Back in 2006, Angela and I purchased what was a raw piece of land and never looked back. We were young, excited, nervous, and definitely didn't know exactly what we were getting ourselves into.....However, the biggest risk in life is not taking one. We are sure happy we took that risk.

Many things have changed since then as it's now 2023.

Our family has grown and we have two wonderful Nica born kids... Jazmine(9) and Rylo(5). They love the Jungle island life, their friends, their school, their animals, the community, meeting guests from all over the world, and much more. We are now dividing our time between here and Colorado so the kids can get immersed in both cultures and be closer to our immediate family as some of them are ageing. Sometimes it's a bit tricky juggling both worlds but for us it's well worth it for them to be able to grow up the way the do.

Finca Mystica has changed a good amount as well with different projects everyday, more trees and plants, improved road access but still not great :), Solar energy, better WIFI, few more cabins, etc. However we still have most of our original wonderful staff who are pretty much family and some new ones who we love. They all take just as much pride in our place as we do and we couldn't do it without them. We've lost a few our beloved pets.. Luna, Sunny, Rondo and Chingo over the last few years but haven't received some great new ones as well. It's a constant change but the one thing that stays steady is that everyday is a blessing to be a part of Finca Mystica.

          The island has developed a lot in certain parts of the island for the good and bad, but to this day we are so happy our little neck of the island is where we call home. It's still very traditional, rootsy, cultural with the best neighbors around. Away from the crowds and hustle and bustle of the bigger party areas but close enough to get to if we want to.

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After traveling around the globe for a place to call home for  years, we stumbled upon Ometepe Island and knew we found something special.  We purchased our raw land in the fall of 2006 and started working right away.  First, we installed the water tubes that come from a spring high up on the mountain, lot's of digging and bushwhacking but well worth it when we had water to our land.  Next, we cleared a a lot of weeds until we found the edge of our forest and built the rancho ( lodge ). We used adobe bricks we made on site and were thrilled to have a place to stay when we got back from the states, before we left,  we planted lot's of fruit trees, rice and beans.   When we returned the second time around we were thrilled to find out some local kids surprised us and planted lot's of flowers for us in front of the lodge. We lived pretty rustic at first.  We used a car battery for one tiny light bulb to use a few hours at night, we had a cooler that we filled with ice from the bottom of the road daily, no transportation besides our feet, a hose with a few tarps around it for our shower, a bucket and rice husks for our bathroom and a fire pit with some pot's and pans for our kitchen.  It was a little bit different and difficult from what we were used to, but we were really falling in love with the land and our new little puppy ( Luna ) a friend brought over as a house warming gift. That year we built our tool shed, a proper bathroom and shower and began  our first cob guest cabin and again planted lot's of trees.  Our third time back we had the electric installed just before Christmas, which was definitely a treat for us. We added to our family as Luna gave birth to one puppy, sol or sunny.  We finished our 1st cabin and built two more using the materials from the land = dirt, sand, straw, horse manure, rocks, and our feet and hands ( don't worry, the manure was not fresh, just pure fiber ) .  We Also bought our truck, a 1983 4 door diesel, not so pretty but runs great ( most of the time ) to this day !  Last year we opened to the public, and had a good amount of wonderful guests who came across by chance or  word of mouth from other travelers. We built another cabin ( this new one has almost 100 bottles in the it's wall. We also received another gift, a little cat named Rondo and built our earth oven that provides us with yummy breads, pizza and more.  Now here we are back again, finally with a website, signs and no intention of heading back to the USA to work like we have done the last 4 years or so, only to visit with family.  A lot of our trees are giving fruits, we grow a lot of our grains, teas, make fresh dairy product and get's lot's of our other needs from our village.  We are really fortunate to live in a beautiful place with great neighbors, good climate, lot's of sustainability and very little or non-existent crime...…LIFE IS GOOD !