Since the beginning, the environment has been at the center of La Cusinga’s mission and philosophy. John Tresemer, La Cusinga’s founder and manager, first came to Costa Rica as a college student from the United States more than 30 years ago. He fell in love with the unspoiled reefs just offshore, as well as the old-growth rainforest along the coast. At the time the site that is now La Cusinga was at risk from slash-and-burn deforestation, while the surrounding area under threat from proposed aluminum stripmining and the planned construction of a deepwater port.

Tresemer ended up staying in Costa Rica and, with the help of his parents, buying the land that is now La Cusinga. From the beginning his goal was to preserve the land and restore what had already been damaged. He tried various schemes for generating income from the land in a sustainable way, including chocolate production, before finally establishing La Cusinga Eco Lodge. Through his friendship with Alvaro Ugalde and Mario Bozo, the founders of Costa Rica’s national parks system, Tresemer was also instrumental in establishing several nearby protected areas, including Ballena Marine National Park, located just offshore from La Cusinga. In large part thanks to Tresemer’s efforts, what could have ended up an ecological disaster area is now an environmental success story.

La Cusinga takes sustainability seriously in all aspects of its operations. The lodge restaurant serves delicious food made with organic ingredients from La Cusinga’s own gardens and farm. Lodge buildings and furniture are made from sustainably harvested wood produced on La Cusinga property. The lodge has its own composting system, wastewater treatment system, and recycling center, and produces some of its own energy through solar and hydroelectric power. Tresemer and general manager Geinier Guzmán would like to further expand La Cusinga’s energy self-sufficiency but have been hampered by a lack of trained experts in Costa Rica to help build and maintain alternative energy infrastructure.

A key part of La Cusinga’s sustainability efforts is its involvement with the local community. Nearly all the employees are from the local area. In addition, the lodge has a close relationship with ASANA (the Association of Friends of the Nature of the South-Central Pacific), a regional organization that focuses on environmental education, biodiversity monitoring, and protected areas conservation. One of ASANA’s major projects is the creation of the Tapir Path Biological Corridor along Costa Rica’s southern coast between the Savegre and Terraba River. La Cusinga has been very supportive of this project, and the lodge’s private reserve represents an important refuge for wildlife species in the biological corridor. La Cusinga guests have the opportunity to volunteer with ASANA’s sea turtle hatchery program, and the lodge is involved in hosting workshops and training programs, controlling illegal activities that harm the environment, and coordinating work with local schools.

One school with which La Cusinga works closely is the Escuela Líder La Flor de Bahia, a primary school located in the nearby town of Uvita. La Cusinga helped the school set up a recycling program and also brings students to the lodge on field trips to learn about ecology, conservation, and sustainable agriculture.

Since the establishment of Ballena Marine National Park, La Cusinga has worked hard to help local fishermen develop alternative sources of income as boat tour operators. The park is ideally suited for marine tourism, with a dramatic, rocky coastline, offshore reefs, and islets where seabirds nest in great numbers. Bottlenose and spotted dolphins frolic in the deeper waters, and humpback whales – the park’s namesake ballenas – are commonly seen. Initially it was a challenge to convince local fishermen to stop exploiting the marine resources; once established, the whale and dolphin watching industry brought with it new challenges, as the tour boats began having negative effects on the whales. La Cusinga brought in outside experts to educate boat drivers about how to avoid disturbing wildlife and continues to work with a local tour operator, Bahia Adventures, to develop sustainable practices and train guides.

This emphasis on community and living within the natural carrying capacity of a place are at the heart of La Cusinga’s philosophy. The lodge currently has space for a maximum of 40 guests in private and group cabins, but its popularity has prompted many travel agencies to push for the construction of additional facilities. La Cusinga’s management isn’t giving in. With 250 hectares, “we could create a lot of rooms around here,” says Guzmán. “But that’s not our business.” Despite the pressure to expand, La Cusinga is committed to remaining a small, sustainable operation where protection of the environment is an integral part of the bottom line.

It’s also clear that La Cusinga invests a lot of effort in its employees and sees them as members of a special lodge community. Jason Retana, who describes his role at La Cusinga as “a bit of everything,” explained how he was once given a three-month leave of absence to learn about birds, trees, and other ecological topics from a visiting professor from England.

