Xandari

A Birding Blast From the Past

/ Seth Inman / 2 Comments

Blue-crowned Motmot at Xandari

Trending on the web nowadays is the tagline “throwback Thursday,” or #tbt, used to recall old photos or experiences with an interesting or humorous sense of nostalgia. As James and I spend most early mornings going out around Xandari to explore the trails and document the avifauna we can find, I am reminded of similar excursions I made with my friend and fellow Tomás de Berlanga English teacher Mari, in Mindo, Ecuador.

About two years ago on the dot, Mari and I saw an amazing group of birds in one of Costa Rica’s great competitors in terms of birding hotspots. As you can see from my first post about manakins, two years ago I did not consider myself a birder — now, as James and I add our observations around Xandari to eBird every day, my opinion may have changed slightly Continue reading →

Xandari Insects

/ Seth Inman / 3 Comments

We have a history of interest in entomology here, and in the past couple days alone I’ve spotted insects in a couple different families that are worth checking out below!

Butterfly in Heliconius (Nymphalidae) family
Unknown species
Beetle most likely in the genus Calligrapha
Unidentified winged insect
An ochraceous hemipteran (true bug)
Unknown species

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Coffee in the Ground at Xandari

/ James Zainaldin / 10 Comments

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Coffee ready to be planted, next to its hole

On Monday, we began planting coffee and made great headway on getting the shrubs in the ground. Fortunately, José Luis, Xandari’s head gardener, and his team (or should we say “coffee crew” in this case?) had already done significant work in preparing the soil to receive the plants. Continue reading →

Growing Fruit and Vegetables at Xandari

/ Seth Inman / 3 Comments

The view from the path right before reception

Much of the fresh, rich compost that Xandari produces from all sorts of organic material is used as the perfect substrate to grow delicious fruits and vegetables on property, both in greenhouses and out in the open. During our tour a few days ago with José Luis, James and I saw dozens of tomatoes (three different varieties), lots of lettuce, citrus and other tropical fruits, green beans, and much more.

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Ichnology, Xandari-Style

/ James Zainaldin / 5 Comments

Ichnology is the study of animal traces—commonly tracks, but also anything else that organisms leave behind in their activities (for example, burrows, nests, scat, feeding remnants, or territory markers). It is often far easier to discover an animal’s presence through tracks than direct visual sighting, especially for shy or nocturnal mammals. “An animal can only be in one place at a time, its tracks can be everywhere,” one of my environmental science professors sometimes remarked in support of this principle. Indeed, around Emory’s campus (Atlanta, Georgia) I found tracks on stream banks that belonged to animals I had never actually clapped eyes on in the flesh. Prized among those were a  Continue reading →

Coffee in Xandari

/ James Zainaldin / 5 Comments

Here at Xandari (Alajuela, Costa Rica) everything is ready for coffee’s big return. The resort’s land was once dedicated to growing and harvesting the finest estate coffee this country offers (you can visit the Doka Estate, to which Xandari’s land once belonged, in one of our guests’ favorite day tours), but for the last 18 years more attention was given to the organic vegetables, orchards and gardens that now dot the verdant grounds. Plans are in motion, however, to bring the crop back to this area long celebrated for the quality of its coffee.

The ground is tilled:

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Xandari Featured On Costa Rica’s Favorite News Show

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The Xandari Resort, located just 4 miles north of downtown San Jose, was commended in the prestigious Forbes magazine and recommended to his readers as an excellent hotel for business or tourism. publication specializing in business and lifestyle, described place as a piece of mountain paradise and a clear example of the culture of “pure life.” Author is an experienced travel journalist who was especially impressed by the hotel’s philosophy, focused 100% sustainability and well-being of their guests . Xandari According to the manager, is the people that makes this resort special.

Taste Of Xandari At 51

/ Organikos / 3 Comments

10155003_752610181446587_5118148078119598173_nRecently we passed a quarter million views on this site. We have no clue whether that is wow-alot or woeful-low; what metrics indicate how well we address the interests of both contributors and readers other than by comparing the performance of individual posts versus other posts? Carbon Emissions Series: Vacationers’ Diets, approaching 10,000 views and our most popular post, tells us alot about what our readers care about.

In short, they seem to love reading about good food that is also good for the environment and is healthy. This tells us why readers have also responded well to our posts about Xandari. To get a sense of the love, you can read a bit; to feel it, there is no choice. You must visit the resort. In case that is not in the cards in the near future, how about a taste?

Screen Shot 2014-04-23 at 4.07.00 PMIn Kerala, visit the Mattanchery neighborhood of Fort Cochin and stop in at 51 to sample one of the best-loved salads at Xandari. Since both Kerala and Costa Rica are situated within the tenth parallel north, chefs in both locations have many of the same farm-fresh ingredients to work with.

Congratulations, Xandari, On Five Years Of The Highest Praise–It’s Called Love

/ Organikos / 1 Comment

___08LOGO-R&SSeveral La Paz Group team members and early contributors have been loving Xandari for most of the two decades since it began operations. Great expectations are not new to us.

XCNT

Others within our community are just getting familiarized. Click the image above and other links here to feel the love. We do not shy away from your having great expectations too.

The Platinum Circle

These Gold List superstars—including hotels, resorts, and cruise lines—have made the list every year for the past five years running. Click here to view the 2014 Platinum Circle.


 

 

Xandari’s Great Backyard Bird Count

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When you walk into the reception area at Xandari, the first thing you will see is an invitation to join into the count underway across North America and a few international locations, including India and Costa Rica. Raxa Collective properties are all in. Xandari is in perfect form, with excellent weather, and the birds are out in full force. And what a backyard it is…