Buenaventura - Costa Rica Eco-Adventure Rainforest Retreat

23/07/2022

From bean to finished chocolate 🍫

Another micro-batch of 75% Buenaventura dark chocolate coming out of the melanger after a 72 hour (3 day) grind, sweetened with evaporated cane crystals (tapa dulce) on day 2.

Over the past month and a half, Buenaventura hosted 9 Moondance Adventures groups, and the 2 kilos of organic Cacao paste used in this micro-batch was the left over nibs from the last group's Chocolate making class where they roast, winnow and hand grind the Cacao beans to make home-made chocolate brownies.




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15/05/2022

Buenaventura 'Wet Season' Opening Day - Eve of the Full Super Moon Lunar Eclipse ✨🌑✨

Today Buenaventura officially re-opened for the Wet Season and hosted a CrossRoads Academy group operated by Pro Rafting CR and Rafiki Safari Lodge.

The theme of their trip is "Flow like Water", as they started their adventure in the highlands of Cerro Chirripo experiencing several rivers and waterfalls along the way and will be ending their journey at the Pacific Ocean.

This morning the group 'Put In' upriver in El Llano and rafted down to Buenaventura to stop for lunch, with a short tour of our organic Cacao Superfood Forests and orchards, where they learned about cultivating, harvesting and processing Cacao and where treated to a multi-sensory Cacao Activation tasting experience with one of BV's Golden Ticket dark chocolate bars.

After lunch, the group jump back into the rafts and headed to the confluence in El Brujo (The Wizard) where the Division and Savegre rivers meet.

They'll 'Put Out' and hike up to Albino's Lodge in Piedras Blancas, where they will do a sweat lodge on the river this evening, spend the night in the middle of the rainforest and the following morning raft the Savegre river down to Rafiki Safari Lodge, and finally kayak out to the Pacific Ocean a couple days later where their 'Flow like Water' trip comes to a sunset ending.

Special thanks to Lautjie @ Rafiki and David @ Blue Shack for including us as the lunch stop for this group.

If you are interested in learning more about CrossRoads Academy trips or visits to Buenaventura, please contact us for more information by DM.

Pura VIDA! 🌿💦🌿







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07/02/2022

Hola BV friends!

Looking for last minute Valentine's Day Gifts for your significant other?

How about a Dark Chocolate & Blue Clay Spa Day 🍫💙

We are offering 20% off now through February 14th on ALL our VIDA Blue Clay skincare line and our unique and limited Buenaventura Organic Dark Chocolate products including:

* VIDA Blue Clay in Dry Powder (50 gram, 2 oz, 4 oz & 12 oz)
* 75% Dark Chocolate 'Single Origin' bars (2 oz)
* Activated Chocolate 'Jungle Spice' Wafers (4 oz or 12 oz)
* Organic Cacao Nibs (4 oz or 12 oz)

Please visit our Buenaventura Store on Etsy to shop for our unique and very limited handmade products from Costa Rica. Special Valentine's Day 20% discount already applied to prices listed online.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/buenaventurastore

We ship from our drop shipper in California, so orders received by Thursday, February 10th should arrive by Valentine's Day or shortly after.

And here's a few 'behind the scenes' photos of Harlow (owner of Buenaventura) and Jay Holecek (BV's chocolate maker) harvesting Cacao at Buenaventura and processing the Cacao beans at the former Firefly Chocolate factory in Windsor, California where the the magic happened to make our Buenaventura artisanal hand-craft organic small batch dark chocolate products from bean to bar!

For a peak at more BV chocolate production photos and videos, please visit: www.tinyurl.com/2p867xmb

Happy Valentine's Day! ❤️✨❤️

29/01/2022

Announcing our 1st Retreat of the 2022 Season!

Spring Equinox Yoga Retreat @ Buenaventura!
HEAL RELAX STRETCH PLAY MEDITATE STRENGTHEN
With Tirza Dawn
March 15th - 23rd 2022

Retreat Overview:

Whether you are beginning to deepen your yoga journey or continuing a lifelong practice, these immersive retreats and trainings are designed to help you tap into your innate capacity for regeneration on all levels. The universal laws of nature are regenerative and bring harmony and balance to our lives. Come spend time together in the richness of nature and learn how to listen deeply to the natural balance within yourself!

Retreats for 2022 are designed to meet each individual participants needs. We custom fit the Regenerative Yoga retreats to assist you to create what you’re looking for in your life, whether you need a week of slow relaxation and meditation, a time to connect with others in a safe setting, or a dedicated time to cleanse and get in better physical shape.

Class hours at retreats and trainings are Yoga Alliance transferrable towards 200 hour certification or continuing education credits.

