U.S. prodigy cellist to perform benefit concert at Pranamar Villas in Costa Rica

Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat, on award-winning Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica, will host a classical orchestral concert on Friday, Aug. 21, 2015, to benefit the Costa Rica School of Music in the nearby town of Cobano.

The concert will begin at 5:30 p.m. in Pranamar’s beautiful, spacious beachfront Yoga Shala, where the popular hotel holds its Costa Rica yoga retreats. The free event is open to the public to attend; donations are being requested, which will go to support the music school.
Justin Koga, a young prodigy cellist from Southern California, will perform with the Cobano youth orchestra to help raise funds for the Cobano School of Music.
“We look forward to having as many people as possible attending the concert,” said Agustina Zocchi at Pranamar Villas.

“This concert is a great experience to be able to perform with such a young and great artist as Justin Koga. This concert for our students is very inspirational and motivates them greatly as to what they can accomplish,” commented Jorge Siliézar Ruiz, director of the Cobano Music School.



Pranamar Villas has sponsored concerts in past years to benefit the Cobano School of Music. The events are always a favorite with hotel guests and visitors, said Pranamar Villas owner, Susan Money.

“These kids probably would not be able to have access to music lessons without this school. All of their instruments are sponsored and all of their lessons are free,” said Money. “We give them a space to show off what they’re learning and the experience to perform. It’s such a neat thing, and there are some really talented musicians. Some of the kids have even gone on to San Jose to study music more formally and have careers in music.
“We don’t charge for the concert, but we ask for a donation of whatever people want to give. All of the money goes to the music school,” Money added.

CONTINENTAL CONNECTIONS: Justin Koga and the Costa Rica School of Music in Cobano

For Justin Koga, the youth orchestra at the School of Music in Cobano is not only a continent away from his home in Orange County, Southern California, but a world away. Yet this is the second year the 16-year-old Irvine High School senior has volunteered with the school in the small rural town, both in musical instruction and in fundraising.

For a young musician, Koga’s list of accomplishments is long: Koga plays cello in the Philharmonic Orchestra at Irvine High School; is a five-year member of the Pacific Symphony Youth Ensemble; a featured Young Artist in the Chamber Music of Orange County program; and a cellist in the Donald Bren Honors Concerts. He has won many prizes and scholarships for cello performance, including being the sole winner of the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra Concerto Competition when he was a freshman in high school. That was where he met Costa Rican conductor, Maestro Alejandro Gutierrez, who was the symphony’s orchestra director.

Koga is committed to musical outreach, and was inspired to join a friend in the summer of 2013 to volunteer teach at a music school in Costa Rica. The Costa Rica National Musical Education System (acronym SiNEM) operates 44 music schools around the country. When Koga and his friend, Calvin Lee, reported for work in small town Cobano, “Koga was struck by both the passion of the students and the lack of resources to accommodate them,” reported an article in the Orange County Register newspaper.

“Even though there were so many students in the school, there were so few instruments,” Koga is quoted in the article. “I saw a box of broken-down instruments and some that were missing strings and bridges, and that was the moment of realization for me.”


Koga asked the school’s musical director, Jorge Siliézar Ruiz, for a wish list of instruments and upon returning to the USA, began working to fulfill it by staging benefit concerts to raise money. Koga raised close to $20,000, and used it to purchase eight violins, three violas, three cellos and much-needed supplies. Koga and Lee delivered the new instruments to the music school in Cobano last summer 2014.

The five-year-old Cobano School of Music has a total of 90 students, ranging in age from 12 to 20, said Ruiz. The 28-member orchestra has been invited to perform in an international music festival in Mexico City in December 2016.



Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat

Pranamar Oceanfront Villas is a beachfront hotel in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, on the southern Nicoya Peninsula. Pranamar specializes in Costa Rica yoga retreats and Costa Rica surfing vacations, with daily yoga classes for hotel guests and the public.

Pranamar Villas was named a Top 5 Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica by Travel & Leisure Magazine, and was awarded TripAdvisor’s 2015 Certificate of Excellence.

