Newsletter: June 2022

Newsletter: June 2022

Chocolate, yoga, birding and more. This is what we have been up to the past few months. Macaw Lodge and Macaw Kakau continue to grow, provide experiences, and sustain the vision of the brand. We believe in creating connection to Nature and we are happy to share our news and pictures of our recent events with you!

CHOCOLATE FAIR: WE PARTICIPATED ONCE MORE

This June 2022 we participated in the sixth Chocolate Fair in San José with our iconic chocolate brand Macaw Kakau. It was a pleasure and a great experience to participate another year for multiple reasons: reconnecting with chocolatiers from other parts of the country, promoting our brand and new products, and exposing ourselves to the public.

Yorleny comments:

‘We gathered and connected with so many people. That’s what fairs and expos are for. It took place June 4th and 5th at ‘La Antigua Aduana’, translated as ‘Old Customs’, a big building located at the corner of Barrio Escalante. The purpose is to meet other cacao fanatics, or people who also love chocolate. We intended to meet people, and for people to meet us. We want the public to know where we are, what our products taste and look like, and to find new clients, even business partners. It’s a unique experience. There was a lot of social interaction, which is very different than life at Macaw.

The competition was interactive with the public, as they participated using a QR code. Our famous Café don Roberto at 60% won third place in the ‘natural flavors’ category. People are now into more natural flavors, organic, fresh, tasty. Chocolates with artificial flavors like added vainilla scents or fake orange candy are no longer sought out. Separately, we brought a new ginger flavor without package, permits and so forth. Freshly made. From our grounds. It was a success! We are hoping to be selling this ginger chocolate soon.’

MAIN YOGA DECK EXPANSION: WE MADE IT BIGGER AND NICER

Our yoga deck just got bigger! It’s exciting to share with you some pictures and tell you about the bigger space for yoga we created. Our main deck, close to the lagoons and gardens, has additional 50 meters squared, almost 540 square feet extra. Thanks to this new build, it now fits 35 to 40 people. The pool next to this new space is one of our favorite elements: it adds fluid sound, a repetitive and soothing rhythm, and a general sensation of tranquility. To our garden views, we added a white lotus. Just planting this, we are waiting for the flowering, for that beautiful short moment. It symbolizes Peace and it is exactly the universal message we want to bring and create. Stay informed and wait for our news about upcoming yoga and wellness retreats in our social media:

GLOBAL BIRDING DAY: WE COUNTED MANY SPECIES OF BIRDS ON OUR PROPERTY

‘We woke up around 3:00 AM, leaving San Mateo to arrive and start birding at Macaw around 5 towards 5:30 AM. Right before the entrance of Macaw, we spend the first minutes looking at different species. It’s a forest that is a bit more dry, more like Carara National Park. Once you enter Macaw, it is way more humid. The species you will spot are different. By the bus stop, almost before the entrance, we spot our first birds.

It was four of us that spent the whole day looking, searching, spotting, watching, counting. We managed a total of 119 species. We came number 14 out of 15 in Costa Rica. My favorite species to see is Pysaetus tyrannous, a small eagle. If not, the green ibis. A species that is not so rare, but here in the Pacific is hard to find. According to literature, and the database Ebird, it’s rare to see in this part of Costa Rica. But Macaw, yes, it’s here. Five or six months ago, you could se it in the lake as if nothing. Here are some pictures. We saw it near the river. So yes, the green ibis is amazing to watch. It’s not common in this area.

What I love the most about birding at Macaw is that there are so so many species to watch. In 60 minutes, you can watch 60 types of birds. From this point of view, it’s beautiful. You can see so many in such little time. Clearly after such spaces, the rhythm is not as impressive. The same restaurant can reveal a lot, a long list. It’s a combination, it’s a transition forest, with one part dry and another part humid. Or the Green Ibis, it’s not Pacific, it’s not Caribbean.

It has the advantage that this open area, you can find such a big variety and diversity of birds. There is also the area of primary forest near the waterfall. The volume of birds gets lower, but the rarity, the least common ones, in this part of the forest. Let’s say, that Macaw Lodge is a birding space for any type of birder: beginners, who do not know much and are happy watching the easier more accesible kinds, and experts, who love the challenge, the hidden, the rare.’

Ready to visit? To plan your travel and your stay, please feel free to reach out to us:

Email: travel@macawlodge.com

Whatsapp: +506 8762 9090

Phone: +506 8310 9073

Written by Gabriela Mateo

Newsletter: August 2022

Newsletter: August 2022

'Don't look at the big, overwhelming issues of the world. Look in your own backyard. Look in your Heart. What do you care about that isn't right where you live? Fix it.'

