Each day was filled with a new kind of magic; sometimes it was brought by a thunderous plop of rain that had the potential to last all day, and other times it came on the wings of a toucan that swooped low against dazzling rays of sun. But it always came.
Every morning we would wake up to run a lap of the farm before plunging off the balcony into a shimmeringly still sea. It was my favourite part of the day - you never new what kind of magic was to come. Some mornings breakfasts of stove-top banana bread and homemade almond butter stretched well into lunchtime as the sun rose higher in the sky. But more often than not we were out by 8am feeding the fish in the aquaponics or harvesting basil for a sale. The countless beds of spinach had to be seen to and the tomatoes fertilized yet always by 12pm we would be in the kitchen ready to experiment with spices from the garden and staples from the store.

This was the kind of magic Malcolm had dreamed of: a self sufficient, organic farm he could call his own. A place that would remain even when the rest of the world went pear-shaped. Bruce -manager and master of all plants- worked alongside the local indigenous to grow and produce everything from exotic cherries and tomatoes to ginger and cashew apples but their real pride of plant was the spinach -it grew by the bucket load all over the farm climbing tall lattices and carpeting the rich soil. And as a result never a day went by without spinach being served as some sort of dish on the balcony table.

Neither did we miss a day without our much loved chocolate. Except this wasn't the usual Cadbury stuff, this was our very own Finca Tranquila cacao. Although it had proved non-profititable to sell in Europe they still grow it at the farm for mass personal use! Every afternoon we would roast the dried, fermented beans and then one by one remove the husks. Next -the grinding! Five or ten minutes in a powerful food mixer saw the beans turn first to powder and then gradually to a smooth chocolaty paiste. Now was the fun part: add some honey and powdered milk to freeze into a bar; mix with advocado, honey and coconut cream to create a tantalising mouse or simply swirl into warm almond milk with some honey for a heartwarming hot chocolate!

Life on the edge of the jungle did have its downsides though: a rather too friendly jaguar prevented us from venturing into the dripping undergrowth alone and the lack of roads ment that the nearest town was a half hour boat ride away. But this just added to the magic for the waters were alive! Visitors would arrive in a spray of salt from neighbouring farms and every morning countless little dugout canoes would glide past on their way to school. These indigenous children knew the waters like we knew how to read; the currents, the tides and winds. Wee boys and girls as young as five were out every evening fishing in the mangroves for supper. And all they had was a hook and line. It was a life that to us may seem behind the times and primative but they knew how to use the land and they respected everything that nature gave them.

This was at the heart of Finca Tranquila; every evening as the sun grew to a gentle caramel behind the distant mangroves we would sit on the balcony to feast away on nature's plentiful gifts.