The Beginnings of Florestral
The SOL Family moved to Costa Rica in 2009.
It would take three years before the land that was to become Florestral revealed itself.
Those years were an important time of learning - of beginning to understand what it really meant to live in the jungle while also holding space for others.
During that period, we cared for and helped bring life to different projects on lands that, for one reason or another, were never able to fully blossom. Along the way, we created temporary community, held retreats, and continued holding the vision of a Gateway to the Forest.
These were the beginnings of Florestral.
Each place became a home for a while. We welcomed people into our lives and to our offerings, shared meaningful experiences, and formed precious connections that would remain with us.
Although we changed locations often, we poured a great deal of ourselves into every place we inhabited.
And with each move came the growing belongings of a retreat center, along with a nursery of medicine plants traveling from farm to farm while living in pots.
Some eventually outgrew their pots, and so, with respect, we planted them in special places along the way.
We had visited many properties, but none of them were right. So eventually we stopped looking and focused on life in the present.
And then, in a beautifully unexpected way, we stumbled upon The Land - a cattle pasture tucked away along the banks of the Diamante River, barely 200 meters from where we had already been living for the previous year.
We had found The Land that was to be Florestral !
After three years of moving, learning and searching, the journey changed. We were no longer looking for a place to belong. We had found the place where we could begin to put down roots.
A Time of Pioneering Begins
As soon as we had an entry road we started coming to the land to work.
What we came with:
Enthusiasm and life force - yes
Money - not really.
An incredible empty canvas - yes!
A vision and a visionary - yes!
Awesome friends wanting to help - yes!
From September through December, we worked with total dedication.
The moment the first cabin, named Colibri, was ready - we simply moved in.
And a real pioneering life on the land began.
There was no electricity. We relied on a generator to run the power tools, the occasional blender, and perhaps an hour of light in the evening - often just enough to keep working and finish whatever task the day had given us.
The days were filled with work, and there was always more to do. Everyone contributed in different ways, bringing their skills, energy and willingness wherever it was needed.
Kids ran around and played in piles of sand, tried helping wherever they could, or they were pulling us for breaks to the river.
We had a clear deadline: December 2013, when we planned to welcome our first retreat season and inaugurate the land.
We were committed to reaching that moment - even if we knew Florestral itself would still be far from finished.
Each day when the sun set around 6pm, the workday came to an end. We would gather around the fire, unwind, share stories, sing a few songs, and eventually call it a night.
Then came the birdsong, the golden light of dawn filtering through the jungle, and another full-power day of work began.
If we needed to connect with the outside world, we had to leave the land in search of phone reception, Wi-Fi or electricity.
Life was simple, physical and deeply present.
The land had our full attention.
We were passionate and unstoppable. Each new accomplishment felt like a milestone!
One of the first structures we completed with urgency was a greenhouse and by November it was thriving.
And the Medicine Plants - they were happy to finally be in the soil of their forever home!
Amidst all the building and hard work, ceremony remained at the heart of life on the land.
At first, we gathered in the Colibri cabin, and later, as more friends arrived and as more cabins became ready, we used whichever space could hold us. We also built the first sweat lodge close to the river, opening the way for this sacred prayer work.
Within three months we had the modest first draft of the Hosting Center built and we were ready to receive guests!
Everything was rustic - the dining area had a tarp roof and a dirt floor, the Colibri cabin alternated between a sleeping room and the ceremony space. There were bucket toilets, no hot water but we had showers.. there weren’t many trees yet as we awaited the planting season.
It was simple down to earth and full of spirit!
The energy of the place was alive - exciting, adventurous and full of possibility.
And people came from all over the world to sit with us, drink medicine, sing, share, and receive whatever the unique experience had to offer.
Retreats and daily life became inseparable.
We were learning the ways of the jungle, walking the medicine path, growing the circle, and radiating a powerful sense of freedom, possibility and inspiration.
Some people stayed for a few weeks, others for several months - living the dream with us, contributing to daily life, and becoming part of the community. Others came only for the retreats, yet even for a short time, they were welcomed into the circle with the same warmth.
With the Forest in Our Vision
In the midst of retreat season, we also made an annual commitment to run a falafel stand at Envision Festival.
We worked it day and night. It was intense, exhausting and somehow great fun - but it also brought in important funds that helped us continue developing the Hosting Center.
And something unexpected happened there too.
Travelers would encounter our singing, laughter and good energy at the falafel stand, become curious about who we were, and later find their way to Florestral to visit, join a retreat and experience the circle for themselves.
In its own way, the falafel stand became another little gateway to the forest.
Our little rustic haven was quite fast becoming a known location for travelers looking for a safe container to experience the Medicine.
We continued meeting the growth spurts as they manifested - always ready to pull something together
In January 2014 people were signing up for our Forest in Vision retreat, and we needed a larger temple space to fit everyone.
So we landscaped the glade close to river and built the temporary tipi temple with bamboo from the land, shade cloth and plastic.
Against all doubt, the structure managed to stand for a whole year.
After our last ceremony of the dry season, as the rains began, the bamboo bent its knees and the temple went down..
Letting the Way Reveal Itself
By this time, we had already built the roof for what was originally intended to become the yoga shala. By June 2015, we had given it a floor, and it transformed into our new ceremony space. Beside it, creating a space for the cooking of the Daime.
But the rains were big that year and in July the tarp roof over the kitchen and dining area tore apart.
Instead of simply replacing the tarp, we relocated the kitchen set up in a squeeze beside the new Temple and began constructing a roof of steel simultaneously giving a huge upgrade to the dining area.
It marked an important shift. We were moving beyond makeshift structures and into something more lasting.
Little by little, Florestral Hosting Center was taking on a new form - more permanent, more intentional, and increasingly expressive of the artistic identity that would come to define it.
Looking back, we can see that Florestral was never built from a concrete plan. One thing revealed the next. Sometimes necessity showed us the way, sometimes the rains did, and sometimes we simply trusted what felt right and kept going.
The pace of growth was continious and often challenging, but there was meaning, learning and adventure in every stage.
Perfection mattered far less than genuine intention, authenticity and heart.
Today, almost nothing remains of the cattle pasture we first encountered. The land has grown alongside us - filled with fruit trees, flowers, climbing vines, creatures, community members and the many shared experiences lived here.
We are deeply grateful for what this journey has been - and for everyone who helped us build and shape it along the way.
We hope this memoir inspires you to trust your own path, follow what calls you, and allow the way to reveal itself one step at a time
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