BdC questions - sorry if repetitive!
 

Hi All -

Okay, so, I THINK I'm going to be staying at BdC next March. I MAY have just gotten a little unexpected bonus at work, and now we might have the funds to invest in BdC for a 3-night stay (our overall trip will be 9 nights - the first 3 at BdC and the last 6 in MA). This will be our 2nd trip to MA - but the first was too fast, and we'd like to go back and do it better justice.

I just made reservations at BdC for the 3 nights, and I was able to snag the Congo cabina - based on previous recommendations. yay! Lapa and Toucan are also available, so if anyone has any differing opinions, I'd love to hear them (I think!).

So, assuming the funds come through, this is actually going to happen. I'm excited! Also considered Yellow Coco Lodge as a less expensive option, but when I look at the area on Google Earth, it just seems crazy to be down there and not stay in the denser jungle.

Okay, so on to the questions about BdC:

1. Regarding the transportation BACK to the PJ airport - is this time flexible, or do they have, like, one communal trip per day, and you have to make it or lose out? I'm asking because we're going to fly from PJ to MA - and the flight isn't till around 3:30 PM. It'd be nice to be able to go exploring again that morning and eat lunch - and leave for the airport at around 1:30 (getting us there about an hour before our flight). So, the question is, will we be able to request transportation back to the PJ airport at a specific time - or will we have to leave super early with a bunch of other folks?

2. This is a minor question, but, if we bring water bottles, does BdC supply filtered water (for free!) that we can fill up our bottles with? Really, really trying not to use disposable water bottles - and especially there.

3. For a short 3-night stay - meaning we'll only have 2 full days, and maybe 1 morning to explore - what are the recommendations from the folks who have been there? What should we try to fit in - which trails - while also getting to relax (we don't want to be on the move constantly - it is a vacation!)? For example, I'm sure I'll want to make a bee-line to the trail that leads to the ocean - but the main reason for going to BdC is to see as many critters as possible - so if that's not the best use of our limited time there, then I'd like to know that.

I think that's it - there may be more later once it's absolutely definite. Not even sure I should be putting this out into the universe, but I want to stay optimistic. It WILL happen.

I know 3 nights there are not ideal, but I think it's what we can afford. Plus, it'll give us a taste, and if we like it, we can always go back.

Thanks!

JUST got word - minutes after posting this - that the bonus IS coming through. So, it's happening! Can't wait!

Congrats on the bonus and subsequent BdC plans! :-)

I made my first visit to BdC last December (hoping for a 2nd trip down there next June...), so I'm not as knowledgeable as some of the folks here, but I can answer some of your questions:

1. BdC will schedule a time to take you back to PJ based on your flight time. We had an afternoon flight and were able to fit in a hike down the Pacific Trail on our final morning there.

2. You can fill up your water bottles in the bar area at no charge.

3. We were able to check out most of the trails and really enjoyed them all. You'll get a map and description of each one when you check in so that should help you decide. I would recommend you check out the Tropical Garden for sure. We really liked the Creek, Titi, and Pacific Trails. The Golfo Dulce trail is nice as well, but quite lengthy, so whether or not you have time for that one may depend on what other activities you have planned for your stay. BdC offers several different guided hikes/tours as well and you can decide if any of those interest you. We had activities planned for each day we were there, but still left ample time for sitting on our porch taking in the view. It was heavenly!

One thing you'll probably notice having been to MA already (and going back for a 2nd time) is that the wildlife on the Osa is less acclimated to people. Some of the animals are more skittish and less likely to let you get close to them. No one has been giving them handouts to entice them to lose their fear of people. This is a good thing in my opinion! You'll still get lots of good sightings. We had monkeys running across the lawn in front of our cabin almost every day! I really like MA, but the Osa is just a different world; remote, largely untouched, and more pristine.

BdC is truly wonderful and you've got lots of time to plan a terrific trip. :-)

Thanks, yeah, I'm excited! And thanks for the info - that's all great to hear.

And, yes, I do understand about the difference between MA and Osa - thanks for pointing that out. Honestly, when I left MA, I thought, "I won't return here - it's too developed. I don't like that people are feeding the animals." But, I do want to go back. It was very beautiful. That'll be the luxury part of our trip - though I don't think BdC is exactly roughing it. But that beach inside the park! Yum. And since we sort of know MA a little now, it'll be fun to revisit.

Hi, plum; I agree (of course!) with everything that cm said. We did a neat tour with Phillip that was called the Primary Forest tour; it's a great introduction to things. He takes you on the Zapatero trail and discusses all the plants and wildlife and how they interact - great first day activity. We also did Early Morning Birding with Carlos; my husband was dying to see a toucan, and we hadn't seen any, so he found one for us, and we were thrilled. Also saw tons of macaws, parakeets, and other great birds. Our other adventure was visiting the animal sanctuary - it's off premises, and we took a boat over (and got to see dolphins) to it and got to hold a sloth and baby monkeys. Neat experience. I really don't think you can go wrong at BdC; the Titi trail seems to have some of the bigger wildlife sightings. Even puma sightings recently which is really exciting.

