Flora + Fauna in Costa Rica with Carol Shelkin and Pam Goode
January 7 – 15, 2017
San Ramon Area, Costa Rica
$1960 per person, Double Occupancy; $2360 Single Occupancy
“There’s really only one way to venture into the rainforest in search of the life that teems there, and that is to still your body and mind and wait. Once you give up the searching and simply watch for tiny flutters, everything around you is brilliantly alive” ~Pam Goode, 2016
Is it any wonder we can’t stay away? Please join Carol and Pam for our third retreat in the rainforest wilds of Costa Rica.
“The trip from airport to bliss is one of my favorite parts, no matter the route. Arriving late, I miss seeing shafts of light strain through sugarcane fronds along the Pan Am highway, so tall that there is only green and sky and blacktop as far as you can see. As a consolation gift, the dark hangs purple in swaths across the skies like aprons bulging with plums.
Yellow lights twinkle across the valleys with a decidedly un-citified lack of regimentation, taking on the look of teenagers strolling idly with no set agenda, lanterns in hand.
The night deepens and the empty winding road is steeper now. The living guard rails watch as we pass, while streams topped by one-lane bridges make their dash toward the Pacific. It is an unaccustomed bliss. These days, how often do I wander through the night? I drink it in.” ~ Pam Goode 2016
Our 2017 retreat will combine a five day mosaic realism workshop on the flora and fauna of Costa Rica led by Carol Shelkin with onsite organic farm and rainforest tours and an adventure or two (think water safaris, hot springs, butterfly gardens, lava hikes). Accommodations will be at glorious Finca Luna Nueva (New Moon Farm), a sustainable rainforest ecolodge and certified organic biodynamic farm with single or double lodge and cabin accommodations 
(triples and quads also available), fabulous organic food grown and prepared onsite, panoramic open-air workspace with 24-hour accessibility, wifi, ionized pool, jacuzzi, and spa. Optional activities at an extra cost include guided Arenal Volcano Lava Hike, Butterfly Garden or Cloud Forest Tours, Zipline Canopy Tour, Rafting, or Hanging Bridge Canopy Tour.
“I wake to brilliant sunlight and a cacophony of birds at 6:15, a time of day I rarely see. The purple-flowering hedge that greets our front door is a-whirr with the ever ready wings of hummingbirds, and there’s a 28″ iguana lolling in the crook of a tree 10 feet beyond me. It’s a good morning, cool and bright, and coffee, tea, juice, organic eggs, rice and beans, and an array of tropical fruits await us.” Pam Goode, 2016
INCLUDED
- Transfer from Juan Santamaria Airport in San Jose to the Lodge and Return Transfer
- Eight Nights Accommodation (rooms will be assigned in the order received)
- Seven Breakfasts, Seven Lunches, Seven Dinners when at Lodge
- 5-Day Mosaic Workshop and Open Studio Time
- Access to the Secondary Rainforest and Primary Rainforest
- One Guided Farm Tour
- One Guided Rainforest Tour
- One River Safari with Transportation
NOT INCLUDED
- Airfare To and From Costa Rica
- Optional Tours and Activities
- Transportation for Optional Tours or Local Transportation (Arrangements Provided)
- Offsite Meals
- Trip Insurance (Recommended)
- Gratuities
- Departure Tax of $29
- Alcohol, If Available
NEED TO KNOW
- Retreat has a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 10. Please reserve early, but don’t make flight reservations until notified that we’ve met the minimum.
- Participants will bring their own materials; details to follow. Packing Tips here.
- Photos from our 2013 Retreat are here.
GOOD TO KNOW
Temperatures for January average High 73, Low 59, with .4″ of Rain- Central Standard Time
- Latitude: 10° North of the equator, with equal hours of light and darkness
- Currency: US dollars are accepted pretty much everywhere, including tips
- Electricity: 110, with standard US plugs
- Fast Facts: Literacy rate 96.3%; Military abolished in 1948
- Costa Rica is among the countries with the highest amount of protected land in the world; 25% of the nation is dedicated to park systems, reserves, or natural wildlife areas
- Bridging the northern and southern most points of the two American contents, Costa Rica is the meeting point for a variety of cultures and a density of plant and animal species said to be unlike any other country in the world
- Approximately 850 bird species, 9000 plant species, 34,000 insect species, 205 mammalian species, 220 reptilian species, and 160 amphibian species
ABOUT THE LEADERS
- Read more about Carol Shelkin here. Contact Carol here.
- Read more about Pam Goode here. Contact Pam here.
ABOUT THE ACCOMMODATIONS
- Read more about Finca Luna Nueva here.
TO REGISTER
Contact Pam here for a reservation form.
Mosaic Art Retreats 