Esperanza   (means hope)

Can you imagine co-creating a "live-in Botanical Garden", where you can pick your own breakfast?  Would you like to live in a climate and at an elevation where you do not need heating, nor air conditioning?  Would you like to live in a country with NO snow, NO army, and almost NO taxes?  Costa Rica is this paradise found and Londres de Quepos offers a “small town” feel.  Here you can walk to the local “Mini Super” for groceries, 3 restaurants, or the “Bazzar” to send a fax or shop for things found in a 5 and dime from another era.  think of it as Mayberry south.

The intention is to transform an organic farm, from Eco-Lodge into a sustainable Eco-Village with lush tropical gardens and 500 feet of creek frontage. Londres is cooler, greener than Quepos Costa Rica and Rio Naranjo is across the street.   Londres is the gateway to the rain forest, offering regular bus service, phone, high-speed Internet and mountain spring water.  Let's manifest an environmentally sound community where we all know our neighbors, and share a sense of spiritual community as well.  Here you will have opportunity to co-create a sustainable community, with a bio-digester, local composting, recycling, and water cascading into a tilapia pond.  Since we have to cover the pond to keep the Kingfishers and other river birds from devouring our dinner, why not use garden shade to create a Butterfly garden as well?  It's all about living in harmony with the land and leaving a smaller foot print.

Please join us in creating community.  The community house has 5 rooms. From Christmas to Easter it's an "intimate" Eco-Lodge, and I am meeting wonderful people from around the world. With the first New Moon of the New Year, it is time for new ideas, new beginnings.  Perhaps it is time to see if living in community is for you. The community house can offer an experiment or transition into community. Would you like to rent a room long term and see if you can adjust to living "outside the box?"  Living, learning and growing together.  Perhaps you have some talents and would like to co-create retreats or workshops?

7.5 Acres of Tropical Gardens and fruit trees                 You have to mentally rotate this photo as the "dog leg"is at the road.
                                                                                       Quebrada means creek and it is at the upper (S) boundary.

                                        
Kelly Huckestein drew the gardens 1/07                                        The quebrada is a magical, mystical place to relax.

More photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/askelena/Esperanza#

Phase I will be 10 “town homes” or “carriage homes” on the east and west boundaries, with 8 premium  (single family homes) lots the 50 foot wide sanctuary bordering the 500 feet of creek frontage on the southern boundary.   All homes would be allowed to build “Zero Lot line”.

Phase II will be 20-25 one bedroom apartments connected by covered walkways.  Each unit will have a patio and small yard.  There can also be some light commercial.  Imagine some retail space on the lower level, with a café and perhaps beauty salon at grade level and a B&B on the upper level. The final Phase will be an assisted living facility.  Our hopes are you’ll want to grow old with us, or bring your parents when you re-create your new life here.

This property has been operating as a spice farm and renting rooms since 2002. The guest book is full of comments on the tranquility and beauty of the gardens, producing organic fruits and spices, as well as fragrant flowers. Situated on high, flat land near Rio Naranjo with Quebrada Galera as the southern limit, the gardens are awe-inspiring.  Now you can be part of this garden community, a truly sustainable Eco-village, connected to Mother Earth in a tropical Garden of Eden only minutes from Quepos, the gateway to Manuel Antonio beach!

The beauty of Esperanza de Finca Amanecer, is the gardens.  Simply walk down the main "sendero" (path) and experience the grandeur of the towering hardwood trees. You'll delight in the organic spices:  vanilla, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, turmeric and cardamom, and tropical fruits: pineapples, mangos, avocado, oranges, bananas and then there are the flowers!  If you arrive in the afternoon you'll be seduced by Llang Llang, el Lirio or night Blooming Jasmine.  Here you can walk through a forest of ornamental Ginger and heliconias too numerous to count.

The Sanctuary is designed to protect and preserve the 50 feet corridor along the 500 feet of creek frontage.   Kids Saving the Rainforest have joined our efforts in reforesting the Sanctuary corridor along the creek with trees to attract and feed the Scarlet Macaws and the Mono Ti Ti monkeys.  A large cattle ranch on the western boarder of the project adds color and character to the tranquility of this rural agricultural property.  

The existing 6 bedroom farm house can be used as Community house, with kitchen, library, computer and laundry facility. In addition to the Sanctuary, we have our living Bamboo Cathedral where weddings or fiestas could be held.  In the future we hope to build a Bamboo Pavilion with material from the finca.  In addition to the tilapia pond with Butterfly Gardens, we'll convert the existing “spice farm” into a Botanical Garden in the center with all the homes around the perimeter. 

This project is NOT age restricted, but geared towards the "Green" Baby Boomers using the Global Ecovillages Network guidelines.  Eco-village members are united by shared ecological, social-economic, and cultural or spiritual values.  I feel this best describes the intentions of our community. I would like to encourage Healing Arts Practitioners as members.  As a means of income the community could sponsor monthly retreats and each practitioner could participate and ideally have an extra bedroom to rent to the guests.  This way we do not need a hotel setting empty half of the time. When the assisted living facility is built, it would provide employment to the larger Londres community.

Our summer corresponds with northern winters.  Christmas to Easter thousands of folks flock to the world famous Manuel Antonio Park to enjoy sun and surf.  May to Nov at least 350 people a week enjoy Class III/IV white water on Rio Naranjo across the street.  Esperanza offers hope and the perfect place, with the perfect climate, at the perfect time to make your life changing decision.

I hope you’ll wish to share the vision.

Won't you be my neighbor?

Thanks for taking the time to read this far.  May I ask you one question?  "The American Dream" is everyone wants to own their own home.  IF you were to relocate to Costa Rica, would you want to own or rent your house or apartment?  I think this is the next step in the development process.  Do YOU want to rent or own?  If you want to own a house, do you like the idea of clustered community with a shared Patio with BBQ, jacuzzi and laundry right there?   Would you feel comfortable with a condo type home with shared walls, or do YOU need space around your home?


Elena Ross  v   Co-creator


See who else thinks Costa Rica is the perfect place to retire?  Link to Henry Kaufman.

Wall Street legend Henry Kaufman eyes investment market in Costa Rica :  http://www.amcostarica.com/040309.htm
Buying 500 unit senior center complex  http://www.amcostarica.com/042709.htm