Giving thanks on a Thanksgiving yoga retreat in Costa Rica

This year, why not spend the Thanksgiving holidays giving thanks for all that is good in life on a revitalizing yoga retreat in Costa Rica.

Imagine taking a break from the busyness of everyday life to relax and restore your energy in the rainforest, with 80-degree warm gulf waters at your doorstep and monkeys, Scarlet Macaws and coatis as your neighbors. This is Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in southern Costa Rica.

Accessible only by boat, the remote oceanfront Costa Rica rainforest lodge is located on the breathtaking Golfo Dulce across from the famous Osa Peninsula by the Piedras Blancas National Park. The extraordinary Costa Rica eco-lodge was designed for sustainable travel and holds the highest rating in the Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program (CST) in Costa Rica.

Starting Nov. 23, 2014, international yoga instructor Shonna Annapurna Brown and international recording artist John William Bauld will lead a Yoga Meditation and Sound retreat. The retreat lasts five, six or seven nights, depending on how long you choose to stay.

The yoga retreat includes two daily yoga classes, meditation, and evening kirtan concerts with the instructors. Yoga classes will be held on the beautiful yoga deck on the beach (shaded) or at the tree canopy-level main lodge building. There will be classical hatha yoga; Mantrasana Yoga with live music, a meditative hatha yoga class set to live mantra music; and restorative yoga. Kirtan is soothing participatory music using ancient Sanskrit mantras.

The retreat package includes accommodation at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, all meals, boat transfers, guided adventure activities, unlimited self-guided hikes in the preserve, and use of kayaks, snorkeling and fishing equipment. To get to Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, drive or fly (NatureAir or Sansa Airlines) to either Puerto Jimenez or Golfito. Nicuesa Lodge will pick you up by boat and transfer you to the lodge (about 30 minutes one-way).

Article by Shannon Farley

Does real eco-tourism exist in Costa Rica?

There is a lot of talk in travel about eco-tourism and being sustainable. But what does that really mean? Is that simply turning off a few lights, not wasting water and recycling the trash?

According to the United Nations, sustainability is “meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” Costa Rica pioneered sustainable tourism over the past decade through its Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program (CST), validated as a global model by the United Nations.

Created by the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT), the CST program rates and certifies tourism businesses based on their compliance with natural, cultural and social resource management. CST consists of five levels, called “Leaves”; Level five, or Five Leaves, signifies that the company is considered “outstanding in terms of sustainability.” The rating process can take more than a year to complete, with frequent inspections and evaluations, and the highest levels are very difficult to obtain.

Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge is one of only three dozen hotels in Costa Rica that have received the highest rating for sustainability of Five Leaves. 

The extraordinary Costa Rica eco-lodge was constructed in harmony with the environment from naturally fallen trees and recycled materials. A true Costa Rica rainforest lodge, it is located on a 165-acre private preserve in the dense tropical rainforest bordering the Piedras Blancas National Park and the pristine Golfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf) by the Osa Peninsula in southern Costa Rica. 

Since the only way to get there is by boat across the pristine waters of the Golfo Dulce from either the towns of Golfito or Puerto Jimenez, you can imagine how difficult it was to build.

“We traveled all over Costa Rica and other parts of Central America to find and create a special place where one can intimately experience the natural world of both the tropical rainforest and the Pacific Ocean,” explained Playa Nicuesa owners, Michael and Donna Butler. “Our plan was to create a place that offers the comfort of a lodge and the activities and diversity of an adventure tour.”

Playa Nicuesa sustainability highlights:

• Lodge buildings are located on less than 2% of property – 98% is a private protected area.
• Used recycled construction materials, such as: roof tiles on the lodge and cabins made from recycled plastics, including banana bags.
• Wood came from naturally fallen trees, permitted by the government to be pulled out of the forest by oxen, or from farmed trees.
• Electricity is provided by solar energy. Panels are located on main lodge structure. Back-up generator runs on recycled vegetable oil.
• Solar drying room used to dry all of the lodge wash.
• Hot water is provided by on-demand propane which means that the propane is used only when the hot water faucet is turned on.
• Received the Ecological Blue Flag Award for clean beaches.

