NOSARA · COSTA RICA
Our story.
La Encantada is the realisation of a long-held dream: a place where nature, horses and community can thrive together.
From fast lane to pura vida; from planes, hotels and meeting rooms to plants, trees and wildlife. For us, this finca is more than a place to live. It is a chance to protect a remarkable landscape, share it with others, and create a way of life that is grounded, joyful and connected to nature.
Coming full circle.
La Encantada was the name of the first gated community we lived in, in Lima. Twenty years and three countries later, the name found us again.
A trip that turned into a life.
We met in Breda in 1990 and soon left to explore South America. By 1997 we were in Lima, running a small travel company from our living room. Encounter Latin America grew into a regional business, and home in those years was a gated community called La Encantada.
Eight years in Peru were followed by Argentina, where our daughters Edie and Noa were born. Two decades on the move teach you what you are looking for, and in 2013 that brought us to Nosara: the ocean, the forest, and a slower way of living.
What it could be.
The land we found in the hills above Nosara was cow-land: far more grass than trees, remote, and a long way from anything. But a few old trees had been spared, and a few small pieces of woodland were still holding on. They showed us what this place could become.
There was an energy here, a sense of possibility, and yes, a view. We fell for it, hard. We bought the farm, then two neighbouring ones. When it came to a name, there was only one.
Discovering it one trail at a time.
Memorable things happened the entire time. The animals we spotted. The first trails we cut into the brush. The creeks we ‘discovered’ as we walked the land, the hills, the views, the quietude. The feeling of being totally away from everything, yet still close to town. It is a magical place now, and that was clear even then.
A part of our lives that had to continue.
We rode a lot when we lived in Argentina. Our girls were practically born into riding, and we rode everywhere we went. By the time we reached Costa Rica, it was clear that this part of our lives had to continue. So we made it happen, and the equestrian centre grew from there.
The equestrian centre today
The forest comes back.
In June 2019 we finished building our guesthouse and moved in. Roads went in, water and power followed, and season by season the grass gave way to young forest again.
We planted native trees chosen for the food and shelter they give wildlife, and once the cows had left, many more sprouted on their own. Today the finca is a patchwork of forest in every stage of regeneration, and each year a little more of it holds water in the soil, shade over the trails and room for the animals coming back.
A work in progress.
Many homes on the first finca are built and lived in. Today we offer homesites on Finca 2 and Finca 3, alongside the farm and the equestrian centre. Like any vision, an idea stays an idea until people start running with it. We'd love for you to help grow this community further.
“No religion, no exclusion, no division… listen to the silence within.”Freely after The Mother, Auroville