Cabuya Lodge, where the retreat is taking place, is located in the fishing village of Cabuya (de Cobano) on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula in the province of Puntarenas in Costa Rica, only minutes away from Cabo Blanco Absolute Natural Reserve, about 20 minutes from Mal Pais and Santa Teresa and 10 minutes from Montezuma.   ​ Cabuya is about as close to the “end of the earth” as it gets in Costa Rica, and is one of the most remote towns. The tourism infrastructure is much less developed, with far fewer hotels, and the people who live there or visit like it this way.  ​ It’s quite an amazing place, with two really amazing surf spots, several large waterfalls that are practically unknown to all but a handful of people, the mysterious Cabuya Island, the official entrance to Cabo Blanco Park, and perhaps the largest tree in Costa Rica.  The terrain is very flat in town, unlike Montezuma or Santa Teresa, so it has a lot of pasture within the village itself, creating a very rural feeling.  ​ For many people, Cabuya is the closest thing to paradise they’ve been able to find in Costa Rica.

There are cabins/lodges that comfortably sleep 2-4, with twin beds downstairs and a queen in the loft (or reverse.) The cabins also have a small fridge, dining table and coffee maker and bathroom. **** There are also a few houses/villas that feature private rooms, some with shared bathrooms and some with private bathrooms. Cabuya lodge is equipped with a beautiful mult-level pool.

* Linens and towels are included at Cabuya Lodge but a beach towel is a good idea to bring (we can also use these in practice to make the mat a bit cushier or folded for support for the knees and for seated meditation). * Yoga mat (They make travel mats that fold) * Flashlight, sunblock, sunglasses, sunhat, layers (bathing suit), it's warm during the day, but it can be cool at night, so a sweater and long-pants and a pair of jeans, higher socks, to go hiking to keep lower limbs safe. *Bug repellent (these items can be VERY expensive in CR so make sure to bring with) *Journal (for reflections) *Flip flops or sandals to wear around Cabuya Lodge and hiking boots/sneakers for some of the excursions. * Costa Rican phrase book, can assist travel particularly in Liberia or any other travel in Costa Rica before or after the retreat too.

There are lots of wonderful things to do in this region and for those traveling on a budget some of them are very low cost: * Cabo Blanco National Reserve- longer and shorter hikes of different difficulty levels from easy to more challenging * Cemetery Island- a beautiful walk during low tide * Montezuma Waterfalls * Rio Colorado- where the river meets the sea there. People like to hang there and make rock sculptures. * Playa Grande * Wildlife Refuge & Turtle Nursery Nearby * ATV/quad tours, horseback riding, boat trip to Tortuga Island, Bioluminescence Boat Tour

* Cabuya Lodge has wifi * There is no need to prepay for excursions, we will arrange them as a group based on interest * The closest ATM is a few mins away by taxi. It’s a good idea to exchange a few hundred bucks at Liberia, and we can plan time to stop there as needed *There are beautiful towns of interest nearby: Montezuma, Santa Teresa, Cobano. In past years our retreat was farther north in Tambor, another beautiful fishing village. * Sunrise is around 5:15am and Sunset is at 6pm

Research on kayak shows very reasonable airfare as of mid-August from Buffalo to Costa Rica during the retreat week. LIR is the three letter airport code when searching, it comes up under these names during web searches: Liberia. Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport, Guanacaste Airport. --- There is a second airport SJO, but if you choose this one I would recommend a jumper plane as the overland travel is long and involves a ferry. To get from the airport to Cabuya there are a few options: There is a shuttle to Cabuya that is about $65 and takes between 4-5 hours (changes based on traffic.) We will help you to arrange shuttle transportation. There are also jumper planes available from Liberia to Cóbano, as well as SJO to Cóbano which are about $120 each way and are only 20 minute flights. It's then a 20 minute ride via bus, car or shuttle to Cabuya. We are happy to help with Shuttles from Cóbano to Cabuya Lodge. We will work with everyone to help you make travel arrangements, answer questions etc. So just reach out anytime!