Eco Tourist, Gigi Yogini, went to Montezuma, Costa Rica, for a two week yoga and surf retreat in November 2008 with La Escuela del Sol. It was the vacation of a lifetime but Gigi was unpleasantly surprised by the amount of trash she saw on the beaches while walking to the surf beach, La Playa Grande.

“I thought Costa Rica was supposed to be an Eco Tourism Haven,” Gigi said.

But instead she found the Costa Rican Contradiction: some of the most beautiful beaches in Montezuma are covered in TRASH from other cities like San Jose, Jaco, Paquera, and Tambor.

Together, with the “lost soles” she found on the beach, Gigi Yogini protested the trash problem in small town and got a lot of people asking the questions:

“Where did all these shoes come from and WHY are they here?”

“Now,” she says, “the key objective is bringing attention to this serious problem and motivating people to demand change.”

For information on Gigi’s upcoming Karma Yoga Retreats visit: www.GigiYogaRetreats.wordpress.com

or visit www.365yogini.com

The Karma Tour will officially stop in Montezuma July 19 – 25.  In 2008, Gigi collected shoes from the beach and walked them through the town of Montezuma. This year she and her team are installing an art project in the town’s park and playground.

A few lost soles…

The Karma Yoga Beach Clean Up will be at 10:30 am on Wednesday July 22nd (Meet at Organico)

The Art Project will take place at 10:30 am on Friday July 24th (Meet at the swings at the Park)

Guaranteed to be a vacation you’ll never forget, this Yoga, Adventure & Volunteer retreat combines karma yoga, eco-tourism, and goal setting to inspire personal growth and enjoy the abundant natural resources this beautiful country has to offer.

Montezuma, Costa Rica

Retreat Price Includes:
7 days 6 nights at Hotel Los Mangos
10 Yoga Classes with Gigi Yogini (6 Vinyasa Flow and 4 Restorative)
2 Organic Vegetarian Meals per day (Breakfast and Dinner)
2 Guided Waterfall Hikes
1 Adventure Excursion (Zip Line Canopy Tour)
2 Goal Setting Workshops
2 Beach Clean Ups
1 New Moon Ceremony

Retreat Prices Per Person (tax included):

Shared Room ~ (3 people) with private bath
Bungalow Double ~ with private bath and hammock
Bungalow Single ~ with private bath and hammock

Yoga with Gigi Yogini is offered daily 7 days a week
7 am Monday – Saturday – 90 minute YogaWorks-inspired Vinyasa Flow
4pm Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday – 90 minute Restorative Yoga

All classes are 90 minutes long and are offered in the open-air yoga pavilion overlooking the ocean, amidst the Costa Rican wildlife including monkeys and birds.

Accommodations for the week are at the beautiful Hotel Los Mangos, which is a hotel and group of private bungalows in a Mango Orchard next to the jungle overlooking the ocean. The hotel has a Pool and Jacuzzi, beach access and is only a five minute walk to Montezuma village. It also has a beautiful, open-air yoga pavilion overlooking the sea where all classes will be held.

Breakfast and Dinner is served at Organico, the vegetarian restaurant in the town of Montezuma. It is a fun place to hang out with an “organic lounge,” serving pure food with love and it across the road from the town’s bookstore.

Dinner might occasionally be provided at the beach front restaurant, Playa de los Artistas, which serves Mediterranean food with vegetarian and vegan options. Playa de los Artisas has been mentioned 3 years in a row by The New York Times as one of the best places to eat in all of Costa Rica. We might also have a dinner at Taganga BBQ, the best wood grilled BBQ in town!

Morning Yoga will be a soulful and fluid YogaWorks-inspired Vinyasa Flow, generating heat to warm up our bodies for a beautiful day in paradise.

Afternoon Yoga will be a deeply blissful Restorative Yoga class using props and blankets to help relax the body and mind after a day of fun activities.

Classes are open to all levels, although previous yoga experience is suggested.

Gigi Yogini is a certified Yoga Instructor and Adventure Specialist based in Los Angeles. Gigi believes yoga is for everyone and encourages her students to explore, evolve and express themselves during her classes which are open to all levels. Gigi honors each student’s search for personal growth and well being and leads her classes with love, compassion, and a sense of humor. She received her training from YogaWorks in New York City and practices regularly with Santa Monica Power Yoga.

The New Moon is invisible from the earth and is often associated with the season of change. A time of growing energy, newness, rejuvenation, growth, renewal and hope, the new moon is a good time to be reborn and thus a perfect time to end bad habits or relationships.

Montezuma, Costa Rica, is a small beach town located on the southern Nicoya Peninsula. This remarkable location hosts adventurers from around the world and has a thriving community of artists, conservationists, musicians, chefs, and creative visionaries.

