HISTORY OF MIRAFLORES LODGE

Ever since I was a girl and young married woman, living in Panama, I had a dream of owning a farm. My children had grown and now that I could follow my dream. I happened to see "Out of Africa", cried all the way home, and decided to return to Latin America to build my farm.

Now it was my chance to really develop a place where I could practice what everyone was preaching: a place where simplicity and modern technology could exist in harmony and where productivity and earning a living could be done without harming the environment or the local culture.

I could return to the rain forests I so loved, which were rapidly being destroyed .I decided to create a flower farm in Costa Rica where land was being cleared for banana plantations and the jungle plants were being destroyed. I could save some of the endangered plants and propagate them to sell.

I found a sleepy village, Puerto Viejo, where there was good land on the outskirts for a nursery and farm, available labor and members of the community willing to work on this project. I named the business Miraflores (Look at the Flowers) We built a lodge in the local BriBri style for me and my employees to live, with a plant packing area below, using mostly reforested laurel wood brought in by oxen from the rain forest and milled with a chain saw. We used fast growing bamboo cane for walls and ceilings, and surrounded the building area with flowers.

At that time, there was practically no place for visitors to stay in Puerto Viejo, and many travelers interested in the rain forest, as well as the beach and coral reefs, wanted to know if I had rooms for rent. I was able to propagate and sell enough rhizomes and flowers to expand my house into Miraflores Lodge, which started as the first ecological bed and breakfast in the area.

Speaking of which, what constituted my life as an inn keeper? For starters, the world came to me. I had no need to look for stimuli outside of the Lodge, as people from all over the world were my guests, and we always found a common interest.. New friendships were formed among widely diverse guests. They inspired me to continue to discover more about the flora and fauna of the Talamanca. I was able to keep up with the world and its events through the guests.

As I said earlier, I am a pioneer. I came to the jungle and created Miraflores. As I read the comments written by my guests in my guest book, I realize what a positive experience this has been for so many people, myself included, and I feel that is has been a success.