El Arca verde

El Arca Verde...

and the mysterious origins of the biodynamic calandarIn the valleys near Villa De Leyva is El Arca Verde, owned by a sprightly frenchman, Pierre Lacour.

He lived in the mountains of France for many years and came to Colombia about 20 years ago creating a few biodynamic farms. This one is only four years old with a two year old garden. Already the trees are bearing fruits.

Here you can volunteer for room and board. Pierre is open and has the spirit of a child. I had heard about him from friends in Villa de Leyva. I wasn´t able to get a hold of him so my Colombian companion and I just showed up not knowing what to expect. There were a few Germans and a Chilean staying there when we arrived. He got us all to go on a hike to one of his four waterfalls in the valley. On the way we stopped by his tree playground and he climbed through it like a monkey. We followed. Then we literally skied down a vertical path of loose rocks to his waterfall and river. Pierre did a few spins. He got us all to pick up the boulders and throw them down to help slow the flow of the river. It wasn't for a while until I realized he had gotten us to do work for him. Somehow it was too fun.

He built his houses mainly from the ground where he lives.

The main reason I wanted to visit was because I had heard he writes the biodynamic farming calender for all of Colombia, the same one we used at Gabeno too. He and a team use astronomical programs by NASA to figure out the positions of the stars and their energies and interpret how that affects the plant world.

His house

waiting for lunch mmmm...another guest house he build from the earthPierre´s playground

His biodynamic calandar

El Arca Verde Links

www.elarcaverde.com
Flicker Pics Here
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Villa De Leyva

Villa de Leyva is a quaint national monument with warm weather, museums, fossils and natural surprises if you know where to look. I went with a friend I met at Aldea Feliz and Villa de Leyva was a place that he connected with very much so he knew all the secret spots.

This is the home we stayed at outside of the town. An American Bonnie and her Colombian partner William were very knowlegeable about the town.

They build thier home out of straw bale and my favorite was the bathroom made of rocks and an outside shower facing the mountians.

Around Villa de Leyva
We went swimming in the Blue waters.
A really strangely beautiful garden outside of the church. We sat here.
Below is a hike with two rivers on either side.
I think I saw the Garden of Eden but I forgot to take a pic...oops
We sat here too until it was dark.
and I sang a song...
-For so many years I have been a pup but now I´m fully grown..
and If going away is a part of growing up well it´s now my time to roam..-The next morning water falls, then rain storm, then I was cranky.We sat in another field and talked about what love means.
How when you know what you are looking for and nothing else on the way really suffices.
How we will know them when we see them.
How they will come the moment we are enlightened.
Maybe we are naive but I would rather everyone believed it is this way
sometimes I doubt that I even do.

He told me Love is only happiness and wanting happiness for the other no matter what that is.
I struggle with this and don´t know if it is possible to attain trapped in a physical body that is needy in so many ways. But I hope some day I can be more enlightened and love this way. I get sad when I think of the times I have tried not been able to.

Hidden hot springs on the way back to Bogota.

There is another place here I forgot to look for, Auromira. The architect Jose Vallejo, works with earthbag walls and has done a yoga temple in Villa de Leyva....oh well, for next time...