Tuition for Spring Equinox Costa Rica Yoga Retreat:

$2,200 includes accommodations, food, travel concierge service and instruction

$700 deposit holds your space

To register: email [email protected] or visit:
www.tirzadawn.com

We are very excited to offer this incredible space for health in one of the most pristine locations on the planet!

Buenaventura Eco-Adventure Regeneration Center lies in the heart of a jungle valley where waterfalls splash, rivers run and lush forest inspire a time of meditation and play. We will be practicing yoga, breathwork, meditation, staying in very comfortable “Glamping” style accommodations, sharing exquisite meals together, hiking to the waterfalls, and having epic avatar clay and cacao adventures! Our location is secluded and our retreat is limited capacity for the sake of privacy and safety.

Some things you can expect from the Spring Equinox Costa Rica retreat:

* Adventure and nature time in the forest

* Group giggle sessions

* Amazing fantastic incredible meals

* Playing, dancing and stretching every day

* Complete Yogi immersion, including enlightenment :)

Additional Caribbean ocean extension is available March 23-28 for additional cost.

About Tirza Dawn:

Tirza is founder of the Ayurveda Yoga Teacher Training, the Body
Temple Yoga programs at the dhyana Center of Ayurveda in Sebastopol, California, and Regenerative Yoga Retreats and Trainings. With over 25 years experience practicing and teaching yoga, she offers in depth instruction from many styles and perspectives, including Iyengar, Tri-Yoga and Vinyasa. Through asana, satya, and pranayama, her teaching focuses on the mind/body connection and finding pathways to self love and the devotional heart.

For more information and questions please contact Tirza at
[email protected] or visit www.tirzadawn.com

23/01/2022

Summer is here @ Buenaventura ☀️🌿

After taking a break over the holidays from being active on Social Media and spending the holidays in Colombia, I'm back in Costa Rica @ Buenaventura to open up for the summer season.

Stay tuned this week for an announcement on our upcoming Yoga and Regeneration Retreats and our 2022 High Season All-Inclusive Packages for individual travelers, couples, and small groups of friends and families.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and off to a great start in the new year!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and infinite good health, success & abundance in 2022! 🙏

Pura vida!

Harlow
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25/11/2021

Happy Thanks-Giving from Buenaventura! 🌾🌿

Wishing everyone a warm, loving, healthy and joyful day with family and friends.

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19/12/2020

Looking for last minute Holiday Gifts?

Buenaventura is offering 20% off now until December 31st on ALL our VIDA Blue Clay skincare line and our unique and limited Buenaventura Dark Chocolate products including:

* 75% Dark Chocolate 'Single Origin' bars (2 oz)
* Activated Chocolate 'Jungle Spice' Wafers (4 oz or 12 oz)
* Organic Cacao Nibs (4 oz or 12 oz)

Please visit our Buenaventura Store on Etsy to shop for our unique and very limited handmade products from Costa Rica.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/BuenaventuraStore?coupon=PURAVIDA2020

Please use Discount Code: PURAVIDA2020

We ship from our drop shipper in California, so orders received by Monday, December 21st should arrive by Xmas or shortly after.

Pura vida & Happy Holidays! 🌿🍫🌿

05/12/2020

🌿 Buenaventura's 2020 Single Origin Organic Cacao Harvest 🌿

Here's a little preview of this year's Cacao harvest at Buenaventura.

Over the past 10 years, I've been growing, harvesting and processing Cacao here at BV to make artisanal fine-crafted and limited dark chocolate products including our 'Golden Ticket' 75% dark chocolate bars (which are gifted to our Buenaventura guests), organic Cacao Nibs and our unique Activated Chocolate 'Jungle Spice' wafers.

Up until now, the BV Cacao beans have been hand carried in my suitcases and flow up to the SF Bay Area where I hand them off to Jay Holecek, BV's chocolate maker (and known as The Chocolate Ambassador) where Jay works his magic at the Firefly Chocolate factory in Windsor turning the BV Cacao beans into artisanal fine-crafted and hand packaged dark chocolate products.

This year, since I won't be traveling to the States this fall, I will be processing the 2019 vintage BV beans here in Costa Rica, now that the 2019 beans have cured for the past year and are ready to be made into finished chocolate!

Next week Juliet Davey from Mamá Cacao Chocolate (a local chocolate maker here in Costa Rica) and I will begin roasting the 2019 beans at Fuego Coffee Roasting company in Dominical (Fuegocoffeeroasting), using a IR-12 Diedrich specialty roaster, which interestingly is made by the Diedrich family that once owned a coffee plantation here in Costa Rica back in the early 1900s.

