In the act to conmemorate the abolition of the army and José Figueres Ferrer’s struggle, accompanied by his comrades in the Revolution of 1948, his family and friends, Don Efraín Chacón received the medal of merit in peace and the democracy.
He was recognized as an exemplary citizen as a tribute to his effort, his love and courage, as well as for being the founder of San Gerardo de Dota, a true natural treasure.
He was born on November 2nd, 1925. He came from a poor, working home. No one suspected that his future would be linked to the mountain, the revolution with Don Pepe and the discovery of one of the natural paradises of Costa Rica, known today as San Gerardo de Dota.
It was on March 14th, 1954. Efraín began his regular day: he kissed his wife Caridad and prepared his hunting equipment with the conviction that he would put something on the family table.
They were the same weapons that he had used in El Empalme, La Sierra, La Ventolera and even in Cartago as part of the rebel squadron led by Caudillo Figueres.
Along with his brother Federico, he set out on the mountain with the guidance of his dogs as it had happened on countless occasions, not realizing that this journey would change their lives forever.
They made their way southward, as if they were heading to Pérez Zeledón, in the middle of a forest as dense as lead.
After walking many miles, with feet cracked by the lack of shoes and without having managed to capture the desired prey, they saw the first tones of what seemed to be a valley hidden in the skirts of Bella Vista hill, with Savegre river dancing to the compass of the birds and with the natural beauty of a place that hadn’t been touched by any man.
They thought that if they wanted to settle in that place, they had to leave the little comfort they had in Providencia, and move their families to a solitary and without-comfort place.
They returned home and talked to their wives: Caridad, and Claudina, Federico’s wife, both sisters, as well as their husbands. The husbands knew that one wouldn’t leave without the other.
They gave them the “yes,” for the second time, and the four of them drew up the plan to start working the land from that distant place.
Efraín, his brother and their families managed to make San Gerardo one of the main ecological. touristic sites worldwide.