Check out Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge “Green Season Specials” for adventure, nature, yoga, relaxation and comfort at great prices through Sept. 30, 2014.

Article by Shannon Farley

Monkeying around on the Osa Peninsula Costa Rica

 

I never get tired of watching the monkeys in Costa Rica. It is so much fun to watch the cute, miniature-sized Squirrel Monkeys jump and play, and marvel at the ingenuity of clever White-faced Capuchin Monkeys. Spider Monkeys are wonderful to see swinging gracefully through the trees with their long arms, legs and tails. And the haunting call of Howler Monkeys at dawn, dusk, or before the rain, gives you that spine-tingling “I’m in the jungle” feeling.

There are only a few places in Costa Rica where you can see all four native species of monkeys – Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge on Golfo Dulce, the Piedras Blancas National Park, Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park.

Out of 250 species of primates in the world, 68 are in the Americas. Native to the forests of Costa Rica are the threatened Central American Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri oerstedii), the White-faced Capuchin (Cebus capucinus), the Mantled Howler Monkey (Alouatta palliata) and the endangered Geoffroy's Spider Monkey (Ateles geoffroyi).

All four kinds of monkeys are active during the day and live in the treetops. You can see them using their strong limbs and prehensile tails (almost like a third hand) to swing between the trees when you walk the trails at Playa Nicuesa Lodge or on a visit to the Piedras Blancas National Park. On the kayaking tour in the Esquinas River mangrove estuary, you can frequently see White-faced Capuchin Monkeys and also Squirrel Monkeys.

Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge is located in the pristine rainforest on a remote beach of the Golfo Dulce. A TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence winner, the rainforest lodge in Costa Rica has its own 165-acre private preserve bordering the Piedras Blancas National Park.

August and September bring whale-watching season to Golfo Dulce, where you can see migrating Pacific Humpback Whales that come to Costa Rica’s warm waters to breed and give birth.

Article by Shannon Farley

Jaguars and monkeys and whales on Osa Peninsula Costa Rica! Oh my!

Down in the very south of Costa Rica there is a rainforest you dream to see. Thankfully off the tourism “superhighway” and explored only by adventurous intrepid travelers, it is a place of rugged mountains, plunging waterfalls, free-flowing rivers, striking beaches and magnificent towering trees in dense rainforest.

Jaguars roam freely, scarlet macaws soar overhead, and humpback whales and dolphins splash in the calm blue waters of the Golfo Dulce in this wilder side of Costa Rica. There aren’t many roads, and there are far more trees than people.

In the southwestern corner of this peaceful Central American nation, renowned for eco-tourism, the Piedras Blancas National Park is much less visited than its famous neighbor, the Corcovado National Park. One third smaller, the Piedras Blancas National Park spans 34,642 acres that tie into the more than 366,000 acres of land and sea protected in national parks, wildlife refuges and private reserves on the Osa Peninsula Costa Rica.

Sandwiched between the Golfito National Wildlife Refuge to the east and the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve to the west, Piedras Blancas was heavily logged and hunted until land was donated or slowly bought by charitable groups and turned over for public use. The national park was created in 1993.

Today, the park protects the remaining lowland tropical rainforest near the Golfo Dulce, and provides a habitat for all five species of Costa Rica wild cats – jaguars, ocelots, margays, jaguarundis and pumas – and all four kinds of monkeys – spider, howler, white-faced capuchin and endangered squirrel monkeys. The park is considered to be one of the top bird-watching locations in Costa Rica, with more than 330 species recorded.

The best way to visit Piedras Blancas National Park is to stay in the area. Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge is the top Costa Rica eco-lodge on the Golfo Dulce. Its 165-acre private preserve backs into the Piedras Blancas National Park. While visiting, you can explore thriving rainforests and immaculate beaches, powerful waterfalls and the fascinating Esquinas River and mangrove estuary. Just off the coast are many intact coral reefs, providing excellent places to snorkel and swim.

