Shady trees make the best beach umbrellas. Nestled among trees and lush vegetation on the secluded Santa Teresa Beach on the western coast of the Nicoya Peninsula, we found ourselves at Latitude 10. Sustainability is just given equal weight here as comfort and relaxation. We drove from the Arenal Area, through the long thin town of Puntarenas. A lazy ride on the ferry across the Gulf of Nicoya, and finally an adventurously bumpy road towards Montezuma and past Mal Pais got us here to Santa Teresa Beach. The total length of the trip was around 6 and a half hours (we didn’t time our arrival at the ferry just right, being in no hurry, and we stopped and ate at a favorite restaurant at Hotel Tambor Tropical in Tambor).

 It was dark by the time we got to the road that runs up the coast through the little surf towns here. Surfers returning from their wavy day gave us a tropical welcome as we were looking for a sign for our hotel… Guess what? Latitude 10 is a Costa Rica beach hotel, very much a boutique property, striving to be as sustainable as possible. Low-key hominess in a beach-luxury atmosphere is also a goal. So there are no signs at all along the road. It’s a move that warms our hearts, as the overabundance of signs in some areas of Costa Rica and other tourism destinations detracts markedly from the experience. It did take us a little longer to get here, since basically the only way to find the hotel with the naked eye at night is to know where it is. Or get here during the day so you can see the small sign in the entrance. Our solution for arriving at night – stop at a friendly looking clapboard house and ask the locals how to get there. Two minutes later and we were here.

The beach right in front of the hotel has a soft strip of sand and then is rocky as you move out toward the ocean, creating some inviting pools with all kinds of marine life. An ideal beach scenario for the young kids with us.  Just two hundred yards down the beach is the wide expanse of sand known as Mal Pais, with a sprinkling of surfers and surf wannabe’s. Or just as inviting for those of us who love to run on the beach. Low tide lets you run for miles.

The area gets a little more crowded when Costa Rica surfing really kicks in after the middle of November. But on a glorious August day, there was just the ride balance of sun, surf, scenery and local beach scene flavor. After working up a lather running in the sun, there was an interesting surprise in the open-air shower of our huge bathroom.

Latitude 10 has done a wonderful job designing gigantic bathrooms for each of the detached units here. Instead of looking up at a white ceiling while showering, you look up at the canopy of the tropical forest. This does, however, create some unexpected housekeeping challenges. My post-run shower had to wait a few minutes while the attentive staff got the astonishingly large amount of Howler monkey scat cleaned out of the shower floor. Pretty sure it was the large male leader of the troupe, and as he swung by he decided to leave us that little gift to remind us that we’re in his domain.

Back inside our suite sitting on our private balcony facing the ocean, just a few yards from the beach, the friendly lizards, iguanas and some other rainforest insects stared at us curiously. With the high tide’s waves crashing on the rocky beach outside, feeling very much a part of the surrounding environment, I picked up the little hotel manual (printed on recycled paper).

Is Latitude 10 for you!? Read the four following hotel highlights below and decide for yourselves.

- Latitude 10 casitas are tucked amongst the native vegetation, the wooden structures have shades but no windows.

-There are no locks on the doors

- There’s no a/c

- The bathrooms are completely open-air with large hot water showers and gardens (and regular wildlife visits)

Overall my take is that it has an upscale feeling, but is not overdone.

I’m normally asked by my clients, if I know about any Natural Mosquito Repellent. I have to say that I haven’t found any effective one! I decided that I needed to get a bit more educated about the way mosquitoes operate to explain better what could be done, to protect ourselves from these small malevolent animals. I found this nice article on About.com, where Anne Marie Helmenstine, Ph.D. explains it here.
 
Please share with us your experiences about mosquito repellents, organic repellants, and anything related to the subject, we would love to learn from you.

By Shirley Linde, SmallShipCruises.com

We were 16 days on the cruise and 10 of them were on jungle rivers or exploring wildlife in some way. The wake-up calls on exploration days sometimes came at 5:30 a.m., with passengers having a quick breakfast of fruit, melon and pastries, then boarding zodiacs and heading for the shores or tributaries of the Orinoco and Amazon Rivers. Many days there were two scheduled zodiac trips, one in the morning and one in late afternoon, to check out wildlife or to visit local villages.

This is not a casino/cabaret/dancing-till-dawn kind of  cruise. It’s an ecotourism-style voyage on the Clipper Adventurer, the expedition ship of Clipper Cruise Line that was a former Russian research and passenger ship. Renovated and refurbished, carrying naturalists and culturists as guides and lecturers, the ship now takes 122 passengers (max) on adventure cruises into off-the-beaten-path places where big ships don’t go.  Read about the rest of the adventure here.

 

There is a battle going on. Years ago when I visited Tamarindo it was starting. Foreign-owned condos and large all-inclusive resorts conveniently located near the northern international airport at Liberia are taking over a place where massive leather-back turtles are finding less and less peace and quiet to do their nesting. A place where alerts for bacteria in swimming areas due to lack of infrastructure for hotels is a problem. Jacó, also on the Pacific coast in the middle of the country is experiencing a lot of the same. The awful picture of the condos going up all in a row amid the trees right on the water is an example. Costa Ricans didn’t create this mess. Costa Rican development while some may say has happened in a haphazard and unplanned way, has at least taken surroundings into account. Buildings in Dominical for example, are set back behind the natural vegation, making the beach framed by a wild backdrop of palms. 

When we were there last year we were sad to see the changes.  On the one hand, prosperity has come to the region. There are work opportunities for a lot of people. But unfortunately, prosperity has taken its toll in other ways and it could have been designed in a much more sustainable way.