Article by Shannon Farley

The swimming pool in the ocean at Santa Teresa Costa Rica

I slipped from the rocks into the cool placid water, refreshing even at 7:00 a.m. compared to the heat and humidity beginning to rise from the beach and rainforest. I couldn’t believe how clear and still the water was, especially when big, frothing waves pounded only a dozen or so yards away.

I was swimming in the giant tide pool between Santa Teresa Beach and Hermosa Beach – better known as “Playa Hermosa” – on Costa Rica’s southern Nicoya Peninsula. The larger-than-Olympic-sized shallow sea water swimming pool is one of the best-kept secrets of the area.



Since Santa Teresa and Playa Hermosa – listed by TripAdvisor as Top 10 Beaches in Central America and Top 10 Beaches in Costa Rica for 2015 – are better known for being some of the best surfing beaches in Costa Rica, the tide pool often gets over-looked for great waves. Also, you can only find the tide pool at low tide, when the long, flat beach widens immensely. It is located between Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat and “El Peñón,” or the big rock, where Santa Teresa Beach turns into Playa Hermosa.

The sun-warmed clear water ranges from knee-deep to about chest-deep and is filled with all kinds of interesting sea creatures that get trapped when the tide goes out. You can find sea anemones, sea stars, crabs, mussels, hermit crabs and lots of little brightly colored fish. Rocks and volcanic reef create the structure around the tide pool. Since the water is shallow and it’s right off the beach, this is a perfect swimming and snorkeling site for families with kids.



You will want to wear water shoes, or strap-on beach sandals that can get wet, to be able to walk and stand up on the rocks. Keep in mind when you are snorkeling in Costa Rica that the country is located very near the equator and the tropical sun reflecting off the water will fry your skin faster than a fish over fire. Wear a T-shirt or nylon shirt, a hat, and a generous layer of SPF 30 or 50 waterproof sports sunscreen.



Playa Hermosa by Santa Teresa, Costa Rica The long, curving beach of Playa Hermosa is known to be the most beautiful beach of the Santa Teresa area. Officially called “San Martin,” visitors to the beach commented so often on how beautiful it was that it became known as Playa Hermosa, or “beautiful beach” in Spanish. Playa Hermosa recently was honored once again with the Costa Rica Ecological Blue Flag Award by the Costa Rican Tourism Board for being one of the cleanest beaches in the country. Walking down the pristine beaches of Santa Teresa and Playa Hermosa, you see no high rises or crowds, only trees, jungle, sand and surf.

Where to stay at Playa Hermosa, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Very near the giant tide pool and also the great surfing breaks of Playa Hermosa is award-winning Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat. The beautiful Bali-style beachfront hotel in Santa Teresa is a wonderful place for a relaxing Costa Rica beach vacation. Pranamar Villas specializes in Costa Rica yoga retreats, and Costa Rica surfing vacations, with daily yoga classes for hotel guests and the public.

You can’t go wrong with these recommendations: Pranamar Villas received TripAdvisor’s 2015 Certificate of Excellence, and was named a Top 5 Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica by Travel & Leisure Magazine. Santa Teresa Beach was chosen one of the Top 15 Places to Go in 2015 by Condé Nast Traveler.

Article by Shannon Farley  

 

Santa Teresa Costa Rica hotel asks guests to pack with a purpose

Many guests at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas in Costa Rica – especially those who come on a Costa Rica yoga retreat – ask if there is anything they can do for our community they will be visiting.

The desire to give back or contribute to the place people visit as tourists is a fast-growing movement around the world. Volunteer vacations, or volunteerism, are a very popular way to take a vacation. Another way is to “pack for a purpose” and bring needed school and community supplies to your vacation destination.

“Every time there is a yoga retreat coming and they ask us if there is a way to help the community, we tell them to make a little space in their luggage and bring colored pencils, scissors, notebooks, coloring books, etc. to donate to the local schools,” commented Tania Bertolo, Concierge at Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat.



The beachfront hotel on Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica has been cooperating with the program Pack for a Purpose, which connects travelers wanting to make meaningful contributions to help the places they visit and local community-based projects that receive and use the supplies. In 2014, Pranamar donated supplies to local schools in the nearby communities of Manzanillo and Montezuma that had been brought by hotel guests as donations.

