The Nicaraguan sun is strong, hot and ever-present – that makes Nicaragua the first choice for many travelers.

However, we sometimes hear “Ouch! It hurts! What do I do? I thought I was careful in the sun. How can I ever return home like this???”

Heard any of this before?

At Casa de Cooper in San Juan del Sur, we have a solution!

Our gardeners are always growing something. One of their special plants is Aloe Barbadensis. New to us…but we went on to explore Barbadensis and find out about it.

First of all, my concern is why we had so many of these spiky succulent plants growing in and around our beautiful Casa de Cooper in the first place. This is not to say they are ugly but the plants did not seem to fit with all of our other beautiful dry jungle flowers and all the fruit trees we grew and cared for our guests.

Our gardener told me in Spanish:

“Hace muchos siglos, las personas se dieron cuenta de que la planta tenía más que ofrecer que ser agradable de ver. El gel y el jugo que se encuentran dentro de Barbadensis se convirtieron en un popular remedio herbal que se usaba para ayudar a tratar todo desde problemas de la piel hasta problemas digestivos”.

“Many centuries ago, people realized the plant had more to offer than just being nice to look at. The gel and juice found inside Barbadensis became a popular herbal remedy that was used to help treat everything from skin issues to digestive problems. “

In my research, I found out this plant came from healing properties for at least

6,000 years ago. I also see where this is used in all the expensive solutions for sunburn and it clicked a spark in Sandra’s eye (m

 

y wife) She suggested we make this available to all of our guests and tell them how to use it, FOR FREE.

Today, at Casa de Cooper we can show you how to harvest the Aloe Barbadens

is best known as the Aloe Vera plant. It is a simple operation with using the scissors in your kitchen to cut a small amount of the spinney stem. Skin it on all sides with a kitchen knife, (watch the stickers), and it will produce a which is the sponge and the inside of the plant. Take a hand full which you will use to rub onto your skin.

You will find the plant on each main porch of your Villa. The scissors are in the Kitchen :-).

Now, you know the rest of the story about our succulent plants at Casa de Cooper in San Juan del Sur Nicaragua.

And you know that if the sun is fierce one day and you get a burn, you have a solution right next to your door.