Rainforest Symphony

By:  Jennifer Milano, March 2015

Before they wake you up, the Jurassic-Park-like roars invade your dreams, turning them into nightmares.  The roars started quietly at first, haunting my dream from the background.  Then the roars got louder, filling my mind with questions about what kind of nightmare I was experiencing.  Slowly, my confusion started to clear, and I began to smile with my eyes still closed.  "The Howler Monkeys," I reminded myself silently.  Still not fully awake, I listened to their roars, through a background of the Pacific Ocean waves crashing on the Osa Peninsula's shores below.  Soon, the cicadas' high-pitched hum joined the symphony.  Then the birds, not to be outdone by their rainforest mates, began their morning songs.  It was just about 5:00 am, and I was now awake.  No alarm clock necessary in the rainforest.  But despite the part of my brain that craved more sleep, I felt relaxed and happy.  Lying in our screened-in room under mosquito nets, listening to the rainforest symphony, these sounds reminding me even before I woke up just where in the world I was, felt oddly comforting.

I glanced to my right.  My eight- and eleven-year old children were sleeping through the whole thing.  I looked to my left.  My husband was awake, but fighting it, eyes shut to the early sunrise just starting over the Pacific.  "Another day in paradise!" I thought, and quietly found my way out of the mosquito netting.  I checked my flip flops for creatures before slipping them on and sneaking out the door to our deck.  As the sun continued to rise, I watched a Toucan perched in the tree just in front of me, just sitting and swinging its huge beak around as it checked out its surroundings.  A racket was coming from the roof of our villa.  I looked up to see a Scarlet Macaw rustling around in the greenery, nibbling on something or other. 

I thought about the morning ahead.  A Costa Rican breakfast of eggs, tortillas, beans and rice.  A hike through the rainforest with one of Lapa Rios's knowledgeable guides.  A swim in the nearby waterfall, the heights from which my children could happily leap into the pool below.  Arroz con pollo for lunch, on the deck overlooking the rainforest where we were sure to see some squirrel or spider monkeys playing.  A walk down to the beach.  Or maybe just a swim in the pool, mango-coconut-passion fruit smoothie in hand while watching the giant iguanas climb the trees and our children playing pool games with the children from New Zealand, Canada and the U.S. who were staying at the lodge.  A gorgeous outdoor shower on our deck.  Fish steamed in plantain leaf for dinner, and an early bedtime.

My husband joined me with a cup of coffee that the ecolodge staff had silently left in a thermos outside our door earlier for him to retrieve when he was ready and pour into a ceramic mug left in our room for that purpose.  "Does this place think of everything?" I asked my husband.  "Pretty much," he replied, "except for white noise machines."  It would take a pretty powerful white noise machine to drown out the rainforest symphony, I surmised, and I don't think I'd want one.

Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula:  The Perfect Place to Combine Adventure with Relaxation

When to Go:  The dry season is more expensive for good reason - this part of Costa Rica is hot and humid year-round so avoiding the rain is preferable.  Choose to travel between November and April for drier weather conditions.

How to Get Here:  We flew JetBlue from New York to San Jose, and connected the next morning to a flight on Nature Air to Drake Bay (Bahia Drake).  Sansa Air also makes this internal flight, but we preferred the dual-propeller planes that Nature Air flies.  The flight was beautiful, as we got to see so much of Costa Rica's landscape from the plane windows.  Copa de Arbol, the gorgeous resort where we stayed near Drake Bay, organized our transport, which involved a 25-minute taxi ride from the airstrip (no airport here) to the marina, and a ten-minute boat ride to the hotel.  From Drake Bay, we took a two-hour taxi ride organized by Copa de Arbol, to the Lapa Rios office in Puerto Jimenez, on the south side of the Osa Peninsula.  We enjoyed the car ride, because we were able to catch glimpses of local life.  (One downside of staying at remote eco resorts without your own car is that your chances to experience local culture are limited.)  Lapa Rios drove us another 30 minutes to the resort, then back to Puerto Jimenez at the end of our stay, where we caught a Nature Air flight to San Jose (the Lapa Rios driver even checked us in for our flight and made sure we had an on-time departure before leaving us at the airstrip).  After a four-hour layover in San Jose (a very nice airport), we caught our JetBlue flight home.  Sounds like a lot, but it was all seamless, and felt adventurous!  You can also drive or be driven from San Jose to the Osa Peninsula, which takes about seven hours.