Article by Shannon Farley

Costa Rica eco lodge is unique place for rainforest retreats

Imagine attending a workshop or a retreat, but instead of a conference center or event hall, you were surrounded by sounds of lapping waves of 80-degree calm Pacific gulf waters and roars of howler monkeys in Costa Rica eco lodge.

This is what it is like to have a seminar or retreat at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica. From conferences with scientific guest lecturers to yoga retreats, family reunions to company meetings, Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge is ideal for small group getaways. Groups of 18-28 persons can take the entire lodge for a completely private event; or smaller groups can share the lodge with other guests and still have private meeting and gathering space.

Accessible only by boat, Playa Nicuesa is situated in southern Costa Rica on the breathtaking Golfo Dulce (“Sweet Gulf”), one of only a handful of unique tropical fjords in the world. The renowned Osa Peninsula is just across these placid Pacific Ocean waters. The lodge’s 165-acre private reserve joins into the Piedras Blancas National Park.

Playa Nicuesa’s beautifully-designed 3,000-square-foot main lodge building – described to be like Robinson Crusoe’s tree house – is built in harmony with nature, and houses an open-air bar, dining room and lounge areas. Unique “jungle-chic” accommodations in five private bungalows and a separate four-room two-story guest house are private with open-air bathrooms and hot water showers. Fresh meals are included in all stays.

There is a spacious yoga deck by the beach and a canopy-level yoga platform in the main lodge building. Yoga classes are given daily in the early morning and late afternoon. To complement any retreat or seminar program, there are plenty of adventure tours.

For more information on holding a retreat, seminar or group event at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in Costa Rica, check here.

Article by Shannon Farley

Top Costa Rica eco lodge to host scientific guest lecturers

Two top U.S. biology research scientists are coming to Costa Rica in early March to lead a study trip deep in the Costa Rican rainforest on the south Pacific Coast of the Golfo Dulce.

The scientific tour will be held March 1-7, 2014, at Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, a member of Enchanting Hotels & Resorts Costa Rica. Drs. Howard Topoff and Carol Simon of Arizona – both professors emeriti of The City University of New York and Research Associates at the American Museum of Natural History – will be guest lecturers.

Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge is a unique Costa Rica eco lodge immersed in the dense tropical rainforest bordering the Piedras Blancas National Park in southern Costa Rica. The only way to get to the remote wilderness retreat, set on a 165-acre private preserve, is by boat across the pristine waters of the Golfo Dulce from either the towns of Golfito or Puerto Jimenez. 

The area joins an immense biological corridor that extends from the world-famous Corcovado National Park on the Osa Peninsula to the Golfo Dulce Forest Reserve and the Piedras Blancas National Park, down into Panama. Known as a tropical fjord, the Golfo Dulce (“Sweet Gulf”) is a critical habitat for migrating Pacific Humpback Whales, and resident and migratory communities of dolphins and sea turtles.

Drs. Topoff and Simon have been scientific study trip leaders for the past 30 years for the Smithsonian Institute, The American Museum of Natural History, Naturalist Journeys, Elderhostel, and several cruise lines. The husband-and-wife team’s specialty is social behavior of animals, tropical ecology and evolutionary biology. Their educational programs and entertaining multimedia presentations are highly popular.

At Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge in March, the scientific researchers will address the natural history of Costa Rica:

• Introduction to Rainforest Animals & Plants
• Social Behavior of Monkeys of Central and South America
• Social Insects of the World
• The Evolution of Animal Coloration
• Poisonous Reptiles and Amphibians of the Rainforest
• The Evolution of Animal Communication
• Courtship and Mating Strategies of Animals

For more information and reservations, contact Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge. The award-winning eco-lodge offers ecotourism, nature and adventure vacations, family holidays, honeymoon trips, and yoga classes and retreats.

Article by Shannon Farley