Being a yoga instructor and a massage therapist at Playa Nicuesa
is one in a life time experience… One of our Costarican yoga instructors, Nati Soto, shared with
us her side of the story…

Snorkeling

Living and working at Nicuesa Lodge changed
my perspective on life. My expectations for this opportunity were really high,
and no doubt I had the time of my life. The knowledge and the fun that I experienced there is owed to the awesome people I was so lucky to spend the time with; guests,
co-workers, and the coolest managers you could ask for. 

Melo, boat captain

It
has been seven weeks since a captain with a beautiful smile, Melo, picked me
up for a wonderful 30 minute boat ride from Puerto Jimenez to Playa Nicuesa.  A ride that I was able to take many other
times, and to Golfito and around the gulf as well; sometimes to pick up new guests,
to help with errands, to represent the lodge on recycling campaigns,
or just for the fun and pleasure of being there. Those boat rides made me realize all the amazing secrets that this water holds, and the different
sensations that you get just by staring at it. 

Looking calm and still like if the surface of
the water was a mirror, it can suddenly be disturbed by a jump of a dolphin -or
many dolphins-, the bright yellow skin of a sea snake only seen in the Golfo Dulce, or
by a turtle trying to swim unnoticed beside your boat.  

Sea Snake (Pelamis platurus)

Sunset at Yoga Deck

The yoga deck was my every day sanctuary,
the place where we practice yoga and massage.  Every day at least twice a day I did the most
beautiful walk from the lodge to the deck on a wooden path over the lagoon,
always taking the time to see all the humming birds flying around the flowers, animals walking on the side or swimming
underneath the bridge. Nature fills up the
platform with the purest energy. 

Dancing with the staff

Working here you really get to relate to the guests, we share every meal with them but you actually end up sharing more
than that, lots of good talking, music, laughs, drinks and even some dancing.
People come here from all over the world and for that reason I got the chance
to hear stories from very different situations and very diverse points of
view. I
learned a lot from everybody that I spent time with. I learned
a lot from Verónica, our Sustainability Coordinator. Sustainability is very strong in Nicuesa, and from her I learned the importance of it. I also learned from her and the
rest of the staff  a lot about the flora and fauna of the Golfo Dulce and the Osa region.  

Hiking in the trails

Jumping from a palm tree during high tide

I had so much fun jumping off the dock on low tide with everybody
and jumping off the fallen palm tree at high tide, took couple of cooking lessons, swam to see the bioluminiscent planckton at night, visited the Old farm house, went kayaking the river, did
the loop trail, visited the wild life refuge and botanical garden
with guests, went to cheer for my Nicuesa boys at the soccer games, watched a
movie at the neighbour’s, watched the stars laying at the dock, relaxed at the hammocks. I loved to hear the
stories from the local staff, incredible people that have been living in this jungle since they were little. 

This morning Juan Pablo brought me to Puerto
Jiménez to take my flight back home. I already know that I’m going back being a
more open person, willing to become a better human being and to give my best to
the world.

Flying back home

In the gardens of Playa Nicuesa
we get a lot of visitors every day. Birds, reptiles, butterflies, spiders,
frogs and mammals are attracted to our gardens due to the great amount of
native plants with nectar and fruits they can find in here. Even though we do
not support artificial feeding, animals stop by our place looking for food and
shelter. Nicuesa’s garden is part of their natural habitat.

 
 When you stay at Nicuesa, you
will see a lot of animals walking around your cabin. One of the most common one
is the White Nosed Coati (Nasua narica).
You could find White Nosed Coatis (or Pizotes as we call them in Spanish) in
the ground or in a tree during the day looking for food. They forage by keeping
their nose close to the floor and sniffing around to find beetles, spiders,
scorpions, ants, termites, worms, centipedes, and even land crabs. 

Toño: Nicuesa’s Coati

Agouti eating seeds

Tamandua

Kinkajou

All of these animals and more you can find here in Playa Nicuesa. Don’t worry if you hear steps or strange noises at night or during the day outside your cabin. The fauna that lives in here is always minding their own business: looking for food, for a partner, taking care of their offspring or just enjoying life in the Golfo Dulce jungle. Thanks to our lush and biodiverse gardens, you may be lucky enough to see them all just sitting from  your cabin’s balcony.

Cabin’s balcony

Everyday at Nicuesa we are grateful for being living in such a wonderful paradise. Just by being in the Osa Peninsula and Golfo Dulce, you can tell that you are in a very special place. The breathtaking scenery of the Osa Region is more than enough to feel Mother Earth’s power. 

But… What is it about this place that makes it so extraordinary?

Sunset in the Golfo Dulce

The Osa
region of Costa Rica is a true biological treasure. It is the healthiest
primary rainforest on the whole pacific coast in Central America, in this
entire region this is the forest which contains the tallest trees and supports
some of the biggest populations of endangered fauna. There is an exceptionally
high number of endemic species, meaning that they occur only in this place in
the world.   

