The Grey Necked Wood Rail
Often spotted strolling through the restaurant and gardens of the Harmony Hotel, the Grey Necked Wood Rail is actually quite furtive and shy by nature. More often heard than seen, these birds usually sing at dusk during wet and cloudy weather, and their distinct calls have been charmingly described in the book, Birds of Costa […]
Report from Nosara: The Fiestas
Note: This week Alina Trejos joins us on the Harmony Blog with her first Report from Nosara. Alina grew up in Costa Rica’s capital of San Jose but moved to Nosara to work with the Harmony. In her posts, she’ll share some of her experiences in her first year in Guanacaste. Before coming to Nosara […]
NOSARA: Top Place to Visit in 2014
Of course, I love Nosara. And I assume if you’re reading this, you love Nosara. But how do you feel about many, many, many people loving Nosara? Last week, CNN voted it one of the top places in the world to visit for the second year in a row.
GUIONES SURF PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Clean bottom turn with the canvas of an open face ahead. Infinite possibilities abound for the brush stroke to come, always open to interpretation. Photo provided by Surfing Nosara
MONKEY TRAILS
Lush landscaping provides a natural corridor for howler monkeys to travel from spot-to-spot, stopping for snacks along the way. Moving through the treetops, they avoid confrontations with dogs or traffic. Last month I visited the Harmony Hotel where we saw native animals almost every day. Howler monkeys, so named for their deep guttural calls that […]
Donavon Frankenreiter at the Tropicana
If you happen to be one of the lucky people in Nosara as the cooler weather descends in other parts of the world, tonight’s your night to experience the Tropicana, the legendary local disco. Singer-songwriter and pro-surfer Donavon Frankenreiter is returning to Nosara after a two year absence and will be performing at 9pm in […]
Surf SurvivalCosta Rica
Just over a week until our second annual Surf Survival Camp at the Harmony Hotel. Another beat down story that happened near our own back yard. I was in Costa Rica for the first time, having traveled there alone. I was staying in Tamarindo and caught a boat ride over to Playa Grande. From the […]
Surf Survival: Winner!
Reading through the entries for our Surf Survival Contest is reassuring reading for anyone who’s ever gotten an ass kicking in the ocean. We received so many great beat down stories from Australia to Chicago (yes, people do surf Lake Michigan!). Though our contest ended this week (meet the winner we pulled out of a […]
Surf SurvivalLake Michigan
Send in your best surfing beat down story here for a chance to win a free spot at the Surf Survival Camp and a 7-night stay at the Harmony Hotel. Here’s another great entry from the contest: Have you ever heard of a beat down on a lake? There I was watching perfect overhead lines […]
Surf SurvivalSan Diego
A great entry in our Surf Survival Camp Contest: Recently in San Diego, two dolphins appeared through a glass walled wave heading straight for me. No way to duck dive the six foot wave in fear of colliding with the dolphins who had just dove a little deeper to just grazing level I had to […]
Surf Survival: A Boot Camp for Aspiring Watermen
ER Doc and author, Andrew Nathanson, tells the Harmony Blog about the surfing injury that inspired him to write a book on how to survive fin cuts, sting ray barbs to the shin and related big wave beat downs that can come with surfing. Andrew Nathanson, an ER doctor and avid waterman, is probably […]
Michael Gaillard (Harmony Artist-In-Residence)
The work in this installment represents some more experimental work I did during my stay. I use the word experimental to signify their incompleteness rather than in relation to their relative novelty. I see the abstractions as drawings or sketches to be readdressed within my studio and repurposed within the context of their eventual exhibition […]
Michael Gaillard (Harmony Artist-In-Residence)
Below are some more of the images taken during my residency at the Harmony, once again, all of these images were taken with my 8×10 film camera.
Michael Gaillard (Harmony Artist-In-Residence)
Glimpses of Costa Rica, as seen through the lens of my 8×10 camera (please click on a thumbnail to load the slideshow)…
Michael Gaillard (Harmony Artist-In-Residence)
Here are some images from the rodeo/fiesta in the town of Nosara, a few kilometers inland from Playa Guiones where the hotel is located. This is a five-night event, and the entire local population, children and adults alike, Ticos (locals), ex-pats, and tourists, all look forward to the event with great anticipation. I decided to […]
Michael Gaillard
The Harmony Hotel’s first Artist in Residence talks with the Harmony Blog about his work past and present. Artist Michael Gaillard is grappling with too many names. For over a decade now, he has produced photographs of Nantucket landscapes as “Michael Gaillard,” while making a separate, more conceptually driven body of work under his New […]
Here’s To Keeping Your Resolutions
If your New Year’s resolutions involve healthier living, wander on over to the Harmony Juice Bar’s fantastic Banana Nut Butter Smoothie. Turns out I’m not the only one who returns home missing the Juice Bar so much that I try to imitate their delicious offerings.
The Good Farmer
Fashion designer turned farmer, Christopher Totman, returned to his family farm in Western Massachusetts and then created a farm-to-table program for The Harmony Hotel. It was 2008, and Christopher Totman was asking himself the harder questions. â??Where are you the happiest?â? And: â??Why is it so difficult to do what makes you the happiest?â? At […]
Surf Survival Camp
Yesterday Lauren blogged about the great waves you’ll find in Nosara. Today, we’re telling you how to survive them no matter how big: go to the Harmony Hotel‘s first Surf Survival Camp with the Dr. Andrew Nathanson, author of last year’s best selling book, Surf Survival! You’ll learn how to handle a lot more than […]
The Very Bad Wizards Podcast
One of our goals for the Philosophy in Residence program was to finally launch the podcast series that we had been developing this past year. From the beginning, Dave and I loved the idea of presenting accessible and (hopefully) entertaining discussions about the central issues in science and ethics. But we had a problem: neither […]
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Become a Philosopher-in-Residence
Why would the Harmony Hotel care about what a philosopher and a psychologist have to say about ethics? It’s a question I kept asking myself well into my visit to the beautiful and peaceful property last week with Tamler Sommers. Tamler (the philosopher) and I (the psychologist) had both been invited to stay for a […]
World’s 20 Best Surf Towns: Nosara!
Nosara has been named one of the 20 best surf towns by National Geographic!
Toot Toot!
We’re not big on tooting our own horn, but sometimes you just can’t resist. The Harmony Hotel was recognized in a CNN article today about 10 luxury eco-hotels around the world. They had such lovely things to say:Â “I have yet to find another hotel that inspires green living more than this sweet spot in the […]
Nosara in NYT’s Top 2012 Destinations
Now that the New York Times has included Nosara in their top 45 “Places to go in 2012” the word is out about the sleepy little surf town we know and love. What will this mean for Nosara? Will the beloved Guiones break start to look like choreographed chaos in Rincón featured in Surfer’s Journal‘s Symphony of […]