We stayed in Tucan cabin; and I'd really recommend it. It had a bathtub which seemed like a huge luxury - fun to have macaws and monkeys going overhead while you're lounging in the tub! It also has a loft area. Congo and Lapa are both great too - they have a nice view of the rock formation out in the water. We had great wildlife sightings from Tucan - in one day, 3 different troops of monkeys swung right by our cabin and macaws flew by every day. There's a fruit tree next to it that the howlers were in every day.

Definitely visit the tropical garden for bird sightings.

Plumboy, you will not be disappointed. What days will you be there? There are a few of us Fodorites staying there March 7th through the 12th. Maybe we'll meet you there.

One more thing I would like to add, when we stayed there (in Casa Teka in the garden area) we would wake up around 5am because of the howler monkeys. We found that a good time to get up and do some early morning hiking because there were so many more animals out at that hour.

Glad to hear! I think I sent you pics eons ago over at TA of the cabinas. I really loved Lapa but I have to say Congo squeezes past it a bit just for the better view - but either would be awesome. I've also stayed in Tucan and loved as well, but against all of them I'd take Congo.

They know the times of the flights so yeah, they will take you out about 90 minutes or so beforehand.

Try to do the pre-dinner hike one night, especially of you like frogs, bats and snakes! Only an hour and lots of info.

If you just go all out, you could probably do all the trails, though you may be spent! The Golfo Dulce trail is a nice one cause you get all sweaty and then have a wonderful beach to end up at. I've never spent all day there though. It took us 50 minutes down (to the beach access road), another 45-50 minutes walking along the beach access road and checking the first 2 beaches, then had about 1 hour to relax at the 3rd beach.

Go for it, you will not regret it!

Thanks everyone! Yes, tully, I believe you are the person who sent me links to your amazing photos - and I believe you're the person who got me to pick Congo over the others. But, it does sound like they're all great.

I'll take prodigious notes about everything everyone is suggesting. It's SO far away though, so I better not get too excited. Well, maybe a little - it'll get me through the coming winter here in NYC.

I have a feeling I won't want to relax while I'm there - too much to see and do, and I'm going to want to do it all. I'll have to wait for MA to relax.

Oh, Mister607, thanks for the invite, but wouldn't you know it - we get there on March 13! Oh well, another time...

Good recommendation on the night hike; I was too chicken to do it at BdC, so I did it when we went to Monteverde, and I loved it.

I second (or maybe it's third by now...) the recommendation for Philip's primary forest hike. It's actually a short hike in terms of distance but filled with great info. I'd do this one as early on in your stay as possible.

Our favorite was the night hike. Again, a very short "walk" actually but we were amazed at what we saw in such a small area!

We loved both the Gulfo Dulce trail and the Pacific trails. For the Gulfo trail, I'd recommend making arrangements to be picked up at the "white gate" at the end of the afternoon. For the Pacific trail, plan on hiking to the waterfall -- we thought it was worth it. Much easier in water shoes (instead of hiking shoes) since you'll be walking in the creek bed.

Don't worry about only having 3 nights -- you will still have a wonderful time!

Oh, and a nice early morning walk is simply down BdC's driveway. I was surrounded by blue morpho butterflies... it was magical!

I'm getting VERY excited about all this talk of blue morphos! I really hope they're around when I'm there. I saw one twice at our hotel in Manuel Antonio - but at a great distance. SO beautiful!

And, I'm also really excited about the night hike - this is something I've really wanted to do. Hopefully there will be plenty of creepy critters out. My partner, on the other hand, will stay safely in the cabin for that one, I'm sure.

>> My partner, on the other hand, will stay safely in the cabin for that one, I'm sure.

Oh, no! You have to convince your partner to go. The only really "creepy" creature we saw were these gargantuan spiders... they don't even bother spinning webs; they're big enough to simply catch their prey...

Honestly, this is where you get to see all those amazing tiny psychedelic-colored frogs that you see on all the Costa Rica books, brochures, etc. -- not creepy at all! They're almost too "cute" to be real.

You can let the snakes and bats be a... um, "surprise"... ;)

plum, that's exactly how I was, kind of "I don't want to know what's out there", but I really regret not doing it. When we did the night hike in Monteverde, we saw creepy crawlies like snakes and spiders, but we also saw an agouti, a coati, a porcupine, and a fox. Now I want to go on night hikes wherever we go. I hope you partner is able to join you!

