Casa Pampa opens many doors to experience Santa Teresa

Casa Pampa opens many doors for you to experience Santa Teresa and generally Costa Rica more than "just the average" tourist. By offering and giving your time and your individual Know-how, Casa Pampa will in return give you a true connection with the culture and community of Santa Teresa. On one hand, you can learn a lot about the local flora and fauna, composting, Permaculture, and gardening in general, and at the same time you can bring in your own expertise in whatever you like.

You can take part in Beach-CleanUps, plant some vegetables in the Community Garden behind the local public school or do some sort of cultural exchange like a Language-Tandem when asking for it.

Important to understand that Casa Pampa doesn't offer accommodation for volunteering at the moment (2021). However, it is a perfect place to take initiative and connect to a community on a daily basis.

Gracias, Casa Pampa. Nos vemos. Cheers, Davide

Casa Pampa abre muchas puertas para experimentar Santa Teresa y, en general, Costa Rica más que el turista "promedio". Al ofrecer y dar tu tiempo y su conocimiento individual, Casa Pampa le dará a cambio una verdadera conexión con la cultura y la comunidad de Santa Teresa. Por un lado, puede aprender mucho sobre la flora y fauna local, el compostaje, la permacultura y la jardinería en general, y al mismo tiempo puede aportar su propia experiencia en lo que quiera.

Puede participar en Beach-CleanUps , plantar algunas verduras en el jardín comunitario detrás de la escuela pública local o hacer algún tipo de intercambio cultural como un Language-Tandem, cuando lo solicite.

Es importante entender que Casa Pampa no ofrece alojamiento para voluntariado en este momento (2021). Sin embargo, es un lugar perfecto para tomar la iniciativa y conectarse con una comunidad a diario.

Gracias, Casa Pampa. Nos vemos. Saludos, Davide

Ver como crece =)

Mi nombre es Belén, soy argentina y hace poco participé del Voluntariado en la huerta de santa teresa. Para mí fue una experiencia super enriquecedora, darme cuenta del poder que tiene poner las manos en la tierra y conectar con ello. Ver como crece, a medida que trabajas, encontrar alguna semilla brotando, y todo a tu alrededor huele a una hierba sana que crece, te hace proyectar el qué podrías hacer cuando coseches eso que ahora mismo está en la tierra.

También, compartir con otras personas que te enseñan a través de sus conocimientos ese valor que hoy en día, más que nunca, nos enseña lo bueno que es volver a nuestras raíces, y así el día de mañana poder hacerlo por y para nosotros mismos.

Belen, Argentina

My name is Belén, I am from Argentina and I recently participated in Volunteering in Huerta de Santa Teresa. For me it was a super enriching experience, realizing the power of putting your hands on the ground and connecting with it. Seeing how it grows, as you work, find a seed sprouting, and everything around you smells of a healthy grass that grows, makes you project what you could do when you harvest that which is in the ground right now. Also, share with other people who teach you through their knowledge that value that today, more than ever, teaches us how good it is to return to our roots, and thus tomorrow to be able to do it by and for ourselves.

Belen, Argentina

Teaching Spanish Lessons at Santa Teresa Costa Rica

Tucked on the southern end of the Nicoya Peninsula, you will find the sacred little beach town of Santa Teresa. After spending 6 weeks traveling Costa Rica, I found this town with special energy in the air. One simple dirt road running along some of the best waves in Costa Rica, and lush forest on the other side. Santa Teresa offers something for everyone; from yoga retreats, world-class surfing, and waterfalls worth chasing. Simply put: it’s paradise found. In between the infinite exploration here, I was able to work the grounding volunteer projects offered at Casa Pampa. I have always found joy through the adrenaline of exploring new places, but I find the most value in travels when I have the opportunity to truly engage with the community for foreign places. Casa Pampa caters to each of their volunteers to find the perfect project that caters to any traveler.  

After spending time in Samara, Costa Rica teaching locals English as a Second Language, Casa Pampa quickly contacted the local public school in Santa Teresa to coordinate lessons with the local students. Within a few day’s time, I had the opportunity to conduct my own private lessons at the school!

Casa Pampa and their team provide the experience to feel the heart and soul of this special town, with projects of beach clean-ups, Perma-culture development, and ESL lessons, just to name a few. If you are caught in the vortex and wanting to stay in Santa Teresa forever, or just passing through, I cannot recommend Casa Pampa enough to delve into the genuine community of this magical Costa Rican town.

Gracias para todos!!

Pura Vida! 

Kristin Collins, United States

Doors to Permaculture

Life allowed me to get to know the town of Santa Teresa more intimately and in my search to build my personal garden, the contact from Casa Pampa came to me.

