I had not visioned I would visit Central America when 2005 began, but on the invitation of my friend, Tenasi, I began to consider it. He laid before me his vision of a walk from the mountains toward the ocean over a weekÕs time with a circle of people learning to be conscious guardians of Eden. My role would be that of plant guide. This all sounded wonderful and everything began to fall into place. I traveled to CR the beginning of December for 2 weeks and felt my expectations were met and, indeed, exceeded! Check out pictures from our trip, other peoplesÕ accounts of the journey, and future plans at www.artofunion.com.
Floating Islands
Throughout my time in Costa Rica I was frequently informed about the unique qualities of this small country (1/2 the size of Kentucky). What amazed me the most was being told that CR (and Panama) were formed as an island six million years ago near the Galapagos Islands from the same volcanic activity that created the Andes. This island rode on the Coccos plate north and rammed into the Caribbean plate (and still is) connecting North America to South America. (I am reminded of the ÒDr. DoolittleÓ movie with its floating islands reunited.) Hence there are active volcanoes and hot springs.
I was amazed to find out that this place is home to over 10,000 flowering plant species (including 3000 orchids) and delighted to meet a number of endemic species. There is a wide range of ecosystems from the tropical to the alpine to the desert home to a mind boggling number of birds and other fauna. This year was CR rainiest in 30 years and the dry season had been delayed a couple of weeks spelling for us: MUD.
Getting Acquainted
From the moment of my arrival, I felt well looked after. Tenasi and Savitra met me at the airport and before we had left the parking lot they were splitting open coconuts and filling me with scrumptious fruits. We had three days to set the tone before our opening circle and we wasted no time heading to botanical gardens outside the capitol and the next day visiting the wondrous CATIE tropical gardens (www.catie.ac.cr/jardin botanico) sampling all sorts of fruits from mangosteen (one of the best fruits I have ever eaten!) to litchi to cacao. We walked through a labeled plant area and learned that they grew 11 spp. of coffee there and all sorts of positive aspects to the remarkable noni fruit (Morinda)[Rubiaceae]. We gathered some seeds of borojo (another Rubiaceae) from Columbia whose fruit has the highest levels of phosphorus in the world and is used as an aphrodisiac, wound healer, and visceral system tonic. The information they shared was great, I only wish there were more plant labels!
Then off we drove to the high mountains to visit our hosts for the beginning of the journey, The Seelye Family. The drive off the main road to their house was 4WD only with crazy turns and slippery slopes. Once there it took me a little while to acclimate as everyone sat around a barrel stove (with heating coils for hot water) talking and sharing. The parents had left the US more than a quarter of a century earlier and raised six kids high in the mountains creating a back-to-the-land homestead. Their history there is a rich memorable land. Lately they have been creating an ecolodge with customized tours (email: tourvueltas@yahoo.com). The four 20 to 27 year old kids who still live there are all very knowledgeable about the mountain plants (and many other things) so we had a lot to talk about.
The next day we went down the mountains on the west side to the produce market in San Isidro to get supplies and mingle with the locals and the growing number of organic farmers settling there from afar. Then we drove into the hills near by and up to the retreat cave. This remarkable place is an hour and a half walk up the into the jungle. Words are hard to find to describe this place with waterfalls cascading over caves equipped with beds and kitchen and bathrooms. Below a waterfall drops off 600 ft to the valley below; above are pools clean and fresh. Our walk would end near here and we would spend 3 days in this space reflecting on our journey.
Plant Divas atop the Mountain
The next day we traveled back to the mountaintop to an opening circle of 20+ of us. Thirteen of us formed the core of the hikers with a support crew and family members. In the morning we headed out with a couple of the Seelye sisters, Satya and Wendy as our guides. I was thoroughly impressed with their knowledge and teaching skills as we moved through some very unique zones. At our highest spots we were in the ancient Andean paramo (10,000 ft) with it valerian, Ericaceous plants, high mountain bamboos and a host of both familiar and endemic plants. In the subparamo we passed through huge forests of two species of oaks (one of them endemic) and came across a huge population of Ganoderma mushrooms. Very wonderful. Then down the mountain we walked to our pick up point for the night. We walked about 6 hours that day and I managed to get down 20 pages of notes from all that our guides were sharing! Over 50 families were recorded (perhaps 1/4 of the families of CR).
