In January 2016 Centauri will be running its first adult arts retreat in almost a decade – this time, to Costa Rica! The holiday will be a week long, and intended for all adult writers and their families. Last week, we took a trip down to Costa Rica to research this next exciting adventure!

Day 1
We arrived at San Jose airport after a pleasant 5 hour flight direct from Toronto. The eco-lodge where we hope to hold our retreat had sent a driver to meet us, and there followed a beautiful 2-hour drive as we wound our way out of the city, through the valley and then upwards, into rainforest, as we headed towards Arenal Volcano National Park, where our retreat will be located. After the frigid winter of Canada, Costa Rica looked so lush and green, under dazzling blue skies.

We’d done a fair amount of research already, settling on a place called Finca Luna Nueva for its experience with retreat groups, its beautiful location in the rainforest, and its proximity to tourist attractions. It will be important that the writers in our group have the right sort of serene, away-from-it-all atmosphere to foster creativity, while their families (if they choose to bring them) have plenty of fun things to do!

Just 2km from Finca Luna Nueva, our driver turned off the main road and we bounced down a pot-holed minor road towards our destination. ‘Free Costa Rica massage!’ laughed our driver.

Finca Luna Nueva is more magical that we could ever have imagined. Located in gorgeous rainforest teeming with wildlife, the lodge is part of a biodynamic farm. There are family bungalows and two main lodges, as well as an open-air restaurant located next to a lovely pool. Tropical birds flit everywhere, there are beautiful flowers along the pathways, and little walking trails run off between the pretty ‘Casas’ where bedrooms are located for guests. There’s a birdwatching tower with serene views over to Arenal Volcano, and a table tennis table next to the reception desk. Danny – one of the managers – informed us he would be able to book any sightseeing adventures we wished to take. We thanked him, changed and ran down to the pool where we sipped tropical juices made on the farm, and relaxed into our holiday mood!

Later, in the restaurant, we met some of the other guests: about twenty in all, from Denmark, Germany, Canada, Mexico and the States. Some of the guests were family groups, others couples or solo travellers. The dinner menu was quite a surprise. Appetizing and varied, the menu consists mostly of produce grown either by Finca Luna Nueva, or on neighbouring farms. This meant tasty, organic whole foods, some of which were new to us. Over the next few days we would sample ‘rainforest salad’, made deliciously from the leaves of indigenous plants, a tiny squash native to the rainforest, cheese from water buffalo and wonderful fruits like papaya and wild custard apple. My nine year old daughter was my traveller companion and she tucked into the new tastes with gusto, while also appreciating familiar options like spaghetti, veggie burgers and pizza made in the farm’s hand made wood burning oven.

Day 2
We woke early this morning to the sound of parrots screeching in the trees – green ones with yellow heads. Before breakfast, we lounged in the hammock outside our room, enjoying the view – and that’s when we noticed the three-toed sloth who lives in a tree right next to our veranda! We had a birds’eye view of him over the next few days.

Today was spent appreciating everything the eco-lodge had to offer. We swam in the pool, climbed the birdwatching tower and took a tour of the farm. This is a ‘must’ for any visitor to Fina Luna Nueva, as the farm manager – Ishmael – takes the time to point out the wonders that grow there, and to educate everyone about their farming practises. Everything here is sustainable, grown in harmony with the rainforest and without clear cutting of any kind. We learned about different types of plants and fruits, sampling as we wandered. The farm includes a cacao grove, small sugar cane plantation, a lot of tropical trees, and root crops like ginger and tumeric. We saw so much birdlife as we explored – including two flocks of toucans, woodpeckers, three kinds of hummingbirds, and a Laughing Falcon, which is the only bird to choose  venomous snakes as its diet!

This afternoon we did the farm’s ‘chocolate tour’, another option available to writers and families who need variety during our trip, but don’t want to go far to find it! We roasted, shelled and ground our own cacao beans, making first traditional hot chocolate (with chilli) then a more westernized version with sugar and milk. Finally, we made our own chocolate bars, coating them with flavours of our choice and storing them to eat throughout our trip. Ishmael knows so much about Costa Rica, wildlife, farming and chocolate that the tour was educational and entertaining at the same time!