Where to Stay, What to Eat & What to Do: 

We needed to stay one night near the airport in San Jose.  The airport Marriott had good reviews, but hoping for a more authentic experience, we chose Finca Rosa Blanca, a coffee plantation located about 20 minutes from the airport.  The setting was lovely, and the hotel has a small pool, nice rooms and really outstanding food (and of course, coffee!).  We were in the Ventana room, which was perfect for a family of four as there is a separate (tiny) room with twin beds for the kids.  There is no air-conditioning, but the weather was cool at night and we slept comfortably.  The hotel arranged our taxi transfer, and the driver was so good we asked for his card in case we needed transport throughout Costa Rica on a future trip:  David Calderon R. from Enjoying Costa Rica (info@enjoyingcr.com).

Near Drake Bay lies the most perfect resort I have stayed at in recent memory, called Copa de Arbol.  As the hotel's boat pulls up to the beach, you can just make out stylish wood buildings peaking through the rainforest.  The smiling staff waits for you to step on the sand so they can hand you a chilled tamarind, ginger and lime welcome drink.  Our cabana (#4), felt luxurious, with polished teak flooring, air-conditioning, a view of the sea and a sloth sleeping in the tree just next to the deck.  The talented chef creates delicious meals for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack time.  (Tip: order "Wrap It" for breakfast.)  The service is impeccable.  After every excursion, the staff greets weary and overheated guests with chilled coconuts, a hole punched in each for a bamboo straw.  At the gorgeous, three-tiered pool is a bell for guests to ring, should they wish to have a complimentary fresh-fruit smoothie or homemade chips and salsa delivered to their lounger.  After a water or beach landing by boat, the staff has fresh water and towels to clean your feet.  This new, small resort truly thinks of everything, andeveryone on staff was so incredibly warm, friendly and fun to talk with, we felt as though we left having made new friends. 

On site, there is the pool, the beach, kayaks, snorkel gear and paddle boards, as well as a self-guided hiking trail.  We chose this area of the Osa Peninsula because we could visit the heart of nearby Corcovado National Park by boat (rather than by a pricey air charter, or an eight-hour hike).  Copa de Arbol arranged our visit to the park, where the kids were delighted to see their first monkey in the wild, as well as a wide variety of other animals.  Copa de Arbol runs several other excursions, including a snorkeling trip to Cano Island and a fishing trip.  The only downside of this hotel is that it is expensive, but it offered us exactly what we were looking for - an adventure in the rainforest, combined with relaxation at the beach.  We spent our last afternoon discussing when we could return to this paradise, with the goal being as soon as possible!

Near Puerto Jimenez, we stayed at Lapa Rios, a rainforest eco lodge well-known by western travelers to Costa Rica.  The property is beautifully-situated, in the heart of the rainforest on a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean.  Our room (#5 - I suggest you request rooms 5-8, because the higher-number rooms have a long walk to/from the main lodge and pool area) was unique and breathtaking.  The room is basically a screened-in bedroom and bathroom, with a large deck attached.  On the private deck is an outdoor shower, a hammock, lounge chairs, and an expansive view of the Pacific Ocean.  We loved our room.  It was hot at night, and we were woken up every morning very early by the sounds of the rainforest, but this only enhanced our experience.  The lifestyle is dictated by the rainforest - everyone, humans and diurnal creatures, is up at 5:00 or 5:30 am, and in bed by 8:30 or 9:00 pm.  There are bugs in the room at night, but there is netting over the beds, which reassured my skittish children. 

At the front desk of Lapa Rios sit two clipboards - one for the current day, and one for the following day - listing available excursions and activities.  Some guests sign up for several hikes and outings each day, most of which are included in the room rate.  We took a more leisurely path, preferring to do one major hike or outing each morning, and then spend the afternoon walking 10 minutes down to the beach (tip: the water is really warm, but the ocean floor is rocky, so bring water shoes if you have them), or swimming in the resort's pool (from which we saw iguanas, monkeys, several species of birds, vampire bats, and "Halloween" purple-and-orange crabs (some seemed to suffer from directional challenges, landing in the pool rather than the ocean)).  The most compelling part of Lapa Rios is that you are surrounded by wildlife no matter where you are or what you are doing.  You can get up during dinner and watch the squirrel monkeys playing in the trees next to the deck.  Walking along the path between the pool and your room, you might happen upon a large iguana in the path, or an army of ants busy at work.