That night we gathered for a big feast on a wonderful homestead outside La Piedra where they had built a bunkhouse in which we stayed. I feel this family is really turned on to a lot of permaculture qualities and are be really important models for conscious living in many ways. We began the next day practicing group yoga with the rising of the sun then a huge breakfast and talk on plant evolution before a tour of the gardens and lessons in how to make bamboo mats and how to press sugar. All that before we even began our hike for the day. And what a hike it wasÉ
You have to go Up to go Down
We walked about 20 kilometers on that day. At first we walked along a dirt road up and up and over and down slowly and across the pastures. Eventually we went into the woods and half way through our walk we turned and headed down through lots of mud. I was amazed on this walk in general how much up we went to go down (dropping over 9000 feet during the hike). On that day we descended several thousand feet to the small encampment called La Chaqueta miles from the closest road. That trek down was trying on me as I was wearing sandals. I later found that wearing socks helps to keep a grip for some reason. But on that day I suffered from it some and walked several kilometers barefoot. I finished well in the night and was thankful for the comradeship of one of our guides, Jonathan. I was thankful to be done with that walk. We ate a wonderful meal and then slept well being sung to by some of our companions.
Music was a big part of the journey. Rebecca kept a wonderful focus of keeping us in musical vibes. Many in our circle had musical talents and two guitars accompanied us. A wide variety of acoustic instruments provided many sounds. We gathered several times a day to tone together.
Away from Roads
In the morning we had a large breakfast and gathered on the front porch to hear a reading from the ÒCosmic SerpentÓ, to discuss mushroom identification and look at a number of them that had been found along the way. The walk that day was less strenuous but still long. Over the five hours of walking I picked all the different ferns and their allies that I could findÑgathering around 20 spp. We also came across a wide range of mushrooms some of whom we could identify (we eventually noted the names of over 25 from our walk). Once again mud accompanied us and we arrived after dark at our next home outside Piedras Blancas for the night. Many of us took nighttime swims in the Rio Savegre to wash all the mud off under a big moon. We had been following this river for several days and had heard about it being the cleanest watershed in the western side of Central and South America. Apparently the Spanish Government has funded ecotourism as an alternative to cattle farming and other environmentally destructive ways of living. From this effort I saw a well-made map laying out places for people to stay throughout the watershed and enjoy natureÕs abundance.
In the morning we heard a reading from ÒThe New EarthÓ by Towle then gathered our forces for a several hour hike to our next destination, the retreat center of Curandero Albino. This walk though muddy went by quickly with a short break to talk about the differences between monocots and dicots. Then we had a long wonderful swim in the river before crossing it two at a time on a small gondola. The retreat center was lovely with an abundant garden all about and a big covered space for yoga and massage. I appreciate how in the tropics there is much less of a barrier between inside and outside.
Curandero Albino (age 55) took us on a walk through his gardens showing us the common medicine plants of CR. We then sat down and asked him questions about his life. He is half indigenous which he feels gives him insights into the plants. He is largely self-taught starting at age 15 and has a repertoire of about 100 plants that he draws from for healing. In addition to plants from his garden he finds a lot of healing power in the lianas (woody vines) in the jungle. Savitra complimented him on his good health. This he attributes to having tranquility and a varied diet. In the jungle he eats a lot of flowers and seeds.
One of the special features of his place is a sauna built into the hill with rocks and a barrel stove in the middle. He feels it provides healing in a physical, mental, spiritual, and supernatural way. He gave some guidelines such as going in naked and entering clockwise. Full moons he felt were the best time and pictured it as a kind of rebirthing from the mother earth. We all participated in a sweat going three rounds with a round of singing, one of silence and one of sharing heartsongs. I slept well that night in the bungalow.
The next morning we shared a breath work session opening up stuck energies and memories. Then breakfast, another short plant walk, and we were off walking to our next destination. Eventually we came to a huge teak plantation that was mud laden, then another river crossing and we had come to the end of our walk. We washed off and were given a lift to our next stop the homestead of Finca Brujo This place provided a wonderful nightÕs rest.
Pura Vida
The next day we walked around the permaculture farm and took a swim in the Rio Division. Then we made our way back to the cave behind the waterfall and spent several days recuperating from our walk and integrating what we had learned. In our five days of walking we visited six homesteads and walked about 60 km descending 9000 feet.
