Nacientes Palmichal

Overview

Description

Nacientes Palmichal is a local community initiative in a rural area of the San José province, Costa Rica, in a community of 5,000 inhabitants called Palmichal de Acosta. Just 30 miles (48 km) from the capital, you will discover incomparably beautiful spots with crystalline waters and a primary forest with a high diversity of plants and animals. You will also discover a community that is developing sustainable, carbon-free alternatives in partnership with private businesses, institutions, organizations, and farmers.

The area’s primary forest has characteristics of a cloud forest and contains 20% of the nation’s flora and 15% of its fauna. It has an outstanding number of bird and butterfly species. For your enjoyment, we have designed day and night hikes.

The Nacientes Palmichal Inn has a 103-acre (42-hectare) reserve to conserve wildlife, a water reserve along the Tabarcia River and springs that feed its channel, and 617 acres (250 hectares) of privately-owned farms that recieve environmental service payments.

From the Inn, you can visit the protected areas of Cerros de Escazú, Rodeo de Mora, and La Cangreja National Park. For those who have limited movement or who prefer to remain close by, we have a garden with native species that surrounds our mountain hotel. We offer descriptions of the plants’ importance; our garden educates visitors about our rich biodiversity, including noteworthy species such as capulin negro (Trema micrantha), burio (Heliocarpus appendiculatus), guitite (Acnistus arborescens), and many more. There is also a garden with medicinal and aromatic plants and an organic vegetable garden where we grow produce that is used in our restaurant.

Coffee growing is a tradition in this region, and from September to March, visitors can observe or participate in coffee-picking with local farmers. Year-round, you can visit the ecological micro-mills to learn about pulp removal, drying, and roasting coffee and enjoy flavorful cups of excellence that have won awards at national and international tasting competitions. You can also learn about waste management, the production of organic fertilizers, and water purification.

Diverse family micro-businesses in the Tabarcia and Negro river watersheds have incorporated waste management into their farms (cattle and sheep) and they use biodigestors to produce biogas and bio-fertilizer. Here you can milk the cows and help make cow and goat’s milk cheeses. The families also have vegetable gardens and some are using hydroponic techniques.

We offer visits to the indigenous Huetar Reserve where local people share their stories and show you how they make traditional handicrafts and use roots to make colorful dyes for decoration and embellishment. Other activities of the farming families that you can enjoy:

• A community that has maintained its rural lifestyle, surrounded by mountains, primary forest, and clean rivers. Asociación para el Desarrollo Sostenible San José Rural (ADESSARU) promotes, along with other local organizations, public institutions, and private enterprises, a sustainable local development style based on a watershed protection concept.
• A natural butterfly garden while you hike on trails that take you to El Salvaje hill, with extensive natural forest.
• Water catchments at several springs and the Negro and Tabarcia Rivers that supply the communities of Acosta, Mora, and Puriscal with fresh water.
• Trout and tilapia fishing with help from local families.
• The coffee farms of Don Manuel and Doña Meri where you can enjoy a campesino lunch served on banana leaves and a cup of coffee prepared the way our grandparents did it.
• The coffee plantations.
• The ecological coffee mills managed by the Vindas family and the Producers Association of Acosta and Aserrí.
• Organic farms that produce fruits and sugarcane.
• Hikes for one or several hours in the mountains.
• Horseback riding - see beautiful birds and butterflies or hike the Las Ninfas trail to see the springs.
• Other sustainable initiatives like the organic gardens and the semi-stabled cattle farms.
• The swimming area in the community of Tabarcia.

Rooms

Nine in the lodge and up to seven homestays in the local community.

Making a Difference

Number of employees: 10

Percentage of local employees: 100%

Nacientes Palmichal is a local project that is working to conserve water and other natural resources. We are developing the local micro-watershed, where there is an urgent need to conserve and protect the Negro and Tabarcia rivers so that the 50,000 inhabitants of Palmichal and the nearby communities of Acosta, Mora, and Puriscal will continue to have a water supply over the long-term. ADESSARU has prepared a strategic plan for the sustainable development of the micro-watershed of the Negro and Tabarcia rivers.

