Author Archives

The three-toed sloth gets the Instagram following. The two-toed sloth is the more interesting animal. At Finca Luna Nueva, we have a longstanding population – and a photograph that will change how you see them.

An ocelot killed thirty of our hens, murdered a water opossum outside our front door, and raised her cubs on our night hike trail. This is the story of sharing a farm with one of the most beautiful predators in the neotropics.

For nearly a decade, a resident flock of approximately 30 Scarlet Macaws has chosen Finca Luna Nueva Lodge as their home – representing 1.5% of the entire Costa Rican population. Here is their story, and ours.

From the upper Amazon 5,300 years ago to the Moondrops bar at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge — the extraordinary story of Theobroma cacao: its origins, its conquest, its dark side, and what regenerative farming looks like when it’s done right. Plus two recipes.

Meet the zompopa – the leafcutter ant (Atta cephalotes) of Finca Luna Nueva Lodge. The world’s oldest farmers have been cultivating their fungus crop in the Costa Rican rainforest for 50 million years. They are also our most demanding neighbors.

Meet the angel’s trumpet – Brugmansia versicolor, the Reina de la Noche of Costa Rica. Extinct in the wild, alive in every sense that matters, and flowering tonight outside our bedroom window at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge.

Meet the mica – the tiger rat snake of Costa Rica’s Caribbean slope. Nonvenomous, ecologically essential, and a year-round resident at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge.

Meet the emerald basilisk – the Jesus Christ Lizard of Costa Rica’s Caribbean slope, a creature that runs on water, stares down intruders, and lives at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge.

Meet the yiguirro – Costa Rica’s national bird, the clay-colored thrush, and the story of why this seemingly plain bird outranked the quetzal for the nation’s highest avian honor.

Meet the pejibaye – the ancient peach palm of Costa Rica’s Caribbean slope, a survival food with 4,000 years of history and a living presence at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge.

Discover Costa Rica’s best-kept secret: Sept–Oct brings ideal weather and abundant tropical fruit harvests at Finca Luna Nueva.

Meet the mariola bee – the stingless native bee of Costa Rica whose honey may be the most medicinally powerful on Earth, and a cherished resident at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge.

Meet the brown-throated three-toed sloth – one of Costa Rica’s most beloved rainforest mammals and a year-round resident at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge on the Caribbean slope.

Meet the keel-billed toucan – Costa Rica’s most spectacular rainforest bird and a year-round resident at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge on the Caribbean slope.

Explore Cabalonga Trail with a naturalist—discover rainforest biodiversity, wildlife, and hidden connections on an immersive jungle hike.

Explore a vibrant Costa Rican farmers market—taste local flavors, meet locals, and enjoy a traditional lunch in an authentic setting.

Want to spend quality time on your belly crawling through the jungle to find endangered plant species that just might cure major diseases? Too intense for your family outing? Well, how about spending a few hours “biologizing” about the flora along our Cabalonga Trail, learning how indigenous peoples used those plants to treat snake bites, […]

Bamboo Building at Finca Luna Nueva Lodge

The Birth of Finca Luna Nueva For fans of JRR Tolkien, the image of wise Gandalf the Grey embodies the good magic of the world. Our beloved founder, Steven Farrell, is known by many as Gandalf, the wizard of the farm. He’s been organically farming for forty years, beginning in 1984 in stone-fruit orchards in […]