Born and raised in California, Christina Orr has always been awed by the reviving properties of plants, and the ability of nature to enhance our lives. Serendipidously, she ended up in Costa Rica, at the age of 27 years, after surviving the Oakland hills fire, of 1991. She landed on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, down near Panama, in a little village called Playa Chiquita de Talamanca. She had only intended on staying a few months with her black Lab puppy, Marley (a rescue dog from the Berkeley Human Society!), to re-directionalize herself, after losing everything (but that's a completely different story).

Quickly Christina and Marley settled into the pristine jungles of the Talamanca, New Year's day, 1993; where parrot squawking is the 6am alarm, and cicadas lullaby any person or puppy to sleep on any given night. Not to mention the ever-present gentle roar of the Caribbean Sea, and the embracing touch of the turquoise warm water. Everything is alive in the Jungle! Not to mention Inspiring! Mother Nature in "progress," you can smell it, touch it and feel it. Awesome, indeed.

Being a life long student of medicinal plants, and distilling properties into oils back in Marin County, CA, Christina (and Marley, of course), set off exploring the local medicinals of the zone. Very early in their studies, they were befriended by an experienced local bush doctor of sorts, Federico Jaquins, know as, "Cubale" to this day, who generously shared his knowledge of local plants and traditions. For years, Christina, Cubale and Marley could be seen walking the jungle and roadsides identifying the native medicinals. According to Cubale, every plant offers a specific healing and or reguvenating quality, that his ancestors have relied on for centuries.We are all graciously blessed by his presence, to date, sharing 84 years in the community; endearingly his neighborhood is known only as "Cubale Town."

In her early years in Marin, CA, Christina had always used Olive Oil when creating oils. The presence of the healthy and abundant coconut tree on the beach, presented interesting potentials. Coconut oil is a highly replenishing oil for skin and hair (great for animals too!). It is warming and stimulating to the skin when massaged, revitalizing dry or damaged skin, making it more supple and elastic.

Early on, Christina made the majority of the oil at her home, with the help of locals, teaching her the trade secrets of coconut oil. It is actually an arduous, dangerous (chipping all those coconuts with a machete!), 2 day process. Presently, the coconut oil production has become a sustainable community project, keeping alive traditions of the making coconut oil, that are becoming lost amongst locals.