Jungle Jamz

 This garden produces 70% of what we eat on site.

 Passion fruit.  Quite alien looking if you have never had it before.

 Matt Hogan, the crazy tattooed gringo with a possibility altering vision.

 We will climb anything and everything.

 Sprinkling calcium on the trails to eat up the moss.

 Best movie theater in the world.

 Watering hole at base camp.  Awesome after a hard-days work.

 View from the office as I am writing this blog :)

 Suzie and Stephanie.

 Oso.  He's much less scary in person.

 The A-Team of voluteers!

 Building a shelving unit for the bunk house.  Dad, I hope you dig it!!!

 Wood pecker.

 Tree frog.

 Andres killin' it.

 Finished product.

 Boards + Waves + Cold Beer + Costa Rica = Heaven.

 The Sensei teaches.

 His pupils learn.

 Erica tight roping like a champ!

 We don't call him Sensei for nothing...

Style with ease = Steez


What a whirl wind life is… so many things happen in every minute millisecond. Outlook morphing, value shaking, plan altering revelations come to life at least 20 times a day. I have been learning so much about life and what’s important, I will do all I can to hold onto these gems when I return to the “bump and grind” (laughable if you know anything about the Butte!). I need to remember the soft sounds of the birds in the canopy and waddle of the lizards along the rock trails as I sit in fat tire to fat tire traffic on my townie bicycle this summer.

It is quite rejuvenating to laugh until you cry over things that consumed your life as a kid. Having a juggle session with the soccer ball in the wet grass. Getting blasted in the gut with the ball as Andres tries a goofy round house kick to keep the rally alive. We recently hung a slack line in the center of base camp. For those of you who don’t know, a slack line is an inch wide rope tied between two trees. The goal is to channel all of your ninja focus and circus talent and walk along this line, pivoting at the ends to do it all over again. Chris and I are hooked! It is such a cool setting too. You feel like Mr. Miagi from Karate Kid is sitting by offering words of encouragement as he cracks his bamboo rod when you fall yelling, “AGAIN!” The slack line is tied between an almond tree and two bamboo trees. There are no planes flying overhead. No buzz of traffic. Just you, the birds, about one billion insects, and your breath. Beautiful.

The bunkhouse (or Funkhouse to those that are down with the get down) is fully packed with hard working volunteers. Chris and I are living it up with The Oso, Suzanna (down to earth chick from Texas) and Andres (super positive ultimate chiller from Canada). Loving the family we have put together here at the finca. The cackle of laughter and clinks of cocktail glasses can be heard from one side of the valley to the other.

We are getting so much done here at the finca. Andres and I built a shelving system for the Funkhouse that includes six shelves and a bamboo rod for hanging clothes and the like. The Oso and Suzie have been kicking butt whipping up tasty treats in the kitchen and tending the garden. Chris, Andres, and I just started our biggest project yet…Re-working the trail system. It has been a lot of fun so far and our goal is to never have another hiker ask, “um…where am I?”

I bought a new surf board shred stick during our little surf get away last week. Matt, Erika, Andres and myself cruised up north to a town called Esterillo where we stayed in a hotel with a beach break out front. Life is good!

Thanks for keeping up reading this jumble of a blog. Please check out the www.fincabellavista.net website for more updates. There was a HUGE American Eagle photoshoot here just before Chris and I showed up. A few days ago the AE summer ad campaign launched with shots of supermodels giving you their “blue steel” all over the finca. It will be plastered all over Times Square in New York City for the next three months! Matt and Erika are so stoked and we couldn’t be happier for them. Please check out www.ae.com for the inside scoop. Much love to all!

“Rock on Rockers.” -Oso Polar