On one day a local person, Carlos, took us on a walk in the jungle and showed us the plants his grandmother had shared with him. He said he could confidently live off the food of the jungle. The next day another local person, Marcos, came and took us high into the hills showing us plants to eat and for medicine but also vines for making baskets and getting fresh water.
In the cave we were nurtured and had a chance to reflect on our time and share our lessons from the adventure. We were fed a wide range of delectable foods from raw food wonders to grounding soups. We had a memorable closing circle that went on for a couple of hours with some beautiful sharing.
The next morning our circle dispersed and several of us headed from the green jungle to the concrete jungle of the capitol and the next day I flew back to turtle island to continue my world walk.
Notable Flora of Costa Rica
We met hundreds of plants and mushrooms of all shapes and sizes. To do justice to them would take a lot of pages but I know people are busy so I wanted to highlight a few plants that could not go unaccounted for:
Gotu Kola (Centella sp.) [Umbeliferae]: We never were able to confirm the aid of the gotu kola we were looking at (and eating a bunch of ) that grew near the cave. I saw pennyworts throughout our walk (Hydrocotyle) but none of them had the smell or taste of the one I called a kind of gotu kola. One day several of us were accidentally mildly poisoned by an undercooked wild cucumber. I was weak the next day from it and found eating several rounds of leaves detoxified me and brought back my energy. One other person experienced a similar relief. Books noted Centella asiatica as a weed in the area.
Angel Leaf (Piper sp. ) [Piperaceae]: Being shown this common large leaved substantial Piper that was literally weedy, had a large impact on me. The smell of sassafras exuded from all parts of it and endured well in dried leaves. This seems like a great source for getting our sassafras needs without having to pull up young trees here. I really enjoyed the tea while there.
Noni (Morinda citrifolia) [Rubiaceae]: This miraculous fruit native to the West Indies was brought to Central America with the builders of the Panama canal and has been commonly planted ever since. Its uses were extolled where ever I went. At the CATIE gardens they noted that it was used for treating over 10o ailments.
The Sloth Tree (Cericropia spp.) [Moraceae]: There were apparently four species of this tree all having huge palm shaped leaves. A favorite food for the sloth it also is used a lot by humans for medicine. One curandero commented that is moved liquids through the body.
Cuculmeca or Zarsparilla (Smilax) [Smilacaceae]: I was very excited to come across this genus first in a curanderos garden then on two different plant outings. I think we saw a different species each time and was excited to see all the virtues they attributed to it calling it tropical ginseng.
Ortiga (Laportea) [Urticaceae]: We saw a number of members from this family including the European Nettles (Urtica) and a several tree sized members. Various species of woods nettle (Laportea) appeared before us on the walk with their milder sting but still nutritious and medicinal properties. A family that demands respect from humans.
Bocconia [Papavaraceae]: I was impressed with this tall big-leaved shrub in the poppy family that oozes orange sap used for dyes and to treat skin ailments and ulcers. The bitter roots help the liver, bring down fever and expel worms.
Palms [Palmae]: I do not wish to take away from the amazingness of the individual species by clumping them all here. With over 3000 spp. some argue this is the worldÕs most economically important plant family. I really enjoyed eating the boiled insides from the peach palm (Bactris). Hardly a day went by when I did not enjoy either the water or the meat of the coconut (Cocos). We were introduced to a number of palms whose hearts are commonly eaten. Knowing this certainly made survival in the jungle much more feasible.
Jackass Bitters (Neurolaena)[Compositae]: There are bitters and there are bitters. This one is notable by its sharp bitter taste in its leaves and its long presence in the body. Used to expel worms and often used by farm workers preventatively.
LadyÕs Mantle (Alchemilla) [Rosaceae]: I had only encountered the European species of this plant apparently used to gather dew for the alchemistÕs medicines and to treat womenÕs ailments. Up on the Paramo we found at least three species of it, all much more diminutive than the one I am familiar with.
ArtistÕs Conk (Ganoderma): We were blessed to find frequent clumps of this mushroom from a couple of different species including G. applanatum. Most of our crew had never had its rich broth before so we frequently made prolonged decoctions of it and shared it throughout our journey.