Our favorite excursion was the waterfall hike, on which we saw poison dart frogs and leaf-cutter ants, and leapt through a waterfall into the river below.  We also loved the night walk (your chance to see the Green Tree Frog, which so often is depicted on Costa Rican travel materials), and the morning bird watch.  A highlight for our whole family, but especially for our children, was our visit to nearby Carbonera School.  Lapa Rios's Sustainability Director, Julieta, happily helped us make our visit even more meaningful.  Before we left the U.S., Julieta supplied us with a list of the names of the students, and my son and his classmates each wrote a letter to a student (with some help from the school's Spanish teacher).  Julieta also gave us a list of needed school supplies, and my son's classmates' families helped us fill a suitcase with notebooks, pencils and markers to donate.  And to encourage more interaction, we brought a soccer ball with us, and our children and the students all signed the ball before starting a game on the school's field.  Some of the Costa Rican students wrote letters back to my son's classmates, while others challenged my kids to a foosball match.  As parents, our time at Carbonera School was the most valuable part of our trip.

We paid extra for two off-site excursions, organized by Lapa Rios.  The zip lining tour was excellent.  Our guides were really sweet with our children, who were slightly anxious about hanging from a cable hundreds of feet above the ground.  The guides even had a practice line (about six feet from the ground) where we could get the hang of zip lining before ascending to the tree canopy.  The horseback ride, an indulgence to my horse-crazy daughter, was also really good, and took us along the beach and through the rainforest.  Be aware that Lapa Rios charges guests quite a lot to transport them to and from most off-site excursions.  Lapa Rios is also a popular place for surfers (mostly the surfers in their 40's and 50's who now have families but still want to surf!), as the beach below has great waves.

The food at Lapa Rios was very good, although it was not outstanding like the food at Finca Rosa Blanca and Copa de Arbol.  The service was also very good, but not outstanding like at Copa de Arbol.  Some staff members were excellent, going out of their way to accommodate our interests and needs, and most were very friendly.  A few staff members were not well-informed, giving us erroneous information about excursions, or seeming bothered by what seemed like easy requests.  The guides were great, but did not go out of their way to engage the children on the hikes (and the kids' rainforest walk was not offered during our stay).  The other guests at the resort were mostly really friendly, and made our stay a lot of fun.  All of the kids (about a dozen while we were there) played games in the pool in the afternoons, and we enjoyed talking with the adults.  There is a communal-feeling at the resort.  Most people stop to chat about their day, so if there are crabby guests about that could negatively affect your stay if you let it.  In the evenings, the lodge often has activities like Spanish lessons, cooking demonstrations and local music and dancing.  Julieta even organized a child-centered craft one evening, hosted by a local artisan. 

Overall, our trip to Costa Rica was one of our best family vacations.  We could be as busy as we wanted to be, or do nothing at all and just enjoy being in the rainforest looking out at the ocean.  Our kids absolutely loved it.  The food was fantastic.  And most importantly, the Costa Ricans were so genuinely kind and friendly.  We can't wait to return!

Next time:

I researched several parts of Costa Rica for this trip, and chose the Osa Peninsula because it sounded remote and less touristy.  Would I still like to see more popular parts of the country?  Yes!  I would like to visit Manuel Antonio National Park, which is more crowded than the Osa but has nicer beaches and is still in the rainforest.  I think I would stay at the Tulemar Bungalows.  I want to visit the volcanoes, and if we stayed by Arenal Volcano, I would lean toward Nayara or The Springs for accommodations.  At Arenal, I would do zip lining through Sky Trek or Los Lagos.  Most of my friends who have traveled to Costa Rica visited the surf towns on the Papagayo Peninsula (this is a good choice if your travel is restricted to the summer months, when this part of Costa Rica often remains dry).  I also read positive reviews of the Toucan Rescue Ranch near San Jose.  I would research interactive programs for my children, whether Spanish classes, volunteer opportunities, school visits or animal rescue experiences. 

Friends Kerin and David, along with their two kids, recently visited the Osa Peninsula and stayed at El Remanso, near Lapa Rios, because it was less expensive, and they loved it.  They also enjoyed the more rustic Playa Nicuesa Rainforest Lodge, across the Golfo Dulce.  We also met a couple in Belize who highly recommended The Peace Lodge, set in the mountains about an hour from San Jose.