Life in Mastatal

Sabado 20 de junio - Mastatal

The majority of the group are up at 5am to take the 5.30am bus and head off for their weekend away. For me, Roger and Chelsea it is a welcome lie in! All our meals this weekend are slightly later than the week day schedule. After breakfast, we have a chilled morning.. Roger teaches me a finger picking tune on the guitar, a romanza, and then continue to read a couple of my books, including my spanish book Bajo la misma estrella. 

After lunch, me and Roger play a game of chess on the floor sized board up in El Rancho. We then head into town, with the weather looking ominese.. will we beat the heavy rain, a daily occurence here. 

We make it to Mastatal, with only a few light rain drops hitting us and it is ice cream for me! At the bar the 2nd half of one of the Copa America group stage matches is about tp restart, Argentina v Jamaica. At the end of the game I buy a beer to take back with me for later. 

Domingo 21 de junio - Mastatal

The howling winds wake me, and the rain lightly drips away. After breakfast, I play table tennis against Chelsea and then Roger. . I am today's champion! Me and Roger then have a chess rematch, which I also come out on top of today. Close to lunch time, the thunder is alarming and suddenly heavy rain pours down around us! We wait until the storm finally passes before heading to the kitchen where we find no food! It seems like Javier, Rakel and Andres have eaten. . We preceed to cook our own lunch. 

Out of the blue, and unexpectedly, Rachel appears.. there is no bus to Mastatal on a Sunday so it is unusual for new people to arrive, Rachel however has taken a taxi from another finca further south..a place she had planned on spending 2 months but after, unfortunately,  a terrible first week she had made the decision that she had to get away, hence her arrival. The rest of the evening is chilled out, tomorrow it is back to working in the mornings.

Lunes 22 de junio - Mastatal

After the previous rain drenched day, this morning the sun has returned, a dooming figure on the horizon which, depending on our mornings work, can make it much tougher and tiring. First we mix the compost and add two buckets of an effective microorganism liquid. We then spread seeds on an area we have previously cleared before finishing our mornings work by digging a small thin trench close by to the dormatory, in order for the water to drain away down. Later in the afternoon Mali, Isa and Rosie return, at dinner the group catch up. Roger funnily retales the weekends events of our ping pong games here, and how competitive I became. 

Martes 23 de junio - Mastatal

Rosie's return means the yoga sessions restart for the week, a challenging but fulfilling way to start the day. 

If it doesn't challenge you, it doesn't change you.

After our daily breakfast of rice, beans, scrambled eggs and fruit, we get ready for our mornings work. To begin with we dig up the soil in areas cleared by Randel and plant papaya. Next, machetes are handed around to everyone which we preceed to use to cut down a large area of the farm, plus branches from trees Randel starts clearing further down from the perimeter which we are next too. Two nice blisters appear from my overly keen machete swinging. 

In the afternoon, after lunch, Ranel returns to help lead us to another of the nearby waterfalls. My decision, suggested and also taken by Mali to wear flip flops , is questionable at times on route but when we reach the stream, which we follow up to the first waterfall, proves a good choice. We leave our belongings on the rocks and are soon all having a dip in the water by the first smaller waterfall. It is possible to climb around the side and slide down back into the water on the smooth eroded rocks. At the second larger waterfall, which around october after the rainy season is possible to jump from high up into due to the higher level of water there is then, we relax and enjoy the heavy water crashing onto us.. A free massage! On the way back I end up ditching the flip flops for part of the way (carry them instead) and walking barefoot up the muddy slippy route. 

Today is it Chelsea and Rogers final day, over the weekend I have grown closer to them, sharing many laughs together whilst also delving deeper into American/World politics, although usually also ending in a joking manner. Tonight we have therefore decided to have a bonfire and enjoy the final time together as a group. As we arrive back to the main road from our waterfall route, me, Mali and Isa continue downhill into town to buy beers and where we also bump into Jasmine and Elizabeth who have returned to Mastatal a day later than the others.

In the evening, before the bonfire we play some more games of ping pong. . Keeping my reining champion title. The rest of the evening is spent chilling by the bonfire, under a staring night sky, enjoying each others company.

Miercoles 24 de junio - Mastatal


This morning Javier brings new of our mornings work that causes excitement amongst the group. 

we are assigned with the task to paint the back side of the house, which is currently blank (other walls have been filled with paintings of wildlife from volunteers in the past) and we have free creative licence! Javier provides us with leaflets of wildlife found in Costa Rica for help with ideas and our drawings. Then we are off.. To begin with we start mixing colours to create more options. Me and Elizabeth start finishing off a beachside section which has previously been started. I then decide that I will attempt to paint a monkey on the side of the palm tree...I find a picture online, pencil my version on and then a lunch break preceed to paint. Rachel helps me get some shading. .It turns out better than a few of my initial paper designs but I'm told looks more like a bear!

Later in the afternoon, whilst a few of us are sat chilling in dining area we hear monkeys thst sound close by. We walk a few steps to the driveway and stop to look through the trees into the distance where the sounds had come from. In a small space amongst the branches I make out a brown monkey which I manage to point out to Mali just before it shoots off, out of view. Wow.. True wildlife on our doorsteps..

