We began the day with a post-breakfast lecture on this particular Eco Lodge we are staying with; its history and the processes of becoming and maintaining "Eco Lodge" status. So, 18 years ago this Eco Lodge began as a Ecotourist hostel with only four rooms to loan out, and the time there were only three hotels in La Fortuna. There were several public institutions within Costa Rica, as well as outside benefactors in the Netherlands, that assisted the Eco Lodge initiative with loans. After several loans, this particular family who owns La Catarata Eco Lodge (where we are staying) began seeing return as more tourists came to the area. After difficulties in being approved by the bank, this family has been owning this Eco Lodge for four years. These loans were to enhance the infrastructure of the hotel, as well as purchasing services making this lodge for eco-friendly (like more efficient washer/dryer systems, investing in solar energy and power, etc.). I'm very impressed with the facility in general and really anticipate that this business will only continue to expand with the popularity of "sustainability" going to be globally-recognized.
We drove to the waterfall next, and being an avid waterfall-jumper myself, I could not have been more excited to see this thing. Of course you will notice by the photograph below that I could not jump because of the size and magnitude of this fall, but swimming and enjoying the sunlight was pleasing. As I said, my camera and toes did not come out victorious against the waterfall, so there will not be many photos after this post - enjoy them while you can! Besides this, I loved the waterfall and it made me appreciate just how beautiful Costa Rica is.
The afternoon was spent at an indigenous attraction, yes I will say attraction, with the Maleku tribe of Costa Rica to learn more about their culture and practices. With all of the interest I have for indigenous tribes in Latin America, I was not impressed with how 'sold out' this tribe had become to the tourism industry. To better explain, this site that we visited was not even part of the indigenous tribe's land, rather it was purchased so they may put on a performance to play into foreigners' opinions of "indigenous" - which was more a less something I think should have been put on as a local theatrical site. This was the most disappointing venture within Costa Rica - the only disappointing, to correct myself - and it is only because nothing was serious or interesting about this visit. It was almost a mockery of the Maleku tribes, and I was upset to see it so dramatized.
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