Author: Ligia

He asked: Ligia, I want to know things to do in San José that are not a shopping center. I want to meet locals.

Mr. Yves was bored in his hotel room in San José. After doing some loops in the lobby, he came to check out the tour desk. I was sitting there with not much to do. Sunday afternoon was usually the worst day to sell tours, so I used to chat to the guests that were bored like Mr Yves.

He was one of my best clients when I worked at the tour desk in a 5-star hotel in San Jose. He was staying for 3 months with the company that brought him to Costa Rica, and he had weekends off, so he booked tours every weekend.

However, after a few months, he had done all the touristy stuff. I had sent him on tours around the city and out to the volcanoes, to ziplining, and to white water rafting.

When he came to see me that Sunday, he had rented a car and was looking for something more authentic. I checked the list of tours that the company that I used to work offered, but there was nothing that immersed visitors into to the local culture. I wasn’t sure what to tell Mr. Yves.

Looking back, I wish that I knew of the existence of projects like Nacientes Palmichal at that time. It’s perfect for people like Mr. Yves, who don’t have time explore the whole country but want that authentic local taste of the country close to San José

If I have the opportunity to sell the tour to Mr. Yves I will tell him this:

• Duration: Full day
• Physical Activity: Light
• Location: Small village
• Travel style: Local immersion, comfortable clothes, no WIFI, no English unless you pay extra
• Price: $65 US approx. Ask directly to Nacientes Palmichal (Prices changes from season and group size)
• Ways to get there: By Bus, By Car or Taxi
• Distance from San Jose: 1 hour
• Tour duration: 8:00 am until 4:00 pm

Mr Yves would take a car—he always thought taxis were expensive and the bus was too much work. He was independent and adventurous, and Waze was his best friend to get to his destination.

Rodrigo and I recently did something similar and made arrangements to visit Nacientes Palmichal. Check out more about it in our other post.

What do you do in Nacientes Palmichal?

1. Meet the guide at Palmichal downtown and drive to “Cerco de Don Manuel y Doña Meri”
2. Eat a typical breakfast and observe the coffee plantations
3. Visit a dairy farm and milk a cow. It’s a nice hike getting there.
4. Have lunch at Nacientes Palmichal lodge
5. Drive to a farm where they will explain how they make coffee and grow orchids
6. Participate in a tortillas workshop and drink coffee with the family
7. Head back to San José

Our itinerary:

We recognize that we did the one-day tour a little differently since one of the families was out of town on the weekend that we visited the area.

Also, we decided to stay overnight, so that gave us more flexibility to do the things with more time.

So here is our experience doing the one-day tour at Nacientes Palmichal:

8:00 am  Our day started waiting for Sergio, the coordinator from Nacientes Palmichal in front of the Catholic church of the small town of San Pablo of Palmichal.

He welcomed us and asked us to follow him to his grandma’s house where we were going to have breakfast together.

8:30 am Dona Mery, the grandma, welcomed us and invited us to sit while she was pouring the coffee and serving our breakfast in the traditional way that breakfast was served for the farmers.

The gallo pinto, tortillas, eggs and plantains were wrapped in a plantain leaf to keep them warm and give a particular flavor. OMG this was amazing! I never tried a traditional breakfast in this way before.

I made a special connection with Doña Mery. She started telling me about her husband who passed away and how much he enjoyed protecting nature and spending time with visitors.

I felt as if I were talking to someone I already knew from before.

Sergio explained about the project and how much his family has been involved. We took some pictures while we enjoyed a beautiful patio full of fruit trees (mangos and jocotes) and a lots of medicinal plants.

After this special time where they make you feel more like family than tourists, we left the house to continue on our way to the lodge.

10:20 am  We parked the car and were introduced to the ladies who work at the lodge. We settled quickly into our rooms and Don Alexis (he is like a local guide) was ready to take us (a group of 7 people) to the dairy farm.

The farm belongs to another family that is part of the community. They produce cheese and coffee. Their employees explained the process to us.

After 30 minutes walking uphill, we crossed a river and enjoyed the views of the mountains.

We got to the dairy farm, and right away we started to milk the cow. I need to confess: I am terrible at this. I almost got kicked by the cow, but fortunately, her legs were tied.