Within ACOSA,
or the Osa Conservation Area, there is a cluster of protected areas, 17 in
total, including the Corcovado National Park and Piedras Blancas National Park.
This patch of protected area, which represents only 3% of the country’s
territory, is home to half of Costarican plant and animal species. That is an
extremely high level of density of species, considering that Costa Rica
contains 4% of the world’s biodiversity.

Big Morray in the corals of the Gulf

The “Golfo
Dulce” (literally, “Sweet Gulf”) is the marine equivalent of the lush, pristine
jungles in the area. Commonly called a gulf, it is actually a fjord, one of the
only four tropical fjords in the world. With a maximum depth of 700 feet, it
contains very different habitats that range from warm, shallow marine coral
formations where little fish abound, to the cold depths that only cetaceans can
explore.  

Bottlenose Dolphins

The order
Cetacea comprises whales, dolphins and porpoises. Surprisingly, their closest
terrestrial relatives are ungulate mammals, which include horses, cows, tapirs
and deer among others. It was a long evolutionary way to adjust a terrestrial
mammal for life in the ocean. Some of the most obvious adaptations are the
transformation of hind limbs into a flattened tail, the fusing of cervical
vertebrae that allows no neck movement whatsoever, and the shift from front
nostrils to blowholes at the upper part of the head.

Humpback Whale blowing through the blowhole

There are
two suborders within the Cetacea order, Mysticeti and Odontoceti. Mysticeti, or
baleen whales (also called toothless whales) have mouth plates instead of teeth
and have two blowholes. All members of the Odontoceti suborder (which includes
all dolphins and toothed whales) have teeth and only one blowhole. 

Humpback Whale

Among the
more commonly seen cetaceans around the Golfo Dulce, are the spinner dolphins,
spotted dolphins, bottle nose dolphins. All these are resident and can be seen
year round. Humpback whales on the other hand, seasonally come to breed and
nurse the calves. 


Populations from the south arrive from August through November,
and populations from the north arrive from November through June. This overlap
in breeding seasons makes the Golfo Dulce an extremely rare spot where
different populations meet, promoting genetic variety of this species.    

To visit this paradise is one in a life experience, especially for those who love water, rainforest and wildlife!

Everyday at Nicuesa we are grateful for being living in such a wonderful paradise. Just by being in the Osa Peninsula and Golfo Dulce, you can tell that you are in a very special place. The breathtaking scenery of the Osa Region is more than enough to feel Mother Earth’s power. 

But… What is it about this place that makes it so extraordinary? 

Rio Esquinas Mangrove

Playa Nicuesa’s view to Golfo Dulce

Bottle nose dolphins

April 23rd is a day to honor Earth for giving us life. Even though Earth Day should be everyday, it is a good opportunity to remind people that Earth is everybody’s only home, therefore is our duty to take care of her.

Recycled art!

Veronica: Nicuesa’s Sustainability Coordinator

Anderson family helping with our Sign-Design!

Discovering the message behind the code…!

Nicuesa Sign in the way to Puerto Jiménez!

Look in our Facebook page for more pictures of this day!

At Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge we are committed to the protection of our home:  the Golfo Dulce and the surrounding rainforests.  Reforestation, recycling, saving energy and water, using solar panels, and using biodegradable products for our daily living; are some of the practices we do to help the environment.

However, it is not enough to ensure a sustainable development in Osa. That is why we have partnerships with different conservation and cultural groups, which we help through donations and collaboration.   Our efforts towards conservation are greatly expanded due to the support of our guest’s donations.   Now that this year is coming to an end, Playa Nicuesa is proud to say that we collected $3555 in contribution thanks to our guest’s kindness.  These funds will be distributed to a variety of community and environmental organizations in the upcoming year to continue supporting our program that has resulted in over $18,000 in contribution to groups from donations received from our guest and Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge.

Non-governmental Organizations that fight for the preservation of the natural resources of the Costarican South Pacific have been given donations with these funds. Te NGOs include  MarVIva, PRETOMA, Yaguará, Coalición Ambiental and Nature Conservacy. With our help, organizations like PRETOMA can work on successful campaigns such as No Tuna Farms in Golfo Dulce, which makes a big difference for the preservation of the Gulf. PRETOMA undergoes all kind of efforts towards the conservation of endangered species like turtles, whales, and much more in this bio-diverse Gulf.

MarViva is also conscious of the treasure of the Pacific Ocean, and that is why they are committed to its conservation. This NGO works in Costa Rica, Colombia and Panamá. In Costa Rica they take care of the Golfo de Nicoya (North Pacific), Golfo Dulce (South Pacific) and Coco’s Island. MarViva’s goal is to extent the protection areas of the ocean, because as they say “the ocean is reborn in the protected areas”. They also promote the sustainable use of the marine resources by supporting the control and surveillance efforts as well as educating people on sustainable practices of fishing and tourism. The MarViva team often comes to our Lodge to share with our guests and employees information about conservation, sustainable fishing, and other topics of interest.

