El Llano - Costa Rica 2014 Verified listing

El Llano farm is part of the family group of farms called Llano Bonito, which also includes the La Ladera, La Loma and Bellavista farms.

El Llano won the third place in Cup of Excellence 2008 competition, Bellavista the first place in 2009, and La Loma the fourth place in 2013.

El Llano is located between 1750 and 2000 m.a.s.l. This estate has belonged to our family for many years; at the beginning, my grandfather was the owner. Nowadays, we are the third generation and we want to preserve it for next generations.

Specifically, this lot was inherited from my father, to whom we used to call him MAYO, and in his memory the mill is called DON MAYO. In this farm lived my grandfather, father and uncles. Besides the coffee plantation, we used to produce corn, beans, sugar cane, avocados, bananas, vegetables and fruits and raised cattle and chickens. The real value of this lot is not in the economical but the mixture of values, feelings and memories of all the things shared in family. It is like a fantasy movie based on real life that I enjoy and share with all the customers/visitors that we gladly receive.

When we lived in this farm, we collected water from a water spring located on the slope of this lot. We still do not have electric energy because of the cost that this implies. With this prize of COE we hope that we will be able to place electrical wiring and an electric bomb to provide water to all the houses where our coffee pickers live during harvest. These collaborators, mostly indigenous families, have helped us with the coffee picking for the last 15 years. As a part of our thankfulness, we give help their children in order for them to continue achieving their dreams of studying.

Regards, Héctor Bonilla.