After watching the animals of the farm, we chit-chatted with the people there, who told us that there is a viewpoint to observe the city and it is on the land that protects the springs of water.

They sell coffee produced in the area that costs about $4 each bag.

We were ready to start our way back.

12:00 pm Back at the lodge, we explored the area while we waited for our lunch. They have a greenhouse and nice gardens and the lodge is next to the river, so it is very peaceful and calm.

It was funny because that weekend, the place had been rented by one of the members of the association to celebrate a birthday party, so we were kind of in the middle of the celebration. It definitely was not something that happened every day, but it was fun to see.

1:30 pm Lunch was ready, and it was good, fresh, typical Costa Rican food.

Since our plans were to stay the night at the lodge, we had plenty of time to relax until the next activity: the “Tortillas Workshop.”

I took a nap like I haven’t done in a while with the sound of the river in the background. Amazing!

5:00 pm Our group was ready to prepare the tortillas. If you go to a Costa Rican house, your cooking skills will be measured by how good you make your tortillas. Ohh yeah!

We ate our tortillas and it was a great opportunity to talk to the cookers (group of ladies) of the lodge about the impact the project has on nature in the area.

Coffee, tortillas, good people and good conversation. I think you can’t ask for more.

7:00 pm Dinner time. More food! Oh Lord, I felt all I had been doing was eating, but oh well, I couldn’t complain.

The place gets really quiet, so you can go to sleep early or play some board games. Remember, there is not internet or TV. So it’s a great time to reflect about your day and R-E-L-A-X.

A different option of things to do in San José

I can definitely picture Mr. Yves returning to the hotel and telling me all about this tour. It was the local experience that he was looking for.

It’s a very different side of San José that doesn’t involve a city tour or shopping center.

I wish the people that have to stay in the city gave themselves the opportunity to explore the culture and see the daily lifestyle of the farmers that produce important products that people from the city eat.

People are always looking for things to do in San José. I remember from our time working at the tour desk that people wanted something close and not that expensive. However, we can help you to organize your travel experiences like this one; as I used to help Mr. Yves

Click Here for more info! 

If your time in Costa Rica is short and you don’t have a lot of time to explore, this also will be a good option to take into consideration.

Nacientes Palmichal  is a great opportunity. You will learn a lot about a community that protects nature and also you will be supporting locals while you enjoy delicious food surrounded by San José mountains and taste a different thing to do in the city.

Wait. ecotourism in San Jose?

It is not a secret that some people don’t think that San Jose is the prettiest city in Central America. People usually don’t come to Costa Rica thinking to spend much time exploring San Jose.

I have to admit that, like many people, I am guilty of bad-mouthing San Jose. However, not all San José is as crowded, full of traffic and dirty as people picture based on what some people will tell you about the city.

The city is surrounded by mountains, and those mountains have beautiful towns inside with beautiful landscapes to explore. They show a complete different face of San José.

Rodrigo and I met in San José. He is from there. But honestly, San José hasn’t been my favorite part of the country.

However, I have always been interested to learn more about rural tourism and responsible travel. (If you want to know about it please check this article.)

As I was searching and reading about the topic, I came across a project that has been a pioneer in Costa Rica in sustainable tourism.

The project name is: “Nacientes Palmichal” and is located in SAN JOSÉ, but in the rural side of the city.

So we contacted the association, organized a visit and decide to try the little-known side of San José. Why not?

About Nacientes Palmichal

• Location: San Pablo, Palmichal de Acosta
• Distance from the airport: 40 km (25 miles) – Approx. 1:15 min from the airport. 
• Number of rooms: 8 rooms – Capacity for 46 guests. 
• Facilities: Lodge, restaurant, trails, greenhouse, gardens.  

A little history

The idea behind how this project started is really interesting and meaningful at the same time.

The area is located next to two important water resources for the San José population.

The Tabarcia River and the Negro River produce around 500 liters of water per second.
According to Hernán Ramírez, President of ADESSARU (Asociación de desarrollo San José Rural), same the runs

Nacientes Palmichal, has confirmed that the rivers provide water for 50,000 people.