Mike deGruy

YOGA WITH ANALU AND MUSIC WITH TAPADO VARGAS

Ana Lucía Fariña returns to Macaw to our newly expanded yoga deck. We see old and new faces, positive intentions, wil to work and enjoy the body, and an additional guest: Carlos ‘Tapado’ Vargas. Musician and composer specialized in percussion and photography, Tapado believes in the healing power of sound. Alongside Analu, founder of Pranaluz, health and wellness promoter, they created a space of relaxation and healing. After a powerful yoga pratice, the group had a meditation oriented practice: kirtan. The concept is translated as ‘repetition’ from Sanskrit. It’s described as a practice in which you meditate, sing, and worship the Divine

PURPLE CROWNED FAIRY HUMMINGBIRD

A few weeks back visitor Andrew Russell spotted a Purple Crowned Fairy Hummingbird (Heliothryx barroti). With it’s beautiful deep green back and white body, this hummingbird carries a purple crown on it’s head. This bird is not typically found in the Central Valley. Andrew came to visit Macaw searching for this hummigbird. He came clearly to find it. He brought a chair, and walked towards the heliconia patio. Since Day 1 he was photographing, observing, and waiting. The second day he sat to look at 6:00 AM and waited. It was until midday that the hummingbird popped up again. Andrew shared his pictures with us and we can appreciate here the beauty of the bird and the moment.

RECYCLING WITH NEIGHBORS IN TARCOLES

We participated in the Clean Beaches of Playa Tarcoles Campaign with other groups. Just in front of the fishermen, we started recollecting and gathering trash, residues and other things that the rains have washed upon our shores. We had a lot of kids from the School and Community of Bijagual, The Association of Women of Bijagual, and the Turtle Movement. We were approximately 70 people. We arrived at 8:00 AM and right there in the beginning of the Tarcoles Beach we start picking up trash. Step by step, we managed to gather half a ton, or 500 kilograms. It’s impressive and very moving to see so many people active, with the will and desire to help the environment. It’s amazing to visualize the collective effort and it’s impact on our coast.

Ready to visit? To plan your travel and your stay, please feel free to reach out to us:

Email: travel@macawlodge.com

Whatsapp: +506 8762 9090

Phone: +506 8310 9073

Written by Gabriela Mateo

Newsletter: October 2022

Newsletter: October 2022

bi·o·di·ver·si·ty

the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem

REMODELATION AND FINISHES ON THE BUNGALOWS

The original bungalows that were under repair and being remodeled are finally ready! We are very happy that Macaw Lodge slowly, organically and steadily keeps growing it’s installations. Since the original vision of the hotel, the central structure, we have built several cabins in the last 10 years. All with the end of receiving visitars in a comfortable, private way, surrounded and intimate with the Nature around us. We think about details such as the small balcony with a view to the forest, the lakes, the jungle and the gardens. We build with materials that we ourselves produce. The teak from our plantation and the bamboo from the area. These bungalows are the first that were built alongside the Lodge and we recently finished bettering the railings and the floors. We are always ready to keep bettering ourselves and our spaces, receiving guests, and being a space that is quiet, peaceful, beautiful and connected to the surroundings.

NEW VISITOR: SLOTH AND MONKEY SEEN AT MACAW

A few weeks ago we observed two animals that typically are not around Macaw Sanctuary. We are very happy to share images of a sloth and a white faced capuccino monkey. They visited us for a few weeks and have made a temporary home in the trees and jungle of Macaw Lodge. In Costa Rica, we can observe two types of sloths: two toed (Choleopus hoffmani) and three toed (Barypus variegatus). In this special case we saw two toed. These animals are slow, and typically in the treetops, avoiding predators, searching for fruits and nuts, or just a space to rest. Sadly, deforestation and agriculture malpractice in the area, alongside urbanization and big developments have decreased the population of many sloths in different parts of the country. Thankfully, our reforestation efforts have brought about this new resident.

White faced monkeys are more frequent in touristy places such as Manuel Antonio. It is an animal known for it’s curious and fun personality, it’s lack of fear to get close to people. White faced monkeys live in the dry tropical forest, the humid forest, secondary mature forest and mangroves. You can find them all the way from Honduras to Colombia and Ecuador. They it palm fruit, guaba trees, ‘jocotes’, ‘guarumos’, ‘ceibas’ and other local trees, both seeds and fruits. They will also eat ants, crickets, butterfly larvae, bugs and other insects, even small mammals and reptiles. We are very happy to see a monkey at Macaw Lodge.

NORTHWEST CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL: WE ARE PARTICIPATING

We are very excited to share the fact that we are travelling to Seattle to participate in the Northwest Chocolate Festival, the biggest chocolate fair in the West Coast, where 12,000 participants are estimated to come. We will bring our chocolates, our bomboms, and the brand Makaw Kakau. We also bring a lot of desire to share, to compete, to exhibit and to meet other people with the same passion for chocolate and cacao.

The 5th and 6th of November we will be exposing alongside other 100 brands and projects around the world, getting to know each other, tasting, trying and exchanging experiences of what good chocolate is and means. Our talk (exposed by Pablo and Fred Rubin) is titled ‘Agroforestry and Biodiversity’ and focuses on cacao and our agroforestry systems. Additionally we are going to participate in four categories: chocolate with coffee, chocolate with ginger, chocolate 60% and chocolate 70%. We are happy and nervous to see how we are judged and how we place. We hope to enjoy the event, and in effect, meet and make friends, clients and establish long term relationships, a philosophy of Macaw. We are super excited to be there!

Ready to visit? To plan your travel and your stay, please feel free to reach out to us:

Email: travel@macawlodge.com

Whatsapp: +506 8762 9090

Phone: +506 8310 9073

Written by Gabriela Mateo