If you are interested in learning more about Buenaventura's artisan fine-craft dark chocolate products or would like to order some as holiday gifts or for yourself, please visit our online Etsy store @ www.etsy.com/shop/BuenaventuraStore

And please help support local artisan chocolate makers in your area, as the best chocolate comes from those who make it with their own hands and from the heart with passion and love. ❤️

Happy Holidays and Viva Cacao!
- SpaRanger

26/02/2020

Enjoying another nourishing vegan meal with guests staying at Buenaventura for the annual ZenZu Detox & Regeneration Retreat after this year's Envision Festival.

Eat healthy, stay healthy!

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05/02/2020

Back in San Francisco getting ready to produce the 5th edition of the Buenaventura 'Golden Ticket' dark chocolate bars!

Spending the afternoon printing and cutting the labels while Jay (BVs chocolate ambassador) is up at the Firefly chocolate factory in Santa Rosa finishing the grinding process to temper and make 200 "Golden Ticket" 75% dark chocolate bars, a couple dozen 'Blue Clay & Sea Salt' dark chocolate bars and several kilos of Buenaventura's Activation Wafers.

Stay tuned when we announce the sale of the 2019 vintage and limited Buenaventura chocolate products! 🍫

14/10/2019

Announcing Buenaventura's All-Inclusive "Eco-Adventure & Wellness" Packages for the 2019-2020 High Season!

High Season Dates: November 1st, 2019 - August 15th, 2020

Help us continue to build out Phase 2 of Buenaventura by supporting us through your visit this high season!

* Learn how to grow, harvest and process Cacao using artisanal methods and practices

* Hike and adventure through primary rainforests to private waterfalls with DIY Blue Clay spa treatments and transform yourself into your Avatar

* Soak and swim in one of Costa Rica's cleanest and most pristine rivers

* Nourish your body with organic foods and go on an Edible Food Forest organic farm tour at BV & Three Seeds

* Activate and regenerate your spirit and soul with Yoga, meditation and other modalities and optional plant medicines

* Experience real authentic Costa Rican country living and meet and connect local 'Ticos' that are truly "salt of the earth"

* Spot wildlife and view over 200 bird species located in our watershed

For more information, please view our 2019-2020 High Season Packages online at:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eGDd7wH9DNI6_YgVIdh28XSun-GbMt_A

To make a reservation or if you have questions, please contact us by email at: [email protected] or by PM on Facebook.

We look forward to hosting you at Buenaventura!

Pura vida!

14/10/2019

Cacao Fall Harvest Season at Buenaventura!

Every year around this time (October/November) the largest harvest of Cacao (chocolate) takes place here at Buenaventura and at other Cacao farms through Costa Rica. The other harvest takes place in April/May, although smaller in comparison to the fall/winter harvest.

Today we harvested another micro-batch of Cacao pods, while another micro-batch is undergoing the drying process, and hundreds of more pods are still ripening on Buenaventura's 230 catalogued Cacao trees.

Interested in learning how to harvest, ferment and dry Cacao beans?

Join us this season and sign up for one of our All-Inclusive 'Adventure & Wellness' Packages that includes our Chocolate Activation Tastings and Cacao Farm Tour Workshop.

To learn more about Buenaventura's All-Inclusive Packages, please contact us directly or visit: www.buenaventuracr.com

Viva Cacao!





@ Río Nuevo, San Jose, Costa Rica

06/10/2019

Two years ago today, on October 5th 2017 my life-long dream of building, sharing and operating Buenaventura, a wellness and eco-adventure retreat center in Costa Rica came to an abrupt stop when I literally lost nearly all of the infrastructure I had built over a 15 year period.

I've created this GoFundMe campaign as a direct way to raise the capital and funding I need to continue rebuilding Buenaventura and expanding my natural skincare product line through offering future stays at Buenaventura and offering my BV chocolate and VIDA Blue Clay products.

For more information on Buenaventura's All-Inclusive 2019-2020 High Season Packages, please visit: https://drive.google.com/open…

Thank you for your support and I look forward to hosting you at Buenaventura this high season (November 2019 through August 2020) and sending you our products for you to enjoy or gift to your friends and loved ones.

Pura vida!

Harlow (SpaRanger) - Owner of Buenaventura

Harlow Salvador Newton Help Rebuild Buenaventura & Support VIDA Blue Clay Hello friends and family!PLEASE HELP US REBUILD BUENAVENTURA & SUPPORT THE EXPA

05/02/2019

Hi BV Friends,

Help rebuild Buenaventura by purchasing Buenaventura Cacao and Chocolate Products just in time for Valentine's Day!

Announcing a unique, exclusive and very limited inventory of Buenaventura's Cacao Beans, Cacao Nibs and a brand new product we've created called "Activation Wafers" thanks to BV's Chocolate Maker Jay Holecek!

Activation Wafers are designed to be blended in hot water and/or coconut oil or coconut milk to make a frothy hot chocolate or mixed with coffee and blended to make a Caffè mocha.

