Olaf (Nicolas) Wessberg - The Founder of Costa Rica's first National Park
In Costa Rica Olaf Wessberg is rather known as Nicolas Wessberg, his second name, while his family at home used to call him Olle.
Wedding Picture of Karen and Olaf back home in Sweden in 1952.
In 1954 the young couple emigrated to Costa Rica.
Karen once had a dream where she saw themselves living in a paradise tropical landscape.
In Montezuma they found the land she had seen in her dream and they bought a piece of land.
Their farm was located on the northern end of Montezuma beach, near today's Nicolas Wessberg Nature Reserve. They built a simple thatched rancho, right in front of the beach.
Back to Nature...
Karen and Olle grew all kind of fruit, vegetables and corn in their orchard. Water was brought to the rancho from a nearby river
by a wooden tube system.
After her husband's death Karen had a small hotel in the center of Montezuma town. It was located on the site of today's Sano Banano Hotel.
Pictures are courtesy of Eva, Ulf and Björn Tellow
See also:
• The Olaf Wessberg Story (print optimized pdf, great travel reading)
• The History of Cabo Blanco
• Karen Mogensen Nature Reserve