The communal areas, here, where our writers will spend their mornings in workshops, are beautiful. Both the ‘Casas’ have bedrooms on the upper floor, with pleasant meeting areas underneath. There are no walls, just tiled courtyards and easy chairs, with unobstructed views out over rainforest, or down towards the pool. It’s hard to imagine anything more inspirational.

Day 3
Today we explored the walking trails all over Finca Luna Nueva – the farm trail, rainforest mystery trail, sacred seed trail and the longer Cabalonga Trail, which goes into dense rainforest where spider monkeys are often sighted. There is so much to see here! This is real tropical rainforest, of course, so the front desk provides rubber boots for guests who wish to hike – just in case a snake takes a snooze on the trail! We saw a lot of wildlife on our various walks, then relaxed in the pool, the hot tub and our hammock afterwards. Finca Luna Nueva also has a spa and offers a range of massage services for guests.

Day 4
Now that we felt familiar with Finca Luna Nueva, we decided to head out a little and explore! There is a choice of about 12 different half and full day trips offered through the front desk, all of them run by Desafio, which I believe is Costa Rica’s largest network of tour operators. All tour guides and most drivers seem to speak English here, and although I have tourist Spanish, I barely ever needed it.

After browsing through the various options, we selected to visit Arenal’s Hanging Bridges in the morning, a sequence of exciting rope and wire bridges along a rainforest walk. In the afternoon, we relaxed at one of the many hot springs in the area, had dinner there, and returned to the lodge in the evening. It was an exciting day, for sure. Our writing retreat will likely be one week in length, and we will build in a half day trip midweek for our writers – most likely to the hot springs, and to have dinner in La Fortuna. Writing workshops will take place every morning at Finca Luna Nueva, with afternoons spent relaxing by the pool, walking on the trails, enjoying the spa, taking farm workshops or on half day tours which can be booked at any time, dependent on interests. Our writers’ accompanying family members will have the option to relax at Finca Nueva and take advantage of everything here, or book from a long list of tours – nature hikes, boat trips, white water rafting, caving, volcano visits, beach days or more.

Day 5
Time for some adventure!
This morning, we chose to go horseback riding. We booked with an experienced company nearby, winding along a lovely trail through pasture and then rainforest, as we headed for La Fortuna waterfall. At the end of the riding trail, our group hiked down to the waterfall, and there was time for a one hour swim in the pure waters, with rainforest and mountains rising up on all sides. Afterwards, our guides unpacked locally-made empanadas for us all, and we rode our horses slowly back along the trail. We called at a native Maleku village, listened to a presentation by the people there, then headed back to our lodge for a relaxing afternoon by the pool. Today was the first time I have ever been on a horse!

Day 6
More relaxation. Today was a writing day for me, at Finca Luna Nueva. I tried out many of the various places our writers will be able to write when we come back next year: the little courtyards in the Casas, with their shelves of books and comfy chairs, the loungers by the pool, the seating areas along the Sacred Seeds trail, the hammocks, the open air restaurant and even the hot tub!

Day 7
On the final day of our research trip, we went zip lining! After a quick safety talk, we were hooked into our harnesses and hiked up the trail to the first of 12 lines. The experience was amazing – again, a first for me! It’s good for all ages, and both children and adults can ride with a guide, if they prefer. The longest zip line was suspended over the rainforest, between two mountains, with La Fortuna waterfall below – a total 980metres in length! Afterwards, we went into La Fortuna for lunch. The tourist town of La Fortuna is nestled at the base of Arenal volcano, just a 25 minute cab ride from our lodge. There are plenty of souvenir shops and restaurants here, so the town itself makes for a great trip out.

We ended our trip with a night walk in the rainforest – something else that is organised and run by Finca Luna Nueva, on their property. We saw so much wildlife, thanks to the keen eyes of Ishmael! We loved spotting hummingbirds asleep on the branches, and red eyed tree frogs on the leaves… but the most exciting moment came when an armadillo crashed through the trees ahead of us.

Day 8
After an early breakfast by the pool, we met our driver and headed out for the airport, and our direct flight back to Toronto. This has been a relaxing week, and we’re sad to return to the cold Canadian winter. Our one consolation is that we will be back here next year, with a group of writers!

If you would like to be on the priority mailing list for this trip, please email us here!

Julie
www.centauriartscamp.com