What a great weekend! Rancho Margot was even more wonderful than we had anticipated. The only downside was that we only had 2 1/2 days there, I think you might need at least a month to fully appreciate and experience everything the place has to offer. I have too much to write about this weekend, so I’ll start with some brief descriptions and include some pictures of all my favorite things (which was everything).
The Purpose: To help promote awareness and generally make the world a better place. If you visit here you’ll feel the impact they’ve already made in a very short period of time. While they are not currently 100% sustainable, that is the goal (right now they are up to 80%). They make their own soap from leftover oils in the kitchen and flowers from the many gardens, they have their own dairy, chicken coop and wood shop where they make all their own furniture. They have their own hydroelectric dam for electricity and burn the compost from the kitchen and the animals to get hot water. It’s pretty cool.
The Food:
Amazing, all-organic, most everything straight from the garden and the animals in the farm. I have never had such incredible, fresh salads before. The homemade bread, cheeses and brick-oven veggie pizzas were almost too addicting. The fruit was perfect. We ate waaay too much, but at least we now have enough vitamins and minerals saved up to last until we get back to the States. The animals are treated great too and get to live stress-free on a beautiful farm. Did you ever saw the documentary Food, inc. ? It’s nothing like that here.
The Yoga:
2 classes daily at 7AM and 4PM, both are 1.5-2 hours long. We took 4 classes over the past few days and loved every one. The studio is a giant open tree house standing in the woods over a river. All you can hear is the river flowing and rainforest wildlife in the background, it’s like a nature CD you might here in a yoga studio but it’s all real. During the early morning classes you get to see the sun rise up over the tree tops, and in the evening we got great sunsets and then tons of fireflies in the darkness. Their yoga instructor is one of the best I have ever had, and also one of the most inspiring people I have ever met.
The Bungalows:
So private and adorable. One of the nicest, most tranquil places I have stayed in Costa Rica yet. I probably would have been happy just getting to sleep on the hammock on the deck here.
The Horseback Riding:
We got to go up a mountain, down a mountain and through a river in the rainforest. The views were spectacular, and the whole experience was worth walking funny for a few days afterwards.
The Pools:
The cold water pools were almost a little too cold for us, but that just made the hot stuff even better.
The People:
By far the best part. We spent time with everyone from the volunteers to the reception staff to the owner. It’s the kind of place where you feel like everyone is family by the second day. They even made a cake for Ross’ birthday and threw together an impromptu dance party in the bar for him. It was a great night 🙂
Balanced in Boston 