Not all of the South Pacific richness is only beneath the ocean; it is also in our jungle. This lush forest is the home of one of the three biggest wild cat of the world: the Jaguar. Playa Nicuesa supports Yaguará organization on its efforts towards the preservation of this big feline. This NGO fights against the extinction of the Jaguar and other felines of this area. Here at Nicuesa we have many of their cameras on hand to help monitor and protect the wild cat population.

On the other hand, Nicuesa also tries to support local communities.   This past year, part of the donations were given for local associations that for the development and preservation of the cultural life in the area.  One of these is the Folkloric Dance Group Yuré, from Puerto Jimenez High School that teaches youth native folkloric dances. The group is not only about learning to dance, one of the goals is to foment a respect and understanding of Costa Rican values and traditions at a time when the nation is struggling to conserve them.

But not only we support conservation and local culture with  donations, we also make in kind donations, which means that the workers of Nicuesa donate their time and effort through their participation in campaigns,  meetings, events, beach cleanings and others.  In September of this year, all Nicuesa employees went to Puntarenitas beach (right in front of Golfito) and after a hard day work, it was left as clean as our own beach at the lodge that was awarded the blue flag award for maintaining a clean beach. This program was conceived by the national water utility, Aqueductos y Alcantarillados, in conjunction with the Instituto Costarricense de Turismo, who began evaluating, and ranking water and environmental quality in coastal communities in 1996. Those that achieved a 90 percent score were awarded a Bandera Azul Ecológica (ecological blue flag) to fly as a symbol of excellence.

In this New Year that is among us, we hope to continue supporting all of these organizations and more, so that this pristine beautiful Gulf and jungle can maintain its magic and diversity. Again, thank you to our guests for your contribution to our efforts.

Costa Rica has the goal to be carbon neutral by 2021.
Playa Nicuesa began the process to become carbon neutral in 2008, which is when we enrolled in the ENCC (National Strategy for Climate Change) to support the country’s goals. The hotel has been doing in-house analyses and purchasing carbon credits to offset our emissions since that time. The compensation of emissions was achieved through donations to FONAFIFO (the National Foundation for Forestry Financing). This organization applied the funds directly to reforestation programs on the Osa Peninsula.

In 2010, Nicuesa progressed significantly towards becoming a Carbon Neutral business. We completed step 2, an inventory and report of all greenhouse gases emitted, with the assistance of an external consulting company. A company may choose which elements of three different scopes to include in their assessment. Only scopes 1 and 3 apply to Nicuesa and we chose to include the following elements: electricity use, fuel use, employee commuting, vehicle travel, air travel for employees, guest activity trips, paper use, printing, shipping and appliance/equipment purchase. Nicuesa chose not to include emissions from international guest travel in hopes that the tools provided on our website will serve as encouragement for guests to join us in our efforts and offset their international flights, as all flights within Costa Rica are already carbon neutral.
As part of our work with the ENCC we are now identifying ways to reduce emissions in a formal climate action plan and completing a second greenhouse gas assessment. After these are complete, we will again compensate for our c02 emissions through FONAFIFO. This year rather than buying credits that will subsequently turn into reforestation efforts, as has been done in previous years, our credits will go towards protecting forests from being cut down in the first place – a process called avoided deforestation. Avoided deforestation is achieved by paying farmers or land holders to not cut down the trees on their land, or a payment for the environmental service of preserving the carbon stored in the trees and soil in a forest. Costa Rica has been a trail blazer in payments for environmental services and now has a negative deforestation rate.
Nicuesa is already carbon neutral as it offsets any emissions it may have. However, to become certified and recognized as such it must comply with the fifth and final step in the process – to be approved by the ENCC under their brand as a Carbon Neutral Business. This can only be done after they finalize and publish the criteria.

It was a nice walk to the waterfall with Camila and Joaquin from Chile. It was a lovely and quiet morning with white faced monkeys swinging by, ameivas lizards scurrying along the ground and butterfly’s fluttering around us.

The best part was planting a cedar sapling in the regenerating secondary forest that leads to the primary forest surrounding the stream flowing from the waterfall, located within the Piedras Blancas National Park. Later that same day I went with these new friends on their honeymoon to snorkel in the Golfo Dulce.

With our heads immersed in the blue-green waters, we took a lot of photos of the wonderful world of the coral reefs. There was an abundance of colorful fish like rainbow fish to entertain our eyes.

It was incredible to see these two different worlds all in one day – the lush vibrant green of the lowland tropical forest and the emerald green-blue waters filled with multi-colored fish!