The unique ingredients added to the Activation Wafers (see ingredient list in attached image), help to potentize the compounds in Cacao, such as Theobromine, while simultaneously enhancing effects of the bodies own neurotransmitters such as Dopamine and Serotonin which contributes to an elevated sense of well being and cognitive functioning.

Use this super powered Cacao during intense and stressful physical or emotional activities to power you through with ease. Can be used to enhance ones meditative or artistic practices also. Recommended dosage (1 oz) blended in hot water, hot milk or coffee.

Please see attached image for prices on 2 oz, 4 oz and 12 oz bags of Raw Cacao Beans, Cacao Nibs and Activation Wafers.

If you'd like to place an order, please contact me by PM or through the contact details listed in the image below.

Thank you for your support and your help with rebuilding Buenaventura!

Viva Cacao!

Harlow (SpaRanger)

29/10/2018

Attention Trail Runners and Athletes!

Every year for the past 3 years (in mid January), Buenaventura and Three Seeds host a group of adventurous runners lead by the company Run The World Adventures where they overnight and we nourish them with organic foods, fresh mountain spring water, home-grown dark chocolate tastings and blue clay spa treatments.

We are stop #2 on their 6 day expedition run starting at the top of Cerro de la Muerte (the 2nd highest mountain top in Central America) to ending in the jungles beaches of Corcovado (the 2nd most biodiverse place on Earth), running a total of 96 miles through primary and lush tropical rainforests, pristine rivers and creeks and along remote and isolated jungle- lined beaches.

There are still 4 spots open and we would love to have a few of you join this trip of a lifetime and get to RUN IN and RUN OUT of Buenaventura and Three Seeds with a group of amazing people!

For more information, please go to:
http://www.runtheworldadventures.com/costa-rica

For more info on Buenaventura, please go to:
www.buenavenutracr.com

For more info on Three Seeds, please go to:
www.experiencecostarica.org/

29/08/2017

Three years ago we had our first chopper landing on the soccer field at Three Seeds Eco-Farm.. Guests Jessica Manley and her friend, along with the owner of the R44 and the pilot flew in to have brunch at Three Seeds and visit the grounds of Buenaventura and Three Seeds..

As their way to off-set their carbon footprint for arriving by helicopter, they each planted 3 cacao trees in Buenaventura's Fibonacci Cacao & Superfood Forest...

Following brunch and tree planting, myself, Jessica and Jay Holecek went up in the chopper to survey Buenaventura's 160 acre property from the air and went on an aerial search for remote waterfalls in the Saverge watershed valley.. we counted over 14 giant falls, including seeing Buenaventura's BuenaFortuna waterfall from above...

Want to arrive to Buenaventura and Three Seeds by helicopter and white-water raft out? Contact me for details!

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23/08/2017

Post-Solar Eclipse and New Moon in Leo Cacao harvest from Buenaventura's Fibonacci Superfood Forest... 🌲🌻🌲

After writing down new goals and setting intensions on the day of the New Moon and Solar Eclipse, which included planting and cultivating more Cacao (chocolate) to share and gift, yesterday I spent the morning harvesting beautiful golden Cacao pods from Buenaventura's Cacao and Superfood Forest planted in the Fibonacci Sequence (Golden Ratio)...

And today I spent the morning removing the beans from the pods to begin the fermentation process here at Buenaventura (BV), which is the first stage in the chocolate making process, where they will ferment between 5-7 days in a temperature control environment at up 110 degrees Fareheit...

Following fermentation, the pulp left on the beans is rinsed off with fresh spring fed water and the beans are set out to dry in the natural sunlight for another 5-7 days or until they are over 90% dry.

Once dry, the beans are stored in an air-tight and dry place until my next trip to the SF Bay Area where I pack the beans in my suitcase, check them on my flight and once in SF, hand them over to Jay Holecek, BV's Chocolate Ambassador and artistan fine-craft chocolate maker, where he does his magic in the chocolate kitchen (many more steps here including roasting, conching, winowing, grinding, temperaring..) and turns the beans into Buenaventura Dark Chocolate Bars...

And after each visit, I fly back to Costa Rica with a fresh batch of limited edition and single origin BV bars that I personally gift to our guests as their 'golden ticket' and 'edible welcome cocktail' to BV and as a thank you for visiting and supporting BV so I can continue to build BV and grow, produce and share more 'bean to bar' fine-craft artisan dark chocolate and inspire others to follow their own dreams, experiences and adventures...


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31/07/2017

Wrapping up the Leos Regeneration Get-Away Weekend Retreat with an afternoon Yoga class lead by Dotty Sunshine at Buenaventura's Casa Maya Luna Temple... This is the last Yoga class of the season, bowing to closer to the things we want to let go and release in our lives and breathe in the new things we want to embrace and embody...
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