Sentient Experientials and the Council for Cultural and Biological Diversity present:

18th “Plants as Teachers Traditional Wisdom and Rainforest Conservation Strategies”

A RAINFOREST PLANT MEDICINE INTENSIVE

Join us on an unforgettable adventure of self-discovery, wellness and exploration of rainforest plant traditions with cultural masters and a much-admired Ethnobotanist.

JANUARY 23 - 30, 2006
FEBRUARY 1 - 8, 2006

at GUARIA de OSA — “Orchid of the Osa”

Rainforest Ocean Discovery Centre & Ethnobotanical Gardens

Cost: $1200/person
Space available for max 22 participants

Intention:

To experientially learn from an ancient Rainforest plant medicine tradition and welcome an alchemic transformation, healing, and re-integration of body, mind, heart and spirit.

To receive insight and guidance and instructions into millenary, time-tested, traditional healing and wellness practices and thus strengthen our essence and improve our health

To raise funds through tuition proceeds for cultural heritage revalidation projects among the Secoya People in the Ecuadorian Amazon and for Rainforest Conservation Projects.

On this experiential workshop journey you will receive an insight into a timeless Rainforest plant healing tradition including:

• 3 Traditional healing ceremonies for renewal and wellness
• Plant baths for aura cleansing
• Daily practice of energy cultivation and transformation techniques
• Indigenous world-view, cosmology and storytelling
• Immersion in primary rainforest, ocean and beach ecosystems
• Discover Don Pablo Amaringo’s visionary art, Enjoy traditional marimba music and appreciate rare recordings of elder master healing chants
  

ARRIVAL INFORMATION
Note: Guests who wish to arrive earlier please notify us beforehand

Arrive into San Jose, the capital city of Costa Rica the day before your event. If you arrive before 11:00 AM you can make it that very day to Guaria on the afternoon flight.

Guests will be picked up at the airport by Guaria de Osa’s taxi staff. Look for the sign “Guaria de Osa”

A hotel reservation will be made for your overnight

Group flies to Drake Bay on the Osa Peninsula (about 50 min.); San Jose to Drake Bay flight departs at 8:30 a.m. This route gives you a vista of the spectacular Rainforest Canopy of the Osa Peninsula!

Upon landing, a taxi driver will take you to Drake Bay Beach (about 15 min. land trip) Look for the sign “Guaria de Osa”.

At the beach, a boat captain will transfer you to San Josecito Beach Landing (about 20 min. along the Pacific Coast); here you will be met by a staff member who will guide you to Guaria.

From San Josecito, you’ll walk 20 min. south on the beach with the Pacific Ocean on your right and the Rainforest on your left — and monkeys and birds, and flora and fauna greeting you all along the way to Guaria de Osa!

Pack what you can carry — or if porter service is needed, please request it beforehand. Nature air flights have a minimum of 25lb; additional luggage will have a cost of $1 per lb.

DEPARTURE INFORMATION
If you plan to depart from Costa Rica on the last day of your event, international departure flight must be after 2 pm, in order to have enough time to make your international flight.

Domestic Flight departs from Palmar Sur airport at 10:10; San Jose arrival at 11 am in San Jose.

For a daily workshop itinerary Please email us at puravida@guariadeosa.com

Notes

All activities are optional, as we know that sometimes to do less is to do more.

Meals during this week will be scrumptious local cuisine, simple and clean with all day tea and coffee. Certain days will observe the “dieta”, an Indigenous menu appropriate for the renewal ceremonies.

* * * *
We make the following round trip reservations to help you get to Guaria de Osa effortlessly!

Domestic flight: San Jose/Drake Bay — Palmar Sur/San Jose
$168/person round trip. Note: Once we make the reservation and get the confirmation, each person will be notified to pay individually with a credit or debit card directly to Nature Air.

Taxi transfers in San Jose: Juan Santamaria International & Tobias Bolaños domestic airport; about $15/person taxi - not included in Guaria’s group rate. Please pay taxi driver directly.

Hotel in San Jose; About $35-65/person - not included in Guaria’s group rate. Please pay at the hotel.

TUITION for 8 days/7 nights includes:

• 8 days/7 nights Lodging
• All Meals, three daily except on fasting days
• Osa Peninsula boat and taxi transfers, round trip from local airstrip to lodge.
• Three guided excursions into towering gallery rainforest: Paradise beach and rainforest and waterfall walk to Rio Claro, St. Josephs Ridge trail and a walk bordering Corcovado National Park.
• Ethnobotanical Plant Walk and tour of Guaria’s gardens.
• Discussions and presentations on ethnobotany, wisdom transmission, Indigenous world-view and cosmology.
• 10% donation to The Osa Foundation’s Rainforest Conservation Projects (if guests wish to match this donation — we impart our gratitude). To learn more about our rainforest conservation efforts, please go to www.osanimi.org and our Rainforest Conservation page at www.guariadeosa.com
• Costa Rican Tourist Tax on lodging.
• Filtered water in the dining room and kitchen; and for all other uses at Guaria, there is spring water that gushes pure water - naturally filtered straight from the rocks
• Solar system lighting
• Use of surfboards & boogie boards
• Clean linens and towels

Fees Do Not Include:

• All San Jose expenses
• Domestic air flight $168
• Suggested 10% tips for Guaria de Osa’s staff of cooks & kitchen staff, laundry person, and guides
• Laundry service
• Special dietary requests: $70/week/person
• If interested in snorkeling, please bring your own gear
• Because currently Guaria does not have a credit card system, we accept only: Costa Rican Colones, US dollars, and/or American Express Travelers Checks - please refrain from bringing your personal checkbook these take at least 1 months to be cleared
• Past guests expressed it was handy to bring extra money - anywhere from $200 to $500 - to cover additional experiences and adventures they were inspired to do while at Guaria or for arts and crafts.

For example, there are two classic all day excursions participants may want to insert in their itinerary: Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica’s Crown Jewel of National Parks! and Caño Island Oceanic Reserve, whose ocean is considered among the clearest and relatively less polluted in the world! Special Group Rate cost: $65/person for a group of 8 or more; $90/person for a group of less than 8 people

Other examples: healing modalities and massages our staff can provide; paintings by Pablo Amaringo and those of his students from Usko Ayar School of Amazonian Painting in Pucallpa, Peru; arts & crafts; and hand-crafted jewelry

Please refer to our Price List for Additional Experiences and Adventures to supplement activities readily on hand at Guaria.

Tuition Payment

Full payment is due 60 days prior to arrival. After 60 days please add a 5% processing fee. Your payment accompanies Reservations Documents these can be printed from our web site at Documents to Mail. You can find these at: http://www.guaria.com/reservations.html

Suggested Reading

Abram, David. The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World.

Amaringo, Pablo, and Eduardo Luna. Ayahuasca Visions: The Religious Iconography of a Peruvian Shaman., North Atlantic Books, Berkeley. To order: chard@northatlanticbooks.com

Berman, Morris. The Reenchantment of the World.

Briggs, John, and F. David Peat. Seven Life Lessons of Chaos: Timeless Wisdom from the Science of Change.

Capra, Fritjof. The Tao of Physics.

Gablik, Suzi. The Reenchantment of Art.

Mindell, Arnold. The Shaman’s Body.

Narby, Jeremy. The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge.

Ni, Hua-Ching. Workbook for Spiritual Development of All People.

Schultes, Richard Evans. Vine of the Soul.

Schultes, Richard Evans. Where the Gods Reign.

Contact us for more information!

Email: puravida@guariadeosa.com
Tel: (510) 235 4313 (U.S. office)