Arthur

Seidy and I met with a gentleman by the name of Arthur this morning. Arthur reached out to Seidy through the Copey Learning Center a couple of months ago and I had taken on the correspondence with him. He was planning a trip to Costa Rica with two of his friends: they were primarily coming down to go deep-sea fishing. Arthur wanted to meet someone from the Copey Learning Center to have a look at the community and see if there would be an opportunity for him to volunteer in some capacity or another. Seidy and I were delighted to grant him this meeting.... it's not often someone will specifically take time out of their hectic travelling schedule to detour and come to a sleepy town like Copey. Arthur hired a taxi driver to drive them down from San Jose. They arrived just after 10 am. Seidy and I met Arthur and his two friends, Bob and Randy. We chatted for about a half hour or so, Arthur telling us his intentions and we explained the center's goals. Arthur used to be the president of the Kiwanis, an international organization that focuses on fundraising for children's causes. His connection may come in very handy. We said our goodbyes and invited Arthur to keep us posted should he decide he would like to get involved in some way as a volunteer.

Before they left, I invited them to come see Hush Valley Lodge. Since the taxi driver's van was not 4x4, they all piled into our SUV (including the taxi driver, Carlos). I introduced them to Kevin and we gave them a short tour of our property. They all seemed impressed with the property and said they'd like to come back and stay in the guesthouse. Word of mouth is key in this business, so it's nice that they said they would spread the word. Even Carlos, who had never been in the Dota mountains, thought it would be a great place for honeymooners. He said he had guests coming to visit, but would need to accommodate eight people. Maybe next year, if we do well, we'll build another guesthouse. He also gave us his card and said he would be happy to drive any of our guests from the airport to Copey. He's a great contact to have because he speaks a little English and his van is spotless. All this positive feedback continues to encourage us. We're feeling optimistic about the future.

I drove them all back to Copey and they got back into the taxi van for their long journey back to San Jose. It was lovely to meet Arthur, Bob, Randy and Carlos, too. Hope to see them all again someday.