That is a pretty significant number.

But in the 90’s, the area faced a huge pollution problem. The water pollution was the result of the coffee production in the area. The waste of the coffee was thrown into the river.

Some neighbors took action to protect the springs of water and the forest area next to them.

They created an association (here in Costa Rica, associations work like NGOs) dedicated creating the conditions to protect the nature in the area.

After that, in 2001, together with other initiatives in the country, they started to think of a larger goal of ecotourism.

They obtained some funds from an international organization to start the project of rural tourism.

As a matter of fact, our Costa Rican tourism board promotes rural tourism as the 4th strongest tourist product in the country.

In 2004, The association that manage Nacientes Palmichal got really involved in the development of alliance with people with same mindset for this type of tourism.

In 2009, the government, together with private and public organizations, signed the law of promotion of rural tourism.

It’s really inspiring to see the hard work and effort that this community does. They not only took steps to protect nature, but they also took it further to create a network of local businesses where the families will benefit from tourism.

What should you expect from Nacientes Palmichal?

The way the project is structured, it’s different than when you visit a hotel or a development tourist attraction because the philosophy and the nature of the project.

In this case, you first visit the lodge. From there, you will have to walk or drive to the other projects that partner with Nacientes Palmichal.

What are those projects?

All of the projects are family-based projects and have a direct impact in the people of the area.

They are neighbors in the area who are mainly dedicated to one of Costa Rica’s main economic activities: coffee, dairy, sugar cane, crafts, trout fishing. etc.

Tourism helps support and generate extra income for these families, especially while the harvesting seasons are low.

This way, they don’t have to depend only on one income source.

At the same time, they want you to experience their daily context. This lets you learn from the culture and interact in a deeper way with them.

• Activities: Nacientes Palmichal offers a one-day tour in the area so people can visit different initiatives.

Each activity has an extra cost, but if you are doing a one-day tour they will take you to at least two of those activities.
In our case, we did the dairy farm tour.

Trails: There are a few trails, around 15 minutes walking distance from the lodge.

Coffee: They will take you to a house where they do the whole coffee process.

Agriculture: Also, they can take you to visit trout fish farms, organic farms that have sustainable practices.

• Accommodation: Rustic Chalet. The room we stayed in had 1 queen bed and 2 bunk beds. 
• Food: Typical Costa Rican Food. No alcohol drinks. No menu available.
• Service: Warm and kind. The staff doesn’t speak English.

Who is this project best suited for?

The project has a lot of experience with groups of students and families. Their strength is working with teams (for example: local universities and international students).

But couples like us will also like this project.

For solo travelers, well, it’s ideal for the ones who are looking to step out of their comfort zone and be willing to try an experience of the local culture of Costa Rica. However, it can get a little challenging if you don’t speak Spanish.

Also, we experienced that the staff is not there all the time. There was a guard the first night but not the second night. Some people might feel lonely.

However the staff of the lodge lives across the street of the place. At least this was our personal experience.

Good place for writers, artists or anyone who wants to relax

In our case, we love being active outdoors.

We wanted to hike as soon as we got settled into the lodge.

There was not a specific trail that belonged to Nacientes Palmichal, but they suggested we walk uphill through the gravel street that was kind of a “trail”.

However, since there were several private properties around and we could see the fences, we decided that it was not a good idea because we didn’t want to break into a private property and get in trouble.

Also, it started raining that day. So we stayed at the lodge.

Once you are in the lodge, there is not much flexibility to explore around and there are not any stores to buy groceries around. There’s also no internet, so just be prepared with a book.

I am not trying to sound like it’s a complaint—actually, I love the fact that you disconnect without WIFI. But since we love to be busy, it was a challenge at first, but a good opportunity to slow down and relax.

It would be a great place for someone who needs to write or find inspiration.

So, in other words, the project is for people who want to disconnect, learn and relax.

Our recommendation is try to come with an open mind to experience the way they organize your tour. Expect rustic lodging and a lot of good food. I felt most what I did in each activity was EAT and have good conversations.

Also, you will be treated more like a friend than a client. So it’s different, but not necessarily bad.

Actually, it’s a great project to visit and learn about the rural side of San Jose to see a different perspective of their lifestyle.

