27 Dec How our Balsa Surf Camp dream began…
Have you heard this saying: “Sometimes something has to break for something new to emerge?”, well for us, it did!
Rasty and I got married on May 19, 2006 and we had just finished building our “dream home”, on top of what is now known as Nativa Bambú, but unfortunately the owner of the land sold the whole hill, including our house! It was disastrous news for us but thanks to this “El Balsa” was born! As they say “There is no evil that does not come for good”!
We had help from one of the buyers, Rodney (thank you so much!) and my family (Love you!) and we started looking for a piece of land to start all over again. When we discovered some land in the neighborhood “La Punta”, we fell in love immediately! It was perfect but too big and expensive for just our house, the surf school, Rasty´s workshop and art gallery. At the beginning, we thought about sharing with a friend who wanted to open her restaurant, but she had health problems, so we had to find another partner. That’s when the help of my family came through, and also how the idea of the surf camp business was born… We started building in 2008 and it took us 1 ½ years to build it and we were able to open, on December 26, 2009, and received our first guests: Jay & Stacey, who will never forget!
The construction was a magical and intense adventure, we loved the creative part, imagined and captured our plans and ideas! The construction was another adventure where we spent 18 hours a day calculating, building, ordering materials, making changes, etc. even at night we kept dreaming about rods and lists of materials hahaha But we loved it!
I think youth made me fearless! The support of my family was of vital importance, we always felt supported. Rasty also made me feel safe with his knowledge in construction, Nicolas’s team (our comprade) showed me that they knew what they were doing, they always listened to me and respected my rhythm, questions and strange or “gogotera” (hippy – funny things) as they said I sounded like haha. What stressed me the most was not doing things correctly, I got over it in some point, asking questions and doing my own research. My dad also knows a lot about construction, therefore he was aware from the beginning of everything, and I was able to share our love for details and decoration with my mother… For more technical and structural matters, I have always trusted Rasty and the workers, whom I saw working for months, years and there was no doubt that they knew very well what they did!
When we opened the business, it was another story! We had no idea with Rasty about managing and running a hostel, we were totally lost! Luckily it was a good time in Montañita and we quickly had customers and a very good reception. We had to work in every single area for many hours the first 5 years, reception, maintenance, kitchen, cleaning, etc. we did everything! We worked 14 or more hours per day! We were exhausted but thank God, the business later on allowed us to delegate and get a very good team that today allows us to have more free time or dedicate ourselves to other things.
The first achievement for us, was to have been able to make something so beautiful that we loved and also many people like it! And I’m not just talking about aesthetics, but about energy itself. We are really proud to have received an award this year for the most beautiful business in Montañita, or having had the highest rating in Montanita on booking.com (9.4) in 2008. Every day we are blessed to hear that people feel good in Balsa, they feel happy, loved, pampered, regenerated, freer, more relaxed… It just feels good! Seeing the smiles, the bright eyes of our visitors is our first and most important achievement! Also been able to portray a place like this, from our dreams and heart’s is beautiful! It is like having created our own work of art, and that, thanks to the trust and support of our family, is also wonderful. Not to mention that thanks to the Balsa, we can live here in a beach paradise, create jobs and opportunities for other people, and make people happy… It’s a luxury! We are very lucky and thankful for that!
Our first accomplishments were without a doubt (after finishing the construction of El Balsa) our first guests hehe, we will never forget Stacey and Jay on December 26, 2009, and Francisco and Pancho from Colombia, our first all-inclusive surf school package sold! Seeing that we were able to learn together how to work as a team and manage to set up and run a hostel, a surf camp!
Thanks to the ” Balsa” we were able to build our own house, as we dreamt it, with lots of space and colors! It’s beautiful, we love it! We have also been able to travel and make Rasty’s dream true “surfing in Indonesia for his 40 years”. Also, we created our magical space on the mountain, which we call the “Green Sea”, where we grow organic cocoa and coffee, and slowly we are achieving our dream of eating healthier, organically and from our own garden. Not to mention Rasty’s Balsa plantation, where today he creates balsa wood surfboards from seed!
The latest triumph is our partnership with JAJA, Rasty’s idea was born in the pandemic, and Maxi said yes! This is how Jaja en Balsa was born, where Rasty stepped out from running the restaurant and left it to the professionals with Maxi as a captain! Our 3 brains together got super active and designed the 2nd floor with its wonderful terrace. We are very happy that the Balsa family has grown bigger! and since a year ago, we have also had Gabi’s Spanish school in El Balsa, another dear friend who joined our tribe. It is beautiful to work with friends who support and understand each other.
One of the biggest challenges, according to me, is “teamwork”. Through those years I understood that the key is having good communication, being clear and specific, in this way everyone feels good about their tasks and at ease in their work, otherwise it doesn’t work well! That is why having recurring meetings where we exchange ideas, share what is working or not, and how we could improve in general, helps us a lot to be able to run the boat! Because also through those years, I understood that the boss cannot know or solve everything! In other words, the work team itself is more prepared and wise. I had grown up with the idea that the boss should know everything and decide what is right or not… but I didn’t know what the good decisions were! When I let go of the false ego of the boss, I could understand that asking each of the workers for their opinion and advice helps a lot to make everything work out and improve!
A big challenge for me is to always be updated with technology and social networks. It’s a whole new world! Luckily I have friends who help me a lot in this, particularly Gabi from the Spanish school who is always collaborating and guiding us!
A strong challenge in recent years was undoubtedly the covid pandemic. It was so hard for tourism and everyone in general, everything stopped! But before that we had already had problems with crime, the earthquake, the strikes and in general the problems in Ecuador. Because of the covid we had to adapt to the change in our audience. We went from a client that was 80% foreign to 100% local tourism! The adaptation was, for example, putting A/C in some rooms, as the Ecuadorian would not stay without AC. And now, to be ready for long stays due to remote workers put kitchenettes in some rooms.
But my personal challenge in all those years was to understand that we can’t be perfect and everyone likes us. For years I tried to make everything perfect so that everyone finds everything spectacular and loves us. But it’s not like that. What may seem perfect to me, to another is horrible. For example, for me, having cats sleeping in the lobby and lots of vegetation and plants everywhere is like creating an atmosphere of relaxation and love, but for others all this could be synonymous with allergies, insects, dirt, etc. So I learned not to take personal criticism or differences in perspectives and tastes. El Balsa is what it is, it reflects what we like, and I would like it to attract people who like that way it is, and if it does not is also okey, there are places for all tastes and colors! Everything is portrayed in the business, what we are, what we want, what worries us or scares us… It is our work where the unconscious speaks a lot! Now that I understand it, I observe a lot of what happens in my business and I understand that if I resolve the same thing in my personal life, in myself, it will also be resolved in the business.
What is clear to us for the future is the importance of adapting to what is happening in the world and what we want. Take work easy otherwise you will be stressed or worried 24/7 and that is not the idea either! For me, being able to be calm is having my team prepared and ready, happy doing their jobs. Then, I relax. It’s only a matter of trust and being clear that happiness is more important than making millions… I always say that in Montañita we have the life of millionaires, living on the beach, enjoying so many beautiful visits and cool activities, but unfortunately without making a lot of money. However, we are able to see the spectacular sunset or the beautiful sunrise, see the ocean and feel all nature is so wise and powerful, which gives you wings to flight and heals everything!
EN 
ES 
FR 
DE 
No Comments