About Us

Nearly 60 years ago our parents (Braulio (lulo) & Ruth) settled in this area. They were very young, undertaking a new step in their lives, teeming with dreams and illusions. Their story began in an estate as caretakers of the property. It was a virgin land so they started with the exploiting process.

There were not many opportunities available back then; this meant daily hard work. Our father was in charge of cutting down trees, opening the necessary gaps in order to access the rich soil and then plant everything, from rice and beans, corn and all the other crops; not just for their own livelihood but for the landlord that they used to work for. Our mother was in charge of all the domestic affairs, everything from cleaning and cooking but also all the other daily activities that have to be done in a home on the countryside (in this rural context the wives help their husbands taking care of the house surroundings and the livestock, such as chickens, pigs, and cows.

Our oldest brother (Santana) arrived to this world, and alongside him many blessings. The consistency and perseverance in the hard work, those notorious efforts made by our parents didn’t go unnoticed. Their lovely spark soften their landlord’s heart, so he offered to sell a little piece of land. Life went on, and with it more children (Alexandra, Laura, Karen and David) and blessings came along. Opportunity arose and one day the good landlord decided to sell the rest of the property to our family. Later on as years of determined hard work went by, opportunities arisen once again and they were able to purchase other neighboring estates to enlarge our property. It was precisely around this time that they had the chance to acquire the stretch of property that bounders the river which they called, Nauyaca. Why Nauyaca you might be asking?
Back then, when they began to work that land and made the astounding discovery of the waterfalls, the surrounding area was full of boulders, which made the work even harder, therefore the workers were not very eager at the time to spent the days laboring that hard terrain. Around that particular time our father used to listen to a radio soap opera, the plot developed in a beautiful hacienda that was called Nauyaca, the passion for the radio series was so great to our father, that part as a joke part as irony the day assigned to work that marvelous, unexplored, but difficult, boulder filled land surrounding the waterfalls was called “the Nauyaca day” since the task was not very pleasant nor the workforce especially keen to go there the reference came in handy as some sort of ironic nickname. The time, the dedication and eventually the standing practice of the nickname formed a special bond in our hearts, since we hoped that with our hard work the place will be as beautiful as the one pictured in our imagination when we thought of the marvelous hacienda from that lovely radio series.

The actual word (Nauyaca) comes from an indigenous language the Náhuatl used by
Mesoamerican people to address the famous viper Fer de lance. We took the name and added the waterfalls twist so our touristic development was finally registered as Nauyaca Waterfalls.
For many years we dedicated some of the land to livestock farming with great achievements, then the crisis in the livestock prices hit the country and we had to seek another way to ensure our livelihood. It was here when we initiated a plant nursery project. This was a turning point in our history. We still had the cattle tradition and was a key role in our activities, nonetheless it was relegated by this new project.

It´s during this turning point that our father decides to star with a daily tour to the Nauyaca Waterfalls, there were many obstacles to overcome, how to open up this place for others? First of all, we lived four miles from the main road, there was no access road, only available by horse, a full hour ride. There was no line of communication, no electrical supply, nor infrastructure to accommodate. He had no studies, far less any knowledge of any foreign language, it was scary, it took a giant leap of faith, but he was focused and determined to open the place for tourism. So
with great determination he venture into the unknown, hard work and perseverance was his background to face an unfamiliar world, full of challenges. His objective was crystal clear, to be a stepping stone for the community in terms of international tourism.
There were many questions that needed to be answered regarding the opening of the place for international tourism. Nonetheless our father went to meet a couple of local businessmen and friends, Mr. Jack Ewin and Mr. Mike Maguines, the former is the owner of Hacienda Barú and the latter owns San Clemente Restaurant. Don Braulio met them and invited them to our property for a tour. He was eager to hear suggestions and possible feedback to improve the possibilities of the project.

After the visit that capture the delight of both businessmen and carefully following proper recommendations one day of June, 1992 they had our very first couple of tourists in our home.
Foreign tourist!. Quite an achievement, we were full of excitement and joy. After them more and more came to visit us, and ever since many more have enjoyed the coziness of our family and have experienced the incredible features our estate has to offer.
Today, 30 years after we started the business and the horseback riding tours to the waterfalls, we have endured many perils but have also enjoyed many magical moments. Our guests are a testimony of our devotion to our clientele as well as the family values and traditions with which we daily embrace our hard work. We have had the great opportunity to see our family grow, as well as our business, most of them becoming part of this terrific staff that will welcome you and your loved ones. We believe family involvement has been key to our great success, precisely because we take care of our business as a family take care of its members. We are keen to keep
up the hard work and improve in every possible way to satisfy our customers’ needs and expectations, always bearing in mind that as time goes by Nauyaca Waterfalls will remain in the memories of those who have the blessing to visit us.

Sincerely yours,
Jiménez Solís Family