Costa Rica has plenty of opportunities for Karma Yoga and EcoTourism with the largest percentage of protected areas in the world. With a name that literally translates to “Rich Coast,” this beautiful paradise serves as home to a wide variety of plants and animals, but also attracts tourists from around the world.

visit www.365yogini.com for more info

Starting July 19th, 2009, Gigi Yogini will begin her Karma Yoga Tour practicing EcoTourism and visiting various yoga studios and wellness communities in the Nicoya Peninsula and the Central Pacific Cast.

Gigi will be hosting two retreats providing Yoga, Adventure, and Volunteer opportunities:

July 19 – 25 – Los Mangos, Montezuma, Costa Rica
This retreat will include 10 yoga classes: 6 Vinyasa Flow and 4 Restorative. It will also include an adventure retreat with surfing, zip line, waterfall hikes, or boat rides. Volunteer opportunities include beach cleanup and working with the local youth.

August 2 – 8 – La Escuela de Pura Vida, Manuel Antonio, Costa RIca (Full Moon Adventure)
This retreat will combine Yoga, Surfing, Salsa dancing, and Spanish classes in one of the most popular towns in Costa Rica. Adventures include waterfall hikes and futbol games. There are more party opportunities here than volunteer opportunities.

It’s guerrilla journalism, new media, and user generated content all wrapped into one.

We’ve all heard that Costa Rica is the “EcoTourist Paradigm” but what is Ecotourism?
Ecotourism has been defined as travel to natural areas to observe and learn about wildlife; tourism that refrains from damaging the environment, or tourism that strengthens conservation and improves the lives of local people.

What I like most about this definition is the idea that tourism can strengthen the local environment and people. Unfortunately, too much tourism begins to ruin the natural environment everyone is attracted to in the first place. When this incredible paradise begins to get over populated and the country lacks sustainable practices such as organized recycling or waste management, otherwise beautiful beaches fill up with trash.

What can you do as an Eco Tourist? Spend your time meaningfully:

Volunteer!

Proyecto Montezuma’s mission is to enrich the educational opportunities for local children and adults and to offer eager globetrotters sustainable tourism opportunities around the Nicoya Peninsula. According to the latest edition of the Lonely Planet guidebook (pg. 309), Proyecto Montezuma is a “wonderfully innovative volunteer program that not only gives to the community, but fosters cultural exchange, pays fair wages to its employees and gifts you something for giving of your time and energy….”

Yoga

Escuela del Sol – Combine your yoga classes with Spanish, surfing or fire dancing. Enjoy classes in the open air studio and relax in the hammock lounge overlooking the ocean and listening to the waterfall rushing by.

Los Mangos – With private bungalows and a beautiful pool, this open air studio is up winding paths and provides a beautiful view of the sea and the teacher, Dagmar, is the best in town.

Ylang Ylang – From the beachfront bar you can hear the yoga class in the open air studio above. Undeniably, an incredibly beautiful place to stay and practice yoga just steps from the ocean.

Using art to change the world, one creative project at a time!

New York’s Premiere Underground Arts Organization, Artistic Evolution, gives this Shoe Protest Two Thumbs up and a High Five! Artistic Evolution uses art, music and technology to protest social issues: “Gigi’s use of Trash as Art in order to educate people about the huge environmental problem of waste management is exactly what our organization encourages artists to do!” says co-founder, Brigitte. Artistic Evolution is based in Brooklyn, New York but supports projects around the world.

After 200 hours of yoga teacher training in New York for the past month, I came home again with answers.

First things first:

Friday the 13th – I arrive in San Jose at 6:30am for my first research trip for the future Adventure Documentary about Costa Rica’s EcoTourist’s Paradoxical Paradigm

Featured Cities:

San Jose (Tico Times)

Jaco (Resorts)

Manuel Antonio (La escuela de la Pura Vida)

Montezuma (Los Mangos and La escuela del Sol)

Beyond Green Travel

with Costas Christ
Top Ten Worst Green Travel Destinations

Text by Global Travel Editor Costas Christ

When NBC’s TODAY Show Travel Editor Peter Greenberg asked me to contribute a list of the top 10 places people should avoid when they travel, to include in his new book, Don’t Go There! (www.PeterGreenberg.com), I was a little reluctant at first. I am a firm believer that travel, no matter the destination, can be a powerful learning experience. In fact, some of my worst trips have been among the most interesting. They are the places I still tell stories about. But when looked through the lens of sustainable tourism principles—being environmentally friendly, helping to protect cultural and natural heritage, supporting the well-being of local people—there are some places that stand out, and its not for the better.

So here is my top 10 must-avoid travel destinations list

(or at least consider this warning so that you know what you are getting into before you go).

#9 Costa Rica’s Over-Developed Coast – There is a battle going on in Costa Rica, once the darling of ecotourism. The battle is between those who are working overtime to make the country a true green travel destination, and unscrupulous developers who like marketing the green label, but couldn’t care less about practicing the principles. The latter are winning in Tamarindo, Jaco, and a string of other coastal areas that have succeeded in carving up the landscape into large condos and megahotels. Your travel choice makes a difference in this struggle. The Costa Rican Certification for Sustainable Tourism (CST)  helps identify the good guys.