Dear Sandro, thank you so much for all of the hospitality that you have offered us. You are truly a great person and have made our time in Rancho Quemado awesome. The tour of the cocoa farm and making the chocolate was an amazing experience to understand working with nature. The planting really helped with understanding how you and the community of Rancho Quemado are sustainable. You have been so fun to be around and thank you for sharing all of your knowledge with us and letting us eat your food.
Dear Don Trino, Randy, and Arjen. Thank you so much for a great first day in Rancho Quemado on the biological monitoring walk. It was very interesting to see the process of monitoring and how much time and work it takes. We also enjoyed hearing about your stories of how you shifted to preserving and monitoring the wildlife around the community. It was amazing to see your dedication to protecting the nature in Rancho Quemado. And a special thanks to Don Trino for showing us your Lechería, and letting us milk your cows. It was great to see that fresh milk be turned into delicious foods!
Dear Jessica. Thank you so much for helping us with everything. Your story of how you came here was incredible to listen to, and we’re all grateful to have had the opportunity to hear it directly from you. We all learned many valuable lessons about leadership, community, and courage from your experiences. On top of that, thank you so much for organizing our daily activities and allowing us to see the beauty of Rancho Quemado. We also appreciate all the snacks you have provided and your amazing bread! Thanks for making our stay in Rancho Quemado fun, interesting, and amazing!
Dear Victor, Thank you so much for letting us ride your horses and for taking us into the forest to see your office. The horseback riding was a great experience to see the community from from a whole new perspective. It was great to see the work you do monitoring the wildlife. It was very impressive to see your knowledge being used in action! Thanks for a great experience.
Dear Johnny, Thank you so much for inviting us to visit your Trapiche! To hear your story was truly a blessing and touched us all. It was amazing to hear your experiences and how you have preserved a historical process. We all admire your dedication. We were also blown away by your hospitality. We definitely learned a lot more about sugar cane and all the things you can make with it. The food we tried was amazing and we can’t wait to share your amazing story, knowledge, and miel that we’ll take back home with us. Thanks again for sharing your Trapiche with us!
Dear Enrique,we are so thankful for you being a part of our trip. Thank you for taking the time to drive us all over the country. You are a very funny man with good energy. everyone was in a good mood when you were around. we also want to thank you for letting us stay on your land and for all of the hospitality you expressed. you are a great guy and we all will miss you.
Dear Doña Rosa, Thank you so much for an awesome welcoming dance on our first night in Rancho Quemado. We definitely saw the effort that was put into preparing these dances and it was an amazing experience. You not only shared with us a great part of your culture, but you also let us partake in it. We would also like to give a big thanks for all the amazing food you prepared for us before we went gold mining. It was delicious, and must’ve taken a long time to make, which we greatly appreciate. We were all amazed by your hospitality and kindness in welcoming us into your home. Thank you so much again!!
Dear Nuria, Thank you so much for teaching us about the planting process as a part of preserving the wildlife. We all found it extremely interesting to learn which plants provide food for wildlife. We’re very grateful that you taught us about this process and allowed us to help. Also, we would like to thank you for taking us on a night walk. It was a whole new experience compared to the day hike, and it was great to see the animals that come out at night. Seeing the boa and the viper was super cool. Thanks again!!
Dear Luz. Thank you so much for teaching us about how planting contributes to preserving wildlife. It was very interesting to learn about different plants roles in the ecosystem. We are so grateful to participate in the preservation process. We also want to thank for guiding us on the night walk. It was great to see how it differed from the day hike and to see new creatures active at night. Lastly we would like to thank you for showing us around the Lechería and explaining how the milk is used to prepare different delicious foods. Thanks so much for everything!
Dear Juan, thank you so much for the amazing tour of the artisinal way of finding gold. This process was truly awesome to understand how people in Rancho Quemado starting finding gold. The joy that you have in finding gold and living on this land was truly inspiring. Thanks for the knowledge that you shared and for the hospitality that you showed.
Dear Juana, Odili and Grinzel thank you so much for sharing your knowledge of cooking traditional foods in Costa Rica. The food was truly delicious and we were so happy to be learning from you. Learning how people in Rancho Quemado and Costa Rica make some of their food was really interesting and fun to learn about.
Dear Felix and Odili, thanks for showing us your farm and your unique planting techniques. It was really cool to try some of the foods after we had planted. The freshness that those plants had was really amazing to eat. we will be back in a year and see the yukas.
Dear Ariana,thank you for giving us the opportunity to improve Rancho Quemado by providing us with paint. we also enjoyed your presence with us on our adventures. thank you for translating and helping us gather as much information as possible. this helped us better immerse ourselves in the culture of Rancho Quemado. Thank you so much!
Dear Alice and Johanka, thank you so much for the incredible food everyday. it was was cool to eat foods that grow here so we could see the connectedness of the community and sustainable culture. we hope to take this concept home with us to make our communities more connected to the land.
Dear Alice and Felix,thank you so much for sharing your stories with us. It was so moving how you took a risk and moved to a new place that was barely populated and perservered until you were living in a place you loved. So inspirational. Also thank you for the hospitality that you guys provided, and how nice your whole family is.
