Fodor's Expert Review Danta Corcovado Lodge

Follow the giant tapir-footprint signs to this extraordinary, rustic lodge, reminiscent of an Adirondacks camp but with oversize, whimsical wood furniture, all within hiking distance of the western edge of Corcovado National Park. The lodge offers roomy cabins to suit all budgets, including one two-bedroom family cabin and a wheelchair-accessible room with a semi-open, large bathroom paved with smooth river stones. A completely round, freestanding room is comfortable and cool, with an outdoor shower shaped like a vulture's head with outspread wings forming the walls. Kids of all ages will delight in the cabin-in-the-woods atmosphere, enhanced by creatively designed, huge twig chairs and headboards, twisted-branch windows, and furniture made from tree stumps. Breakfast is included, and excellent traditional Costa Rican meals are served in an alfresco restaurant decorated with more of owner Merlyn Oviedo's creative wood sculptures and furnishings, including a giant spider over the open kitchen. It's an 8-km (5-mile) hike to Los Patos entrance to Corcovado National Park, but you can see much of the same wildlife by walking the 5 km (3 miles) of trails of this 86-acre property or by going for a tractor ride along the river.