Centro Ashé Costa Rica Plant Journeys Twin Star Group Trip ~ Intro to Tropical Herbalism Talamanca, Costa Rica February 19-25, 2015 (6 nights) THIS TRIP IS NOW FULL!
Join us in tropical Costa Rica for an incredible week of breathtaking natural beauty while exploring grassroots approaches to herbalism and plant healing. This tour will bring you in contact with some of the most incredible botanical gardens and sanctuaries, the depths of the Costa Rican jungles, as well as the beauty of the infamous coastlines. You will have classes with local herbalists, learn traditional cooking incorporating herbs, hike with local naturalists, and enjoy incredible workshops in one of the countries most pristine spots! In addition to the trips focus on immersion and understanding of local Costa Rican culture, ecosystems, and plant medicine, herbalists Lupo Passero of Twin Star Herbal Education & Molly Meehan of Centro Ashé Herbs & Education will offer complimentary classes including yoga, Tropical Herbalism through the Senses, Tropical Doctrine of Signatures & Energetic Herbalism, and Tropical Herbal Medicine Making focusing on BushMedicine of the Caribe Sur of Costa Rica.
Participants will earn an Introduction to Tropical Herbalism Certificate through Twin Star Herbal Education. This program may be paired with Twin Star's level II program for additional hours and discounts. Contact [email protected] for information about certificates.
Trip Itinerary
Thursday February 19, 2015 4:30pm Group Meets at Juan Santamaria Airport and departs to Manzanillo (plan to get a flight that arrives no later than 3:00pm at the absolute latest) Bus will stop for dinner about 1.5 hours into trip 10:00pm Arrive Cabinas Bucus
Friday February 20, 2015 7:30 beach yoga (optional) 8:15 Breakfast (Meet at 8:00 at Cabinas Bucus) 9:00 Group Opening ~ Orientation, Welcome to the Caribe Sur, Tour Manzanillo 10:30 - Introduction to Tropical Herbalism through the senses Free Time before lunch 12:45 Group Lunch 1:30 Depart for Trip to Catato Indigenous BriBri 7:00 Group Dinner *Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner is included on this day
Saturday February 21, 2015 8:00 Beach Yoga (optional) 8:45 Breakfast 9:30 am Leave to go to Puerto Viejo Farmers Market - Meet Local Farmers, See Local Tropical Produce! Free Day to Relax and Have Fun, explore Puerto Viejo! *breakfast included on this day
Sunday February 22, 2015 8:00 Breakfast 9:00 am 9:00 am Full day with Ulyssis, BriBri Indigenous Plant Healer in BriBri with Traditional Lunch 4:00 Return to Manzanillo 6:30 Group Dinner at Cool & Calm Cafe *breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included on this day ***potential evening class or sacred circle
Monday February 23, 2015 7:00 Group Breakfast 7:30-12:00pm Jungle Hike in Gandoca-Manzanillo Reserve with local naturalist Omar Cook Campbell 12:00 Group Lunch 3:00 Tropical Doctrine of Signatures & Energetic Herbalism with Lupo 6:00 Group Dinner at Cool & Calm Cafe *breakfast, lunch and dinner included this day
Tuesday February 24, 2015 7:15 Beach Yoga (optional) 8:00 - Breakfast 9:00 - Tropical Herbal Medicine Making & flower essences with Lupo & Molly 12:00 Group Lunch at Cool & Calm Cafe Freetime in Afternoon 5:00 Despedida Dinner & Caribbean Cooking Class with Andy Cook Campbell *breakfast, lunch and dinner are provided this day
Wednesday February 25, 2015 8:00 am Breakfast at Cool & Calm Cafe 9:00 Group Bus Leave to San Jose
Please read the important travel information at the bottom of this page thoroughly.
Registration and Payment: Cost: $1100 shared room (only shared rooms available, rooms will have either two or three participants) A non-refundable deposit of $300 is due upon registration. Registration closes and payment in full due by December 1, 2014. Once payments are made in full Centro Ashé and Twin Star Herbal Education is unable to issue refunds of any kind because we prepay for the activities/accomadations you receive on the trip and do not receive refunds for said payments. Please note there is an $8 fee to pay via credit card.
What's included: The price includes your private shuttle from San Jose Costa Rica to Manzanillo and back to San Jose, accomadations at Cabinas Bucus in Manzanillo, Costa Rica, each of the tours (and transportation to and from said tours) outlined on the itinerary as well as breakfast each morning. We will include certain lunch and dinners in the trip, please read the itinerary carefully so you know which meals you are responsible for. PRICE DOES NOT include flight to and from Costa Rica. The trip does not include extra nights you spend traveling before or after the trip.
How to Pay: We accept credit card via Paypal, check or money orders made out to Twin Star Herbal Education and sent via mail to: Please contact [email protected] if you have any questions.
Please Registering Your Agree You have Read and Understand the Following Disclaimer: **All participants must be 18 years of age or older unless with a legal guardian. ** Please note, by registering for this tour you acknowledge Centro Ashé acts only as agents for the various independent suppliers that provide hotel accommodations, transportation, sightseeing, activities, or other services connected with this tour. Such services are subject to the terms and conditions of those suppliers. Centro Ashé and their respective employees, agents, representatives, and assigns accept no liability whatsoever for any injury, damage, loss, accident, delay, or any other incident which may be caused by the negligence, defect, default of any company or person in performing these services. Responsibility is not accepted for losses, injury, damages or expenses of any kind due to sickness, weather, strikes, hostilities, wars, terrorist acts, acts of nature, local laws or other such causes. All services and accommodations are subject to the laws and regulations of the country in which they are provided. Centro Ashé is not responsible for any baggage or personal effects of any individual participating in the tours / trips arranged by Centro Ashé. Individual travelers are responsible for purchasing a travel insurance policy, if desired, that will cover some of the expenses associated with the loss of luggage or personal effects as well as their personal health insurance policy. Centro Ashé is not responsible for providing your health insurance or healthcare while on the trip, are not responsible for any flight cancellations or changes to your personal travel itinerary not provided by the trip. The itinerary and schedule are available on www.centroashe.org and the exact activities may change slightly based on weather while on the trip. Occasionally weather can become an issue and we reserve the right to not participate in a certain activity if it is deemed unsafe due to weather (boat ride etc) but we will replace that activity with another of equal value.
