“When Paths Emerge: How the GP Network Gave Rise to a Living Trail”
Sometimes, when neighbors talk, landscapes listen.
What started as a conversation among permaculture friends has become a living, breathing trail that now winds through food forests, riverside ecosystems, and wild biodiversity in El Castillo.
In the heart of El Castillo, a new path has appeared—but it wasn’t designed in an office, and no blueprint could have predicted it. The Permaculture Pathway emerged not from a plan, but from a network.
One of the most beautiful effects of the GP Network is that when people come together regularly—with open minds and shared values—something bigger than anyone’s individual vision begins to take shape. These aren’t just social connections; they’re creative ecosystems. And like any good ecosystem, new forms of life begin to sprout.
Over the past months, what sprouted was a trail—literally. During one of our gatherings, members began discussing how their neighboring properties could be connected. A guided walk through diverse, stewarded landscapes. A way to experience biodiversity not as a concept, but as a walk. A way to touch the land, see the food forests in action, and witness how permaculture isn’t a static design—it’s a living practice.
And so, piece by piece, the Permaculture Pathway was born.
This trail now weaves through three different properties, each part of the GP Network. Along the way, guests walk under the shade of breadnut trees and alongside stands of bamboo. They pass peach palms, guanabana, rubber trees, and wild guava, not in tidy rows, but in natural integration—designed ecosystems that mirror the diversity of the jungle they border.
The path eventually meets the river, where nature speaks in louder tones. Birds call, monkeys sometimes appear, fungi decorate fallen logs, and the water rushes down from forested mountains. There’s no guarantee of what you’ll see—only that it will be alive.
And at the center of this living trail is Mikey—a dedicated land steward, one of the main creators and keepers of the pathway, and your guide through it. Mikey doesn’t just walk the trail—he embodies it. His deep knowledge of the land and the network behind it brings each stop to life. And he’s the one you’ll talk to directly when booking a visit.
The experience is donation-based and available by appointment only. At some point along the trail, guests are invited to take a plant and place it into the soil—a small but lasting contribution to the reforestation and regeneration of this shared landscape.
The Permacultural Pathway is more than a trail. It’s a symptom of connection. It exists because the network exists. It’s what happens when land stewards talk to each other, when skills are shared, when ideas are passed around under the stars and over shared meals.
And like the best things in permaculture, no one person can take credit. It’s decentralized, co-created, and evolving. Just like the network.
Want to walk the trail yourself?