The lodges we love to celebrate and recommend to our clients are examples of sustainability that not only have taken into account the impact building a hotel has on the natural environment, but also the daily operations, the electricity usage, the water usage – especially important in drier zones which Tamarindo is having to deal with now, and the waste production.

Another important factor to think about is who is benefitting from large-scale developments? Are the staff members Costa Rican? Is there any other benefit they are receiving besides some (low-paying) jobs?  If a lodge is contributing to its local economy it should be purchasing products including food and building materials locally. Many of the lodges we recommend to our clients such as Harmony Hotel, Finca Rosa Blanca and Lapa Rios support one or more local schools in addition to major contributions to biodiversity conservation.  

Over the years of living and traveling in Costa Rica, we have discovered alternative places that our clients love because they are places that are still in balance, where wildlife flourishes and the people touch your hearts.  We like to support those making efforts to maintain Costa Rica’s natural beauty so that we can continue to travel there knowing our travel choices are making positive impacts.

See more on the Star Tribune’s The Price of Paradise.

By Shirley Linde and Lloyd Webbe, SmallShipCruises.com 

We had been going up river about an hour with jungle on each side when we heard a single drum announcing our arrival. In minutes we were at a landing where a dozen or so villagers stood to greet us. Four musicians played drums, maracas and flute and sang. When we got on shore, sarong-clad children looked up at us with big eyes, wordlessly took us by the hand and one by one led us down a dirt path. We were visiting a village of Embera Indians, one of the highlights of a voyage in a yacht of Panama Marine Adventurers.

 

The yacht, named Discovery, has lived up to its name, having created a voyage of discovery for travelers who want to know the real Panama and its people. Panamanians are as colorful as the wildlife, their music as flavorful as their native foods, a blend of African, Caribbean and Spanish with dash of Chinese and European.

Discovery carries 24 passengers, Captain Rafael Munoz, 6 crew, and 2 naturalists. There are 8 queen and 4 twin cabins. The draft is shallow so the vessel can venture where few passenger vessels can, carrying clients in comfort into the shallow waters of Panama’s rivers and tributaries. There are two zodiacs, 8 kayaks, and snorkeling gear on board. The salon is the dining room and main gathering area.

Panama is just 9 degrees north of the equator, a thin strip of land that shapes the waist of the Americas.  The country offers access to many different cultures and worlds, all within reach of each other in just a few hours.  Mention Panama and most people think of the Panama Canal that draws ships and visitors from around the world. But there is more to see in Panama besides the Canal.

Continue reading this Panama Marine Aventure.

By Shirley Linde, SmallShipCruises.com 

It was indeed, as the brochures said, not like traveling on a big cruise ship, but like cruising in your own private yacht. In fact, I hung out at the helm station most of the time we were underway, getting the captain’s eye of the voyage, following our course on the charts, and hearing stories of how whales migrate and the captain’s and mate’s experiences swimming with whales on research voyages. On two afternoons I even got to take the wheel for an hour or so…

Read more about this Alaskan Safari Adventure. 

It was a pitch black night and we sat there in our canoes in the inky dark river waters. The guides shined  search lights onto the shoreline and the trees, and eyes reflected back at us from the darkness – cayman cooling off in the water. (Cayman are a crocodile-like creature that can grow to 18 ft. in length.) As we sat silently in the canoes we could hear the sounds of the night forest — crickets, frogs croaking, birds calling.  As our eyes became accustomed to the night, we saw some tree frogs and birds, and the area seemed actually bright in the light of the almost full moon. There were lightning flashes in the distance. Awesome.

We were on a seven-day expedition trip in the Amazon with Amazon Nature Tours on the Motor Yacht Tucano. We were cruising the Rio Negro, a tributary of the Amazon River. Alone it is the second largest river in the world with the Amazon being the largest. The color of the water is that of strong tea, giving it its name Rio Negro or black river. We go on the Negro because it is much more remote and pristine than the Amazon River. An added benefit — the chemistry of the waters is such that the Rio Negro has no mosquitoes. The entire river system is part of the Amazonas Region, the largest state in Brazil.

The Tucano is a classically constructed wooden river boat. It is 84 ft. long and has 3 decks. There are 9 cabins accommodating 18 passengers. The top deck includes a large shaded observation area. There is a crew of 8, including our 2 naturalist guides.

Follow this Amazon cruising adventure and see more photos on Smallshipcruises.com 

Ever been on a SMALL cruise ship? These boats are great because they use way less fuel and conserve overnight to reduce emissions in a big way. How do they do this?

 

 The Island Spirit shown here has large batteries- total battery weight is 5000 lbs with an additional 2500lbs being added this year.  The batteries allow the vessel to shut off the generators at night,  providing 10-12 hours of quiet and 0 emission bliss. Through the special 48 volt dc inverters, power is turned into normal electricity like home…Guests can run their heater fans, lights, razors, lounge tv, bar, etc. -  even microwave popcorn for the evening movie. 

In Small Ship Cruises’ SE Alaska itinerary the Island Spirit charges the large battery bank by day and uses those batteries at night to keep passengers warm. All ships engines and generators are turned off at 9 pm for quiet Alaskan evenings and you can listen to the sound of Alaska right outside your opening window.

The ship engines are low emissions and low smoke, making her one of the most environmentally friendly small vessels to cruise the region.  Cruises, usually 9 days, feature small ports with a focus on wildlife, environment and local culture and include kayaking.

For more information on these Alaska Cruises visit:  www.smallshipcruises.com or www.smallalaskaship.com