Best Social Practices; Contributing to The Community of Sabalo

What is the issue?

The community of Sabalo has very little experience or involvement with the tourist industry. Their remote location and no real means for a viable income has limited them to working the land to be able to survive. This has limited the availability for community involvement with Sabalo Lodge in the form of commerce, services and trade. We have and continue to find out all that we can about the community and look for creative ways to incorporate the local people in commerce such as guides, artists, farmers, tradesmen, laborers etc.

The community of Sabalo has also been without many basic public facilities such as electricity, clean water, phones, roads, medical assistance, just to name a few. Sabalo Lodge is also limited in its reach into the community for commerce by its size and commitment to hosting only small groups to limit the impact on the environment.

 

Sabalo Lodge’s Social Practices and Contributions to the Community.

Sabalo Lodge currently employs one general manager, Isaac Gamboa Chavez. He is our saving grace and has lived in Sabalo his whole life. He is the best paid local employee in Sabalo and possibly most of the Osa Peninsula. All taxes and medical insurance are paid in accordance with Costa Rican law.

Sabalo Lodge contributes five percent of their lodge profits to the local Sabalo elementary school.

When possible we buy all our fruit, eggs, certain endemic vegetables, fish, chicken and pork from the local community and surrounding areas within a 25km radius of the lodge to help the local commerce. We are looking into purchasing other food sources that may become available in the local community.

We have created and are looking to develop more cultural tours where tourists can spend time with locals in their native environment. This allows the local community to share financially with these tours.

These include:

• • Half day organic fruit farm in the jungle tour.
  • Fishing the Mangroves with a local guide.
  • Horseback rides into the mountainous jungles of Sabalo with a local guide.
  • Tour the lodge property with a local guide for animals and picture opportunities.
  • Cultural exchange, stay a half day with a local family, share a meal with them and
  participate in their daily routine.
  • All National Park tours are accessible only by boat. We use local tour operators only.
  • We will continue to look for many more opportunities in the future.

We are also helping the community to file a petition for the installation of a suitable public drinking water system.

We have other projects in mind that include working with the school to create an curriculum about ecology germane to the Sabalo environment and helping the community with other basic infrastructure needs.

 

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