lol. But it was still fun and turned out pretty well.
Looking at the "bunker" from the herb garden
When the time came to leave, we were very sad to say goodbye. In a very short amount of time we came to know Suzanne, Michael and Amanda surprisingly well. I would say the highlight of La Biosfera for me was the people, and the bonus was the place; nestled in the mountains and full of life. We made some possible plans to meet up with Michael and Amanda in a few months in Peru as they will be heading down there after a short stint back home - I hope we do see them again!
We hope you enjoy our pictures, Andrew says that I post too many, but I really have a hard time cutting out any because I think that if they are good they should stay. He thinks that no one will look at them if we keep putting this many, but I guess I don't really mind if you don't, lol. What do you all think? Should we be putting limits on them? Or just keep going as we are so that in the future we can look back at this website and have all our photos on hand? That's my logic anyway...
Sorry that we have been running behind on posting, the internet has been pretty terrible these last few weeks, but we are catching up now!
Adios Amigos!
-Chelsea
We hope you enjoy our pictures, Andrew says that I post too many, but I really have a hard time cutting out any because I think that if they are good they should stay. He thinks that no one will look at them if we keep putting this many, but I guess I don't really mind if you don't, lol. What do you all think? Should we be putting limits on them? Or just keep going as we are so that in the future we can look back at this website and have all our photos on hand? That's my logic anyway...
Sorry that we have been running behind on posting, the internet has been pretty terrible these last few weeks, but we are catching up now!
Adios Amigos!
-Chelsea
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