We applaud their hard work and fight to protect an important resource of water for San Jose, where the majority of the population of the country lives.

Amazing! You need to visit yourself to witness the project because it will be hard to put in this article all their love and work that they do in water conservation in our country.  

Highlights of the experience

• The lodge is next to a river and the sound to sleep is beautiful.
• The view of the green mountains in front of the lodge were really pretty.
• The food was good. Even when they don’t have a menu that you can pick from, they select a good variety of options, all produced locally.
• Even for us as locals that have visited similar places, the uniqueness of this project is that they are pioneers in water conservation and rural tourism. It’s a pleasure to support the hard work that they have done through the years.
• Meeting “Doña Mery” and listening to her wisdom was a cool moment—connecting with her and talking about the old times.

How to get there?

*From Nacientes Palmichal website

By Bus:

It requires 2 buses to get there.

• From San José, in the area called Coca-Cola. Look for the company Comtrasuli bus stop. This company provides service to Palmichal de Acosta.
• Tell the driver that you are getting off at the Palmichal de Acosta School.
• Then you will have to take another bus called locally “Periferica” and this bus will get to the village of San Pablo of Palmichal. Tell the driver that you are going to Nacientes Palmichal
• The last bus stop is 800 meters from the lodge.

Another option is to coordinate with the lodge and arrange that they pick you up at the school, especially if you are doing the one-day tour.

By Car:

From Downtown San José

• Take the Próspero Fernández highway from La Sabana Park and drive to Puriscal.
• 9 km before Santiago de Puriscal, at the crossroad, take the left road to Tabarcia.
• Once you get there, keep driving 3 km east to San Pablo of Palmichal where the Environmental School Nacientes Palmichal is located.

Contact Info

• Phone: 2418-4328 / 8663-5845 Sergio Ramirez Azofeifa
• Facebook: Nacientes Palmichal
• Website: http://www.nacientespalmichal.com/en/

*** Note: Updated July 2018. This post was originally published in March 2016 and has been completely revamped for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

Supporting local economies is one of the goals of sustainable travel. However, since 1980 -1990 Costa Rica has been adopting a model of development called rural tourism.

Sustainability is a trend—a good trend—that is increasing in different areas of our life.

People are looking to have a balanced lifestyle in different things: what we eat, the way we exercise, the way that we live in harmony with nature.

Travel is no exception. People are looking to have more meaningful experiences. In our case, we found that collecting pictures and stamps in a passport will be meaningless if you don’t learn or contribute anything in the process.

From working in tourism, we have seen that massive tourism is not good for a town and sometimes can bring more harm than good.

So, a few years ago, we decided to focus on a different way of travel and have been learning more from it each day.

Rural Tourism: What exactly is it?

When I did my university graduation project about a local community in San Ramón, Alajuela, I fell in love with the concept of rural tourism.

It’s hard to describe it in a few sentences but I will do my best.

Basically, rural tourism is tourism that takes place in a rural area where the main economic activity doesn’t come from tourism.

For example, the main income may come from dairy farming or growing coffee. Since some of these activities are seasonal, tourism can bring in more income in the off-season from the visitors who are interested in learning about the daily life of the villagers.

It’s a way that the dollars you spend in a place will get distributed better in the community as a whole rather than just to a big chain.

Our experience with Rural Tourism:

Rural tourism has let us see so much more than just a tourist destination. We got to experience local culture and see people’s daily lives.

The first time I went to Bajo La Paz, a rural village 40 minutes away from San Ramon downtown, it was part of my final graduation project at university back in 2009.

The trip allowed Rodrigo and I to immerse ourselves in our own culture on a deeper level.

We found the Danta waterfall, the most delicious homemade lunch at Cafetería Flory cooked in a wood stove and the sweetest tradition of the sugar cane.

After a few visits, I realized the impact that this place had on us. It was about much more than just visiting a place—it was about learning the conservation work that they do in the nature that surrounds them.

