Valle Escondido

A picture of Valle Escondido with a rainbow on the background

The next place we stayed at during our Eco-tourism trip to Costa Rica was called Valle Escondido in Monteverde. This is a hotel, organic farm, and nature reserve. They also offer lots of educational opportunities.


The weather here was very pleasant. It felt like the temperature was between 60 - 70 degrees F, which feels just perfect for me. It rained occasionally, mostly at night. It was also very windy at night.


I'm not trying to advertise for anyone, but I am telling about my experiences in Costa Rica - most of which were absolutely fantastic.

The Hotel

Our room at Valle Escondido. There's a double bed, bunck beds, lots of windows at the top of the room

We had a spacious room that opened right to the outside.

Another view of our room in Valle Escondido. This is looking out a large window. There is a coffee maker, two cups, and a tupperware container on a table.

They do not use pesticides on the grounds at all. We were given a tupperware container to put any food inside to keep the ants and other bugs away.

It was a nice room. There was no TV or anything so it was quiet.


some juice and a bowl of granola with a mountain view in the background

Breakfast with a lovely view was included with our room.

A breakfast with eggs, cheese, jam, tortilla, and rice and beans
the view from breakfast of the moutains and a bird
The view from the cafe of a coati walking around on the grounds with palm trees

And there was a cafe that served lunch and dinner. The food was grown on the organic farm connected with the hotel. Some of the gardens were right in the cafe. It was all really delicious. We could see the resident coati while eating lunch in the cafe.

plants growing in the hotel. It looks like a hibiscus tree

The hotel had lots of plants throughout the open air structure.

Organic Farm

A list of 12 permaculture principles. Observe and interact Catch and store energy Obtain a yield Apply self regulation and accept feedback Produce no waste Use renewable resources and services Design from pattern to detail Integrate rather than segregate Use small and slow solutions Use and value diversity Use edges and value the marginal Creatively use and respond to change

The hotel is on the grounds of an organic farm and we got a chance to walk around and see it. There was a self guided permaculture tour of the farm. We learned about the 12 principles of permaculture, and observed how they practiced each principle. There was a permaculture tour where they had a map with twelve stops and each stop described how they practice one of the principles of permaculture.


A sign describing principle 5 - use and value renewable resources. They use the sun to dry their laundry

For example, one stop showed their laundry room where they hung their bedding to dry, using the sun to dry the sheets and towels without using electricity while making the textiles last longer.

A view of the laundry room ,which is a green house like room where the laundry is dired on a line
A sign about permaculture principle 6 - produce no wast. It describes how they use their gray water

As part of the permaculture tour they also showed us how they use their gray water to hydrate the plants.

gray water being piped into a pond to be used to water the plants
A rainbarrel with plants growing in it

They caught rainwater in barrels. They used compost and grew plants in the rain barrels to help enrich and oxygenate the water.

A bunch of half circle tubes being used as garden beds

They used portable beds for gardening that could be transported to schools for educational purposes.

some ree range chickens behind a fence


They kept chickens,

a bee hive

bees,

a compost bin at Valle Escondido

and had many different methods of composting.

Nature Reserve

A close up of a purple flower

There is a nature reserve on the grounds of the hotel with extensive hiking trails. The nature reserve has 44 acres of trails through the forrest where we saw lots of different plants,

A waterfall in the forest

waterfalls,

A view of a lush forest

and great views.

A really large ficus tree

They offer tours of the reserve, but we just walked through it ourselves. We saw Ficus trees,

bananas growing in a banana tree

And banana trees and lots of other things.






There was even a hammock garden, which I didn’t get a picture of.

Education

A sign describing permaculture at Valle Escondido

Valle Escondido offers lots of classes on permaculture and other subjects. There were several classes going on while we were there and the students stayed in the hotel. The permaculture walk was an educational opportunity for me while I was at the hotel, and there were lots of posters and signs informing us about permaculture and sustainability.

A map showing the ground of Valle Escondido

Conclusion

This was a really great place to stay if you are interested in eco tourism. There is so much to do, enjoy, and learn right at the hotel. They really practice sustainability - no greenwashing here. It was about a 10 minute drive over bumpy roads to the city of St Elena and 20 minutes to the entrance to the Monteverde National Park and to where we went on some tours. But we also enjoyed walking around the hotel and surrounding area. There’s a butterfly garden, Jardin de Mariposas very close to the hotel. We never got a chance to go there because we would always show up after they closed

Our next stop was Uvita

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