“We would like to offer to our guests that if they would like to do something to help our community, and they can make a little space in their luggage, to bring supplies for the children. We have this great organization to give the donations to that is working with the children in our community,” said Bertolo.

That organization is the non-profit Aprendiendo Unidos (meaning “Learning Together” in Spanish). Since March 2014, Aprendiendo Unidos has been helping the local children of Santa Teresa and neighboring communities who attend schools that don’t have ample educational resources and school supplies.

Gabriela Medina, Director of Aprendiendo Unidos, said the organization currently helps four schools in the Santa Teresa area: Bello Horizonte in Manzanillo, Mal Pais, and two tiny rural schools of San Fernando and Bajos de Ario.
“They are doing great things and we at Pranamar are planning to work with Pack for a Purpose and donate all materials to Aprendiendo Unidos,” said Pranamar Villas’ manager, Mario Matarrita.

“We feel blessed to live in such a special community. Our hotel contributes to the volunteer lifeguards, to the security men at our beaches and to community events,” noted Pranamar Villas’ owner, Susan Money.”

 We have learned that the public schools are really lacking in books, paper, pens … all the things we take for granted as part of a school’s supply to the students. However, that is not the case in the public schools in Costa Rica. We invite our guests to pack a few notebooks, or any school supplies they can fit, into their suitcases for us to distribute to various schools. It sets a tone of appreciation not only from those of us who are residents, but from people all over the world who are able to spend time in this part of the world.”

“Pranamar will make sure your gifts go directly to the schools, and your kindness will make a difference long after you leave!” Money added.
What can you bring or give:
Ongoing needs:

• School supplies like pencils, notebooks, kids’ scissors, backpacks, etc.
• Art supplies for painting and coloring
• Children’s books in English or Spanish
• Ball caps, sun hats and sunscreen for kids
• Water filters and re-usable water bottles
• Games like puzzles, Scrabble, etc.
• Musical instruments
• Funds to help pay for school uniforms, assist with nutritional support at the schools, upgrade school facilities

Requests for 2015:

• 6 First aid kits for the schools
• 50 New or gently-used yoga mats to teach kids yoga
• IPod and speakers to use for dance lessons & yoga
• 50 Mini-computers or tablets for language lessons, etc.

Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat

On award-winning Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica, on the southern Nicoya Peninsula, Pranamar Oceanfront Villas specializes in Costa Rica yoga retreats and Costa Rica surfing vacations, with daily yoga classes for hotel guests and the public.

Article by Shannon Farley

What’s the secret to Costa Rica hotel Pranamar Villas’ success?

When world traveler Susan Money chooses where to stay on vacation, she prefers smaller family-run hotels. Not as small as a B&B, but preferably not a corporate establishment.

“I feel taken care of at a well-run corporate hotel or resort, but I like the friendships you create at smaller family-run hotels,” said Money. “This is especially important to me because I travel alone a lot.”
Money is a hotel owner herself, in Costa Rica. She runs her fabulous beachfront hotel on Santa Teresa Beach – Pranamar Oceanfront Villas & Yoga Retreat – with the same travel philosophy.

“The Pranamar experience is a unique one. Rather than the typical corporate model, we work under the family model,” explained Money, who runs the hotel with her husband, Greg, and daughter, Nancy. “Our staff works together like family. They work seamlessly together.”
The concept does not go unnoticed by Pranamar Villas’ guests.


A guest at Pranamar in January 2015 commented on TripAdvisor: “Loved that this place is a family run, quaint/cozy accommodation and not a packed resort. Just a great vibe about it from the time you come in.

” Money says the biggest difference between a family-run hotel and a corporate resort is that guests are able to interact more with each other and staff. People greet each other by name around the Costa Rica beach hotel, and even staff work shirts are embroidered with “Pranamar Family”. This leads to better customer service and even staff longevity; one staff member has worked with Money for 27 years.
“Guests have their privacy, but definitely people form friendships here and feel they belong here like home,” said Money, who gives out her personal email to guests so they can contact her about anything. “We get so many return guests and referrals from guests that I see it makes a difference.”