Here are the most valuable lessons from our time learning from the community:

• The owner of the waterfall, “Nacho,” who used to be a hunter, told us how he decided to preserve the forest after a deep talk with a university professor.
• Doña Flory, the owner of a little restaurant, taught us how perseverance and hard work bring results. The secret ingredient of her food is love because it was 5 years until the restaurant produced enough for her to hire people from the community.
• The Arias Family explained how they fight to preserve the art of the sugar cane process that our grandfathers did for a living.
• Another family taught us how they get their main income from the exportation of butterfly cacoons.

Our first time exploring Bajo La Paz, San Ramon

It was a very fulfilling experience to see how we could take a theory from a college project to become a real business plan that creates a rural tourism experiences where local families get involved and benefit.

So, that experience is where we first got encouraged to promote this style of tourism.

We did different initiatives like creating a travel agency called “Tikizia Travel” and attending a fair to promote the community of Bajo La Paz,  San Ramón. We worked together with the community, and the lessons will be forever with us.

Mass Tourism VS Rural Tourism

According to an article titled “Rural Tourism – An Overview”:

Mass tourism is characterized by large numbers of people seeking culture holidays in popular resort destinations. Alternative tourism (rural  tourism) is usually taken to mean alternative forms of tourism which give emphasis on the contact and understanding of inhabitants’ way of living and the local natural environment. (Humaira Irshad – Rural Development Division, Goverment of Alberta)

So let’s look at the pros and cons of the different types of tourism…

All-Inclusive Vacations and Resorts

Pros:

• Everything is planned for you
• Luxury accommodations
• Easier to make decisions when you are part of a big group

Cons:

• Your money is going to a specific brand of hotels, so it’s not really supporting local economies
• Long stays in the same place can turn into a boring vacation
• Little room for flexibility to change schedules and experience the unexpected
• The environmental impact that some hotel chains have done in our country, destroying nature to build

Rural tourism Vacations

Pros:

• Seeking out rural areas while traveling or taking a trip can be incredibly rewarding
• It can be an awesome and inspiring learning experience
• The people are friendlier and you get a more personalized experience because you are not just a number
• It could be cheaper traveling in this way, and at the same time, the money benefits local families and projects

Cons:

• It involves more planning
• You may not find it so easy to get to your destination, and there may be less information available online
• If you are not an open-minded person, you will feel there is less choice
• There is less beautiful architecture… so definitely not recommended to people itching to see the modern buildings in Tokyo or medieval architecture in Rome

Many travelers go to countries famed for their incredible natural beauty, and yet spend all their time in cities or all-inclusive resorts. People who travel this way miss out on experiencing the heartbeat of the country.

It’s not necessary to base your whole vacation on rural tourism, but making a little portion of it would give a better taste of the culture and lifestyle of Costa Rica or the country that you are visiting.

Further thoughts …

In my personal experience, I will be honest: I understand rural tourism is not for every traveler, but the government promotes a lot of these types of initiatives for Costa Rican entrepreneurs and farmers like every single tourist is going to pick one of these trips…. That makes me think… Realistically, entrepreneurs and farmers on the other side struggle in the lack of knowledge to do marketing, especially with the constantly changing social networks.

A big group of them are not familiar with this technology at all, and even if we pretend they are super cool bloggers or  Facebook pros, my question is how can they compete with the big companies that invest tons of money in marketing and big tourist resorts?

Costa Rica has learned the lesson in a hard way with what happened in Guanacaste after the building of an airport there. Now, most tourists visit Guanacaste—around 400,000 tourists. More than the local population.

The income from touristic projects in Guanacaste ends up in just a few hands. You can learn more about the situation in our article. Watch the video. Recommend!!!

“When people go on vacation, they generally seek out destinations that offer them the sense of being someplace, not just anyplace.” ~ Richard Moe, President, National Historic Preservation Trust

We believe in a better way to do tourism, and we know there are many people like us out there. Rural tourism makes you feel that you are in a place with an identity, not just anyplace. On the other hand, big resorts feel basically the same everywhere in the world.

You have the power to support local communities when you pick a rural tourism project. If more tourists that visit Costa Rica will decide to change the way of travel, we will have a better distribution from tourism and keep protecting nature.

This model benefits everyone, even YOU, our dear traveler! We like music not because it gives us money in return but because it uplifts our souls. It is the same with rural tourism.