"The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the danc

For the next nineteen days I will be living at Verdesana, Juan's finca and soon-to-be yoga retreat where the cloud forest meets the sky, surrounded by enormous tropical plants and a profusion of butterflies, the like of which I have never known. This is my lodge called Casa Colibri (Hummingbird House) with very good reason, they are absolutely everywhere along with twelve hens, four rabbits, one rooster and a cat called Miguelito. The farm borders Los Quetzales national park and the cool, fresh climate of the Talamanca mountains has cultivated particularly special flora and fauna that are unique to this area of an already unique country.

Two of Juan's friends from an organic permaculture course gave me a tour of their greenhouse and the low-down on tonnes of other local plants. Then there are my familiar friends; lemon balm, citronella, coriander and mint that greet me on the changing breeze.

Verdesana acts as a magical corridor for wildlife, bordered by a crystal-clear river that I can hear from my room: a calming ever-present reminder of that most basic force of life. The air above the mountain tops teams with huge hawks with one occasionally peeling away to spin a few solitary spirals before disappearing back into the mist. Butterflies tangle in their rising dance until I lose them in the sun and decide to head to the waterfall because, after all, tomorrow I start work. I hope the elation at drinking pure mountain water from cupped hands never wears off.