Join us Feb. 4 - 14, 2012, for a spec-tacular yoga vacation in Costa Rica! This will be a 10-night adventure at a great price that shows us a perfect example of Costa Rica's diversity: a working ranch in a small town, a luxurious rainforest hotel, a beautiful beach, and a mountain resort that offers pampering spa treatments as well as wild adventure! With yoga twice a day and beautiful, exotic wildlife everywhere, this is the perfect winter getaway.
Sorry -- this trip is now full.
Price:
$2,538 per person, double occupancy
Package includes: 10 nights' accommodations in excellent hotels, most meals (10 breakfasts, 8 lunches, 9 dinners), bilingual guide, driver, all ground transportation in air-conditioned mini-bus, yoga classes. Not included: air fare to Liberia, Costa Rica, alcoholic beverages, optional tours, 2 lunches, 1 dinner, tips for guide and driver, airport departure tax.
A $500 non-refundable deposit is required to hold your reservation. (If trip is cancelled because of low attendance, you will get your deposit back.) To sign up, write to: sandy@joyfulheartyoga.com
Deposit Schedule: $1019 due Nov. 14 $1019 due Dec. 1
This year we have a longer trip with all new locations! We'll fly into Liberia, Costa Rica, where our good friends Daniel and Carlos will pick us up and take us to a nearby lunch spot known for super-fresh, delicious Costa Rican specialties. I highly recommend the mango batido con leche, or mango with milk. (I consider myself a connoisseur of this beverage, and this place has very good ones!) We'll begin our 10-night adventure on a peaceful finca nestled in beautiful valley. We will spend one night in a simple, rustic cabin made from local reclaimed wood. A porch outfitted with rocking chairs and a hammock make a perfect spot to relax and enjoy the view. The bathroom is spacious and airy. The view from our yoga deck is serene and majestic, so we'll have an afternoon practice to work out our travel-related aches and pains. We'll enjoy a dinner prepared with many ingredients grown on the ranch. In the morning we'll have another yoga class before breakfast, and then our Costa Rican hosts will show us how to make a local dish before taking us on a tour of their small town so we can meet the locals and learn about their lives.
After lunch at the finca, we'll drive for about an hour, moving deeper into the rainforest where we'll stay for the next 3 nights. You'll feel like you are in the middle of nowhere because you really are in the middle of nowhere! But suddenly, an exotic hotel appears, offering spacious rooms, each with an indoor jacuzzi and an outdoor garden shower. There's also a swimming pool & spa. A blue river threads through the rainforest, which is just steps away from your room. This is a birder's paradise! We'll have yoga before dinner, and you'll probably have a hard time deciding whether you want to stay outside or in your room. Over the next two days, we'll have yoga twice a day, and you can spend your time as you wish. We'll offer a group hike each day: one easy hike, and one vigorous hike to the waterfall pictured at the top of this page. You can relax by the pool, curl up with a good book in one of the common spaces or on your own deck, or get a spa treatment. There's plenty of space for wandering.
Next we take a 2-hour drive to a lovely beach resort with a swimming pool, jacuzzi, lush gardens, air condition-ing, spa services on the beach or in your room, and delicious food. This is our home for the next three nights. We'll do yoga twice a day, and you can relax on the property, walk on the beach, explore the nearby town, or take advantage of the optional snorkel and diving tours. We'll have most of our meals here, with one dinner out in the town.
But that's not all... We'll spend our last three nights in the transitional forest: a mountain location where the rainforest starts to turn into the dry forest. Even better, we're at the foothill of an active volcano, which gifts us with natural hot springs, mud baths, and natural saunas. This is again a birder's paradise with mot-mots, magpie jays, toucans, and more, not to mention monkeys! What can we do without leaving the property? Horseback riding, zip-lining, hike to a waterfall, swim in the pool, yoga in the forest, view ancient petroglyphs, take advantage of the natural spa activities, and indulge in spa treatments in one of the most beautiful spas I've ever seen. (If you are saving up for one spa treatment -- do it here!)
Comments from previous retreats:
"I am still basking in the memories of sunlight, bird calls, and daily yoga, not to mention the outstanding company of such incredible human beings. Thank you, Sandy, for executing such a perfect trip!" - Lori D.
"Sandy, Thank you so much for putting together this trip ... It was truly pura vida, in all senses of the phrase. I'm still buzzing from all the new places, experiences, & people. Warren has proclaimed that it may have been the greatest experience of his life. And, personally, I don't know how I could have made it without the yoga. This body is not used to kayaking or hiking for hours, but the yoga stretched all my parts back out and let me keep going and going and enjoying and enjoying.. I loved the whole trip." - Ann H.
"I want to thank you for the most amazing week of my entire life. ... It was incredible. Everything you planned turned out so well, and all the hard work you put into it truly blossomed during the week. I don't think there is any trip on earth that such a wide age range of people could have the same great time except this one. - Freddy H.
"Your web page brought back many fond memories of what a great adventure we just experienced. It was a great mix of people and I believe everyone had a great time. It was so special to us that everyone joined in to help Susan have the birthday of a lifetime.
Excellent job on the additions to your web page, and on the great job on putting this trip together." - Charlie D.
Cancellation Penalties:
$500 deposit is non-refundable plus:
75% penalty if canceled 31 days prior to Feb. 4
50% penalty if canceled 45 days prior to Feb. 4
25% penalty if canceled 60 days prior to Feb 4