On your visit to Nacientes Palmichal, you will enjoy a beautiful setting with extensive mountains while also helping us to protect and conserve our water and forests. Your visit will also create jobs and income for the families that offer related goods and services, improving their quality of life. During your visit, you can help schools develop conservation and environmental sustainability groups with the help of local government and institutions working to advance sustainable development.

Local men and women have received training to start micro-businesses that supply produce to Nacientes Palmichal. Nacientes Palmichal seeks to be a model for rural community tourism, agro-environmental training, sustainable production, and the conservation of natural resources within the country and abroad. We do so by promoting the participation of the community and national and international organizations, in order to ensure the quality and quantity of water resources. Rural, community-based tourism, which includes entrepreneurial families conducting environmentally-friendly initiatives, is a tool for sustainability.

Rates

$26 – $50

Rates are per person and include three meals per day.

We offer special rates for groups of more than 10 people - we have the capacity to accomodate groups of academics, unions, students, churches, private business or others, who at any time can enjoy country-style refreshments and lunches.

For more information about rates and reservations, click on the orange “Contact” button above.

For more information about rates, please visit:

• www.nacientespalmichal.com/nacientes_palmichal_lodge.html (available in English).
• www.nacientespalmichal.com/nacientes_palmichal_die_herberge.html (available in German).

Getting There

Nearest international airport: San José (SJO)

Travel time to nearest airport: 1 hour 15 min

Nacientes Palmichal can be visited any time of the year. We are 25 miles (40 km) from the National Gymnasium in La Sabana, San José, on the road heading west towards the town of Puriscal. From the gymnasium, take the road to the Forum in Santa Ana and continue west for 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) to Ciudad Colón. Continue a few more miles/kilometers to the junction for Tabarcia. Take that road and go 5.5 miles (9 km) to the village of Palmichal and continue 1.8 miles (3 km) east to Posada Nacientes Palmichal.

We have a map of the route to Nacientes Palmichal from the Gimnasio Nacional, in La Sabana, San José, with the distance marked in kilometers at main points.

Additional Information

• A list of sustainable development and conservation projects carried out by ADESSARU. Each one has links to profiles on Eco-Index.
• Letter from Costa Rica: Spiritual Gifts abound in the cloud forest. February 2009. Account of a family's experience at Nacientes Palmichal, written by David Joseph and published by the U.K. newspaper The Guardian Weekly.
• Recognition of small lodges in Costa Rica that are environmentally and socially sustainable. Features a list with links to short descriptions about each lodge.
• The President of the Republic and the Minister of Tourism signed a law to promote rural community-based tourism. A paid advertisement in the La Nación newspaper describing the event held at Nacientes Palmichal where Dr. Arias Sánchez signed this law, which aims to encourage family and community-based tourism enterprises. Nacientes Palmichal. July 17, 2009. In Spanish.

Awards or Recognitions

• "Rural Inn Tourism Declaration," awarded to Nacientes Palmichal by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute in 2008.
• National energy prize in the "Innovator" category given by the Chamber of Industry, the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, the National Power and Light Company, and the Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Telecommunications in 2011.
• Nacientes Palmichal was declared to be in the Public Utility in 2002 by the Presidency of the Republic and the Ministry of Justice, in recognition of its objectives and its work done to benefit communities.

Additional Web sites

• www.actuarcostarica.com/app/cms/www/index.php?locale=en-US&id_menu=145&pk_product=15 (available in English). Information on tours and other services available from Nacientes can be found on the Costa Rican Rural Community Tourism Association (ACTUAR) website (Also available in Spanish, French, and German).
• www.lemonde.fr/voyage/article/2012/01/19/le-costa-rica-au-dela-de-la-carte-postale_1632041_3546.html (available in French). Le Costa Rica, au-delà de la carte postale (Costa Rica, Beyond the Postcard). Article featuring Nacientes Palmichal on French publication Le Monde's website.
• www.voyagerluxe.com/costa-rica-monteverde-le-paradis-vert.6265.html (available in French). An article in Voyager Luxe magazine about ecotourism in Costa Rica.

Date This Information Was Provided

June 2013.

Photos courtesy of Nacientes Palmichal, Costa Rica, for SustainableTrip.org.