A guest who visited the hotel in January for a Costa Rica yoga retreat summed it up on TripAdvisor: “I travel frequently for work and often help support events. I have been blessed with good service but rarely with the truly exceptional service that was offered by the team at Pranamar. They operate seamlessly – hardly needing to speak to each other to provide outstanding restaurant, housekeeping and front desk service ... they are incredibly friendly and accommodating -- I've never been greeted so often or with such genuine warmth and concern for my comfort -- anywhere. The team goes above and beyond.”

On award-winning Santa Teresa Beach in Costa Rica, on the southern Nicoya Peninsula, Pranamar Oceanfront Villas specializes in Costa Rica yoga retreats and Costa Rica surfing vacations, with daily yoga classes for hotel guests and the public.


Article by Shannon Farley

Santa Teresa businesses work together for Blue Flag.

I’ve been reading about ocean pollution, and the facts are really quite shocking. Apparently, it was once a common practice to “get rid of trash” by dumping it into the ocean, and there was even a positive catchphrase: “The solution to pollution is dilution.”

People assumed that the oceans were so vast and deep that the trash would simply be swallowed up and we’d never see it again. How very wrong. All of that trash – pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage, plastic bottles, plastic bags, and other solids – dumped into the ocean from land or by ships is consumed by or ensnares marine mammals, birds or fish with often fatal results, endangering the entire ocean ecosystem.

 It swirls around in thousand-mile-wide swaths of decomposing plastic and garbage. One in the North Pacific, known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, or North Pacific Garbage Patch, is estimated to be the size of Texas and thought to contain 100 million tons of plastic. A new, massive patch was discovered in the Atlantic Ocean in early 2010. So far, five trash gyres have been found in the world.

Walk down the beaches of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica, however, and what you won’t see along the white sand is trash. The Pacific beaches of Santa Teresa – Mal Pais, Playa Carmen, Playa Santa Teresa and Playa Hermosa – on Costa Rica’s southern Nicoya Peninsula hold the honored Ecological Blue Flag status for having near-perfect ocean water quality, potable water quality, coastal sanitation areas, treated waste and run-off water, garbage containers and very little litter.

Businesses on these four beaches have taken it upon themselves to keep the beaches clean. Since 2011, they have worked together to pay for two workers to clean each beach every week, all year long. They pick up trash brought in on the Pacific tides, or washed out from nearby rivers or that is left behind by beach-goers. The rubbish is collected in extra-large garden-size trash bags, separated between garbage and recycling, and brought to a municipal trash collection spot.

The business owners take turns in rotation to pay for the two workers and the cleanup costs. “We started in 2011 with only five or six sponsors, and now we are up to 50-60 sponsors,” said program coordinator Roberto de la Ossa. “The more business owners there are, the easier it is for everyone to maintain the program.”

De la Ossa, who is general manager at sponsor Hotel Tropico Latino, said he works with a small team of business owners to run the program. In turn, they work with the Environmental Committee of Santa Teresa, which coordinates the Blue Flag program.

“We’re trying to promote consciousness in the area,” de la Ossa explained. “We are blessed that we have very clean water here – 75% of the criteria of the Blue Flag Program is that we have clean water. We’re still in time to conserve the environment here. If we tackle these issues now and put programs in place, the new generations coming up will be better equipped to handle these issues and we can grow sustainably.”

In 2011, beach cleanup efforts collected approximately 5,200 kilos of trash, and that was starting mid-year, de la Ossa said. In 2012, they cleaned up an incredible 10,515 kilos of garbage during the year. The program hopes to grow with more business sponsors in 2014.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has" - Margaret Mead

Hotel Tropico Latino

Hotel Tropico Latino is a small, intimate and welcoming beachfront hotel in Costa Rica in the Playa Carmen-Playa Santa Teresa area of the southern Nicoya Peninsula. The charming hotel offers a variety of accommodations spread throughout natural organic gardens. Hotel Tropico Latino is an ideal Costa Rica beach vacation destination for couples, families, surfers, yoga retreats, and well-being and health retreats.

Article by Shannon Farley