Not surprisingly, La Cusinga has been a labor of love from the very beginning. John Tresemer, La Cusinga’s founder and manager, shared the story of how he first came to Costa Rica as a 20-year-old college student from the United States more than 30 years ago and wound up staying. At the time the site that is now La Cusinga was being threatened by proposed aluminum stripmining and the planned construction of a deepwater port, as well as by slash-and-burn deforestation. To make a long story short, John got involved in fighting the project and, with the help of his parents, ended up buying the land that is now La Cusinga. “Instead of this becoming an ecological disaster area it’s now an example of ecological stability,” he said. John was also instrumental in initiating marine conservation in Costa Rica and establishing Ballena Marine National Park and other protected areas near La Cusinga.

After wrapping up our final interviews with La Cusinga staff, including General Manager Geinier Guzmán, who spoke about La Cusinga’s recycling, waste management, and other sustainability efforts at home, we set off down the road to another tiny airport for another Nature Air flight. With all we had to accomplish in our limited time at La Cusinga, our departure from the lodge was a bit later than planned. We arrived at the airport at Palmar Sur just 10 minutes before our flight. As we piled out of the vehicle and started unloading our bags, a Nature Air official came over, ascertained that there were four of us – the number of passengers he was missing – and started tagging our bags – no ID check, no asking our names, no nothing. We were the right number of people, we were foreigners, and we had luggage. He thrust our boarding passes at us and off we went.

After running through “How are you? What is your name? Where are you from?” and so on for a while with the students, we found an empty classroom where we could film an interview with computer science teacher Ronny Duarte, who spoke of the importance of environmental education and conservation. The school’s partnership with La Cusinga includes field trips to the lodge, where students learn about ecology, forest protection, natural resource conservation, and sustainable agriculture. La Cusinga has also helped the school set up a recycling program. Two of the fifth graders, Noah and Nelson, showed us the recycling station and demonstrated how they sort trash.

Back at La Cusinga we spoke with Ronald Villalobos Hoffman, the director of ASANA (the Association of Friends of the Nature of the South-Central Pacific), a regional environmental organization that works on environmental education, biodiversity monitoring, and protected areas conservation. Villalobos explained that La Cusinga has been of great help to ASANA and other organizations working on the protection and conservation of the area. The lodge coordinates work with local schools, provides a location for workshops and training programs, and assists with efforts to control illegal activities that threaten the environment. In addition, La Cusinga guests have the opportunity to volunteer with ASANA’s sea turtle hatchery program.

One of ASANA’s major efforts is the establishment of the Tapir Path Biological Corridor between the Savegre and Terraba Rivers along Costa Rica’s southern coast. La Cusinga has been very supportive of this project, and the lodge’s private reserve represents a significant tract of protected land that provides a refuge for tapirs, jaguars, birds, turtles, crocodiles, and other threatened species.

Having arrived after dark the night before, we got our first good views of La Cusinga in the morning. Built to blend in with its natural environment, the lodge sits on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean, surrounded by a 250-hectare private reserve of mostly primary rainforest. Numerous trails lead through the forest and down to the beach; toucans, monkeys, and other wildlife are commonly seen. The howler monkeys were particularly active, starting up their raucous noisemaking well before dawn.

After breakfast John set off to shoot the grounds, the facilities, and the surrounding forest. Rob, Ryan, and I headed to the nearby town of Uvita, where La Cusinga General Manager Geinier Guzmán had arranged for us to visit some of the local organizations partnering with the lodge. First up was a boat trip in Ballena Marine National Park, a protected area that La Cusinga was instrumental in establishing. The boat tour company, Bahia Aventuras, has also worked closely with La Cusinga to develop sustainable tourism practices and train its guides. Our tour took in the rocky coastline around La Cusinga, dramatic offshore rock formations, and a trip out to deeper water to see a pod of spotted dolphins frolicking in the waves.

Our interview with Bahia Aventuras owner Walter Brenes later that morning was a study in persistence. We scouted out a good filming location on the front porch of the company’s office – only to find the interview constantly interrupted by trucks rumbling by with materials for construction up the road. Giving up, we drove back down to the beach and selected a new spot– only to have people continuously wandering through the scene, including a man with a baby carriage who wandered into the background and stopped, oblivious to the filming. Through much trial and error we finally got the interview done and headed back to La Cusinga for a late lunch.