Registration Form & Payment In order to register please download, complete, sign and return the registration form below to [email protected]. Please read the important travel information at the bottom of this page thoroughly. Payment via paypal can be completed below: Please note there is an $8 fee to pay via credit card. TRIP IS NOW FULL, Check back for 2016 dates!
Air Travel You are responsible for purchasing your own airfare to and from Costa Rica. You can check out various travel websites, many times www.kayak.com or www.cheapoair.com will have good deals. You will need to fly into San Jose, the capitol of Costa Rica and arrive at the latest by 3pm in order to get on the group bus to Manzanillo that leaves the airport at 4:30. If you fly in a day early and need to stay the night in San Jose we love Costa Rica Backpackers, or Hotel Aranjuez, as well as Costa Rica Guesthouse. Please note your group bus leave the Juan Santamaria Airport at 4:30pm on Thursday February 19. If you come early - Costa Rica Backpackers is an inexpensive hostel type environment, pretty young crowd. Hotel Aranjuez is gorgeous, in expensive private hotel rooms, amazing buffet breakfast outdoors under a mango tree, but their reservation process can sometimes be tricky, check their website for more details. Costa Rica Guesthouse is directly across the street from Costa Rica Backpackers, it has clean nice private rooms, and reservations online are simple.
** Please note that if you are from the United States upon entering Costa Rica you do not need a special visa if you are coming from the US, however you need proof of exit (a plane ticket, bus ticket etc you have pre purchased and printed) within three months of the date you enter. Do not forget to print your return ticket and keep it with you. You also need a valid US passport. There is a $29 exit tax you must pay when leaving Costa Rica payable in dollars, colones, or by credit/debit card.
Money - There is a counter to change money at the airport just before you exit the building on the left. You can change money there if you'd like, but everyone accepts dollars ($10s or $20s are best, and people will not accept your dollars if they are ripped, tattered, torn etc). BRING CASH with you as there is no ATM in Manzanillo. Please note Puerto Viejo is the closest town to Manzanillo with an ATM, so do not plan on waiting until arriving in Manzanillo to exchange money. Nearly all businesses in Costa Rica accept dollars but it’s always best to have local currency - you can get that later on if you start off with USD. The exchange rate fluctuates and is between 500-550 colones to the dollar - so roughly when you're thinking about it in your head about 500 colones to a dollar.
Food - We serve an abundance of beautiful Caribbean and Latin inspired foods during this trip which includes lots of salads, fruits, veggies, some meats, seafoods, beans and rice. Meals tend to be pretty heavy, but in case you need extra snacks there are several small farmers markets in town.
Water - Please plan to purchase bottled water while you are in Manzanillo - the tap water is fine for showering/brushing teeth but not the best for drinking long term. Tap water in San Jose is safe to drink though we do not recommend drinking the water in the Caribbean.
Weather/What to Bring/Communication While There Most people when they talk about the rainy season it actually refers to the pacific side, which has a very distinct rainy season, 6 months dry, 6 months wet. We will be on the Caribbean side, and while yes it rains, it is more evenly balanced through out the year. That doesn't mean it won't rain, because it certainly can and possibly will. We'll just have to do our best for the tour and respect nature - we'll need to be flexible. As far as clothes, bring light weight stuff that dries easily, it is HUMID! Bring a good pair of shoes to hike with that you dont mind getting muddy, and flip flops, and whatever else you'd like to have with you. Cotton tshirts and shorts are great, a rain jacket, bathing suit, towel, are all great. Yoga mat if you'd like. Bring natural bug spray if you're into that because you can't get that down there, however natural/organic shampoos/soaps/lotions are available. THERE ARE MOSQUITOS! Bring any regular medications/supplements you use. Bring SUNSCREEN! A hat. Sunglasses. As far as a laptop - there is internet in town and at your hotel so you're welcome to bring it, just depends how connected you'd like to be! It's another thing to travel with and to be conscious of while you're on buses out and about - we dont recommend traveling regularly with your computer/iphone etc. But it can be convenient, so that is totally your decision. Outlets there are the same as the US, no converter is needed, and you have a few options for making phone calls. . The other very simple options is to use the phone cards there, they sell them at most convenient stores ("supers" or "pulperias") and they are in increments of about 2000 or 5000 colones (about $10) . 5000 colones buys you about 18 minutes of talk time to the US, its great to have for quick conversations, and these can be used from any public or private phone in Costa Rica. If you do bring a laptop then you can use that to Skype or GoogleCall to the states as well, MUCH better rates.
General Health- Malaria, while common in parts of the tropics, is really not issues in Talamanca. Dengue is a very rare issue, but as it is more prevelent in highly populated areas - and there is no immunization. Wearing long sleeved/pants and using bug repellents and bug nets (which are at your hotel) is highly recommended.
We do ask that you bring a basic first aid kit for yourself, as well any basic immunity support from natural health aids, including vitamin c, iburprofen, tea tree oil, lavender oil, grapefruit seed extract, charcoal tablets, acidophilus or other probiotic supplements, EFA's, and homeopathic remedies for bites, stings, sunburns, and digestive issues.