I am now over half way through my Barack Obama lifestory book 'Dreams from my father'. Three new volunteers, Jared, James and Cara all arrive whilst I'm swaying gently, reading in one of the hammocks on the farm. As usual there is plenty of laughter at dinner, followed by a fun, if a little intense, group card game. 

Jueves 25 de junio - Mastatal

This morning I work with James, Cara, Jared and Rachel, our first job is to move of the food compost piles and mix it into a pile of dead leaves.. We begin filling up buckets with the compost and Rachel carries them to the leaves. After mixing the compost with the leaves we add two buckets of EM (effective microorganisms) and 2 of pig poo.. Covering it with plastic sheet afterwards. The rest of the morning is laid back, I show the new guys around the farm.

After short passing rain shower early in the afternoon, the group heads into town where we have a game of football. Having recovered from last weeks games, it is a lot more fun, as I can actually physically run around more..as usual a sweaty affair. 

In the evening Elizabeth sets up her laptop in the inside yoga deck and we all huddle around the screen to watch INTO THE WILD.. A thought provoking, must see, enlightening and deeply moving movie. I fall asleep afterwards, my mind spinning with endless thoughts, questions about life and where my future path might or could lead me.

Viernes 26 de junio - Mastatal

I have another restless nights sleep and awake still thinking through the affects the previous nights movie has had on me. Life and how will I live..

This year has brought me experiences and adventures beyond any expectations I had before, so it's inevitable end will be difficult although I am content in knowing that it will soon be over. For next year, it is uncertain if my previous feelings to escape and begin such an adventure return..my stomachs hollow cry abruptly pulls me out of these thoughts followed by the sound of the pan being struck, signifying meal time..desayuno!

This morning Javier announces to the group that we will be again working at the entrance of the national park. Here we rake up leaves around the entrance and using a pile of rocks, we create pathsto a hut that will become an information centre as well as a path leading to one of the two routes into the park. After clearing a pathway on a hill which leads up to a camping spot, we carry a large log there which will be used for construction. Javier is pleased with our mornings work, and how tidy and presentable the entrance now looks, so he dismisses us from work and we make our way to the nearby waterfall to relax and cool off. A great end to my second week here.

In the afternoon there is another heavy down pour, similar to sunday afternoon. Today it is Elizabeth, Isa and Rachel's final day on la fincal. After dinner we all head to the bar in town for a final drink together.

Sabado 27 de junio - Mastatal

With many of the group either having left or leaving for the weekend, it just me, Jared, James and Cara left at Villasmastatal. Again I haven't slept well but can at least have a lie in this morning. After breakfast I get comfortable in a hammock and finish reading 'Dreams from my father'. The rest of the day is spentplaying cards and table tennis, which I manage to cling onto my undisputed title as champion despite Jared's best efforts! A new volunteer, Floriane, from France, arrives and provides the chance to attempt an introductory tour in spanish. Tomorrow we will all be undertaking an 8hr return hike to the top of one of the national parks mountains. . We will be setting off around 5am, so head to bed early in preparation. 


Domingo 28 de junio - Mastatal


After slowly waking from 4.30am onwards, we find Rosie in the kitchen already cooking eggs for our breakfast. . Perfecto! The previous night we have served up leftovers from dinner into tupperware for food to have on our hike. Randel appears around 5 am and after some final prep.. 15 mins later we are on route.. Three dogs Toby, Milo and Miguel also accompanying us. 

To begin with we follow the road up past the national park entrance which we cleared on friday and then continue much further uphill..in total for an hour. We have a short break when we reach the entrance we will be taking into the national park. From this point, Randel tells us, we will have 30-40mins steep climb.. 3 times as bad as our inital uphill walk so far, followed by one to two hours flatter trek.

 A few deep breaths and then one by one we begin the ascent, which as warned by Randel, is gruelling at times, but there is a welcome coolness in the air the higher we climb. One picture I take, of Cara and Rosie, sums up the feelings we had all felt a points on this section.. Their faces painting the picture. Finally we complete this section and meet another group from one of the other fincas in Mastatal with whom Randell has been in contact. 

The rest of the way is through the jungle, mainly flat, but still with occasional steeper ascents and descents.. Around 9.30am, we emerge from the cover of the trees to find ourselves at the highest point! 

At first the views are covered by clouds, but after a brief wait, as we catch our breath, the wind clears away the clouds and we are left viewing fantastic views out to the horizon. We then continue on briefly to another area where we stop, chill, enjoy the views and eat our rice and beans..reggae music filling the air from a portable speaker. Using Randall's binoculars it's possible to see the outside yoga deck at Villasmastatal far below us in the distance. 

The return route down is tough on occasions and slippy on the steep sections.. At those points I opt to slide down on my bum but overal, as usual, it seems a lot quicker. Once we reach the road it's head down for me andI power on back to the farm.. Where a cold shower is a perfect end to the long days hike. Soon after returning the rain starts pouring down, which continues throughout the rest of the afternoon and into the night.. putting a stop to any plans to head to town for beers. An adventurous day and another geat experience.