This organization is in charge of the community garden of the public school in the area where it allows children who attend class to have a connection with nature through experience.

Casa Pampa also receives volunteers from different parts of the world, so that those who come to visit the town can get their hands on the ground and take the experience personally.

In the last four weeks I have learned how to prepare good soil for planting, care, permanent and seasonal characteristics, composting techniques, and much more; We have also visited the different orchards in the area and that allowed us to see the different techniques that are carried out.

This beautiful experience opened the doors to the world of Permaculture where the companies have merged perfectly between a rich mate, wisdom, and hands in our mother earth; I am very fortunate to be able to share a little of the good times that have lived here and I hope you can live your own experience. 

Greetings 

Laura from Argentina.

Las puertas de la Permacultura

La vida me permitió conocer más íntimamente el pueblo de Santa Teresa y en la búsqueda de armar mi huerta personal me llega el contacto de Casa Pampa.

Esta organización está a cargo de la huerta comunitaria del colegio público de la zona donde permite que los niños que asisten a clase, tengan al alcance la conexión con la naturaleza a través de la experiencia.

Casa Pampa también recibe voluntarios de distintas partes del mundo, para que los que vengan a visitar el pueblo puedan meter manos en la tierra y llevarse la experiencia personalmente,.

Las últimas cuatro semanas he aprendido cómo preparar un buen suelo para sembrar, los cuidados, las características permanentes y estacionales, técnicas de compostaje y mucho más; Además hemos visitado las distintas huertas de la zona y eso permitió ver las diferentes técnicas que se llevan a cabo. 

Esta linda experiencia me abrió las puertas al mundo de la Permacultura donde los compartires se han fusionado perfectamente entre un rico mate, sabiduría y manos en nuestra madre tierra; Soy muy afortunada de poder compartir un poquito de los buenos momentos que se viven por aquí y espero que puedan vivir su experiencia propia. 

Saludos, Laura de Argentina.

Permaculture from Patagonia to the Costa Rica tropics

I must admit that I was surprised by my experience working at Casa Pampa since I study agronomy, I did not expect to learn how I managed to do it working with this organization. Being able to use all the resources and waste that one has and generates is not easy, however, it is possible and at Casa Pampa, they do it and work very well. I could also see the operation of Flor Blanca, a hotel that is also aware of its waste and does an excellent job, using the naturally filtered water from the showers and kitchens to water the gardens.

 The work I did in Santa Teresa was very flexible allowing him to travel, surf and get to know, but the minute we worked we did it and we also learned how to do permaculture, for example.

Flor Blanca Green house

 Sustainable agriculture is becoming more and more and what better than to learn from where they do it efficiently, is very useful for me in my professional future. On the other hand, I was able to meet and work with tropical species, which need other care for plants in Mediterranean places such as Chile.

 The generation of soil that they make at Casa Pampa was one of the things that most impressed me since tropical soils are generally not very deep, but with the help of composting that we carried out plus proper care, you could see how the soil changed colored in the areas already treated and therefore had greater depth, being a more fertile soil.

 I just have to thank this beautiful organization that taught me a lot and gave me great joy during my two weeks in Santa Teresa, I hope to return one day and see the progress they have made.

Felipe from Santiago de Chile

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Debo admitir que me sorprendió mi experiencia trabajando en Casa Pampa, siendo que estudio agronomía, no me esperaba aprender cómo lo logré hacer trabajando con esta organización. Poder utilizar todos los recursos y residuos que uno tiene y genera no es fácil, sin embargo es posible y en Casa Pampa lo hacen y funcionan de lo más bien. Pude también ver el funcionamiento de Flor Blanca, un hotel que también son conscientes de sus residuos y lleva a cabo un excelente trabajo, utilizando las aguas filtradas naturalmente de las duchas y cocinas para regar los jardines.

 El trabajo que realizaba yo en Santa Teresa era muy flexible permitiéndole recorrer, surfear y conocer, pero en el minuto de trabajar lo hacíamos y además aprendimos como por ejemplo a hacer permacultura.

La agricultura sustentable cada vez se está realizando más y qué mejor que aprender de donde lo realizan de forma eficiente, siendo muy útil para mi en mi futuro profesional. Por otro lado pude conocer y trabajar con especies tropicales, las cuales necesitan otros cuidados a las plantas de lugares mediterráneos como es en Chile. 

La generación de suelo que hacen en Casa Pampa fue una de las cosas que más me impresionó ya que por lo general los suelos tropicales no son muy profundos, pero con la ayuda del compostaje que realizamos más el cuidado adecuado se podía ver cómo el suelo cambiaba de color en las zonas ya tratadas y por lo tanto tenía mayor profundidad, siendo un suelo más fértil.

 Nada más me queda darle las gracias a esta bella organización que me enseñó muchísimo y me dio mucha alegría durante mis dos semanas en Santa Teresa, espero volver algún día y ver el progreso que han tenido

Felipe de Santiago de Chile

Permaculture, Sustainability and Pura Vida!

Costa Rica is known as a role model in nature conservation and for its rich biodiversity. For me a reason why I choose it as my destination for my 2,5 months travel. Through my professional background in environmental management and sustainability I’m interested in organizations which work in the field of sustainability, environmental conservation and creating awareness I wanted to help and exchange my knowledge and learn more about sustainability in Costa Rica.

During my stay in Santa Teresa I was happy to find Casa Pampa with its Permaculture Learning Lab for sustainability and environmental awareness. Casa Pampa is dedicated to spread environmental awareness, through volunteering programs, workshops and events around permaculture, composting and general environmental topics. 

Within my time there, I learned a lot about gardening in the tropical area and the principles of permaculture and composting. Daily activities included all kind of work which arise in a garden as watering, planting, covering the beds and so on. Beside that there is always time to have wonderful conversations about all the important world topics.

I enjoyed my weeks in that beautiful community garden with the choir of tropical birds and the monkey family which is living there a lot. For me it was a great enrichment working with nature having all these conversations learning and exchanging about diverse topics with like-minded people.

I can everyone recommend being part and contribute in the Casa Pampa Volunteer Program. It doesn’t matter if you have already experience in sustainability, gardening or permaculture you will find your place there make your positive impact, learn and grow. ☺

Gracias para todos!!

Pura Vida!!

Vanessa Riepl, Austria

Casa Pampa Volunteer Program ; An unique experience full of ´Pura Vida´

Casa Pampa runs Santa Teresa communal garden and different projects with and for the locals (environmental education classes, beach cleaning,...).

I just stayed for one week, but I still enjoyed it a lot and got so many new ideas of permaculture and sustainability in tourism, my main reason to travel to Costa Rica since I work in that area.

So if you plan to stay longer, realize your idea and start your own project!

The team did their best to answer all my questions. They even organized a very interesting tour to a hotel that let me know more about sustainability in tourism. 

In relation to permaculture, I enjoyed the garden while they explained the various principles, such as seeding,  making beds, composting, analyzing the landscape, the importance of the soil, taking care of the plants and harvesting finally

Last but not least: our conversations about sustainable building and the challenges and changes of a greater dispersal of the principles of permaculture.

I really took advantage of my time at Casa Pampa and want to recommend it to you if you want to make a unique experience of impact and which will surely change not just your life!

In Casa Pampa, you always find someone that dedicates a lot of time and energy to each volunteer and spreads good vibes. They are happy to share their knowledge to ensure that you leave richer than when you first came.

Ramona from Germany

Casa Pampa - una experiencia única llena de 'Vida Pura'

Vine a Santa Teresa para un retiro de yoga y permacultura. Después de su cancelación, estaba buscando un plan B y encontré Casa Pampa, una ONG en este pequeño pueblo de playa.

Casa Pampa tiene un jardín comunitario y diferentes proyectos con y para los lugareños (clases de educación ambiental, limpieza de playas, ...).

Solo me quedé una semana, pero aún así lo disfruté mucho y obtuve varias ideas nuevas de permacultura y sostenibilidad en el turismo, mi razón principal para viajar a Costa Rica dado que trabajo en ese ámbito.

Así que, si planeas quedarte más tiempo, ¡discerni tu idea y comenza tu propio proyecto!

El equipo hizo todo lo posible para responder mis preguntas. Incluso organizaron un recorrido muy interesante por un hotel que me permitió conocer más sobre la sostenibilidad en el turismo.

En relación a la permacultura, disfruté del jardín mientras me explicaban sus diversos principios como sembrar, hacer camas, compostar, analizar el paisaje, la importancia del suelo, cuidar las plantas y, finalmente, cosechar.

Por último, pero no menos importante: nuestras conversaciones sobre la construcción sostenible y los desafíos y posibilidades de una mayor dispersión de los principios de la Permacultura.

Realmente aproveché mi tiempo en Casa Pampa y quiero recomendarlo para quienes busquen una experiencia única de impacto y que seguramente cambiará no solo su vida.

En Casa Pampa siempre encontras a alguien que dedica mucho tiempo y energía a cada voluntario y difunde buena vibra. Están felices de compartir sus conocimientos para garantizar que te vayas más rico que cuando llegaste por primera vez.

Ramona de Alemania