Plum you will just have to change your partner's mind then! Head up to the bar around 5:30 and socialize and have a drink and then just mutter hey let's follow this guy with the head lamp on. You will see tons of creatures you won't see during the day, learn how to hold a flashlight properly :) and maybe if you get lucky you will be there for the frog orgy :D

You don't understand, he has an INSANE fear of snakes for some reason. He's never had an encounter with one, so I'm not sure why exactly - except that it seems most people have a primal fear of them. He swears if he sees one, he won't leave the cabina for the rest of the time - and I don't doubt that he'd do that! I'm the one who REALLY wants to go to BdC - and since I'm paying for this portion, I didn't really give him a choice about it!

But, I bet when we get there he'll be blown away by the beauty. The same thing happened in MA. I just won't mention anything about snakes and just see what happens. He's normally Mister Tough Guy but bring on the snakes and he becomes a big scaredy cat.

Personally, I cannot wait to see a frog orgy! When in MA I never got to see any of those crazy-colored frogs - and I was so disappointed. I did see some plain frogs - and that was cool - but not as fulfilling. I would love to see snakes also, as long as they aren't running across my feet!

Okay, so, as predicted, I'm starting to rethink my cabina choice. Currently we're booked for Congo - but, honestly, a tub might be a nice thing for my partner. He LOVES baths, and this might take the sting out of seeing a snake! But, then again, I think the bathtubs are all outside - right? - so not sure he'd feel comfortable with that. Not because of privacy, but because I know he'd be wondering if something could plop into the tub from a tree above (maybe even a snake!).

So, I see a couple votes for Tucan. Would that be the best choice? I didn't ask if Mariposa is available or not. What's the view like at Tucan? Since we're going to have an amazing view at MA, maybe we don't really need the view at BdC? I'm secretly hoping to see a whale go by at BdC (I've heard of this happening) which is why I really wanted to go with the cabina with the best ocean view - hence, Congo.

These are privileged dilemmas I realize, so I won't stress... But, if anyone has any photos of the view from Tucan, that would be great. Tully, I look at the link you sent before and check those.

Does Lapa have a tub?

Great news on going to BdC, plumboy! It is not too early to get excited! I figured you wouldn't be there when mixter and I are there, since my hubby and I have Congo reserved for our March stay. Sorry we will miss you.

I will probably repeat a few things that have already been mentioned. Since your time is limited, I would skip any excursions that take you away from the Bosque property.

My husband and I did the Pacific trail twice, the first time we went to the right (when facing the ocean) at the bottom of the trail and visited the waterfall. The second time we went to the left, and spent time in the tide pools, and found this cool rock archway. Even though the waterfall was neat, we thought the other direction was more fun, and gave us more time to explore on the beach, rather than all of the walking along the hot beach. Just my two cents.

Many of the trails are fairly short, so you will have time to explore a lot of them. We had our best monkey, toucan, sloth and macaw sightings right on the grounds.

The funny thing about Bosque is that even though you will want to do a lot of exploring, you will still feel so relaxed after being there. There is just something magical about the place!

No tub in Lapa; only Tucan and Mariposa have tubs. The view from Tucan is nice, and it also has this nice lounging area that extends out from the cabin with two big loungers you can sit on to enjoy the view. When we were there, they said it was the newest cabin they have, so it's pretty posh compared to some of the others. I'm a bath girl, so that's why I picked that one, but the wildlife sighting were a huge added bonus. The days we saw the howlers, capuchins, and then spider monkeys come swinging up the hill and right past our cabin made me love it that much more. I think people like Congo and Lapa because it has that rock formation that you can view - sort of gives you something to focus on. Mariposa is on the end so it seems the most private; it's known as the honeymoon cabin. They funny thing is you'll be having dinner with everyone every night and you'll most likely get to check out all the other cabins. We ran around one day and looked at each others' views and cabins, and everyone was happy with their own. Well except one cranky honeymoon couple. There are no locks on the doors at BdC, and this girl was completely freaked out by that. She also didn't like her outdoor shower and was convinced people could see her. I guess we just kind of lost all inhibitions there. I ran outside in my underwear one morning when my husband had a good animal sighting. There was a gardener out there who discretely looked the other way! I cannot recommend the tub enough if your partner enjoys that; you get really gritty and sticky out there and a soak in the tub made me feel great.

We stayed in Palma which does not have a tub, but we were totally happy there. I think you'll be delighted with whichever cabin you end up in. Each one seems to have it's own special little touches, but all have much to recommend them. We never had anything plop out of the trees when we were using the shower, but one morning there was a pair of scarlet macaws sitting in a tree right there. I also saw monkeys in neighboring trees on a couple of occasions while in the shower. It's a pretty amazing experience!

I've actually been a little frustrated at the lack of snakes I've seen in CR! They do make me nervous, but I'm also fascinated by them. We saw a little cat-eyed snake by the BdC frog pond last year (which would be entirely harmless to people). We also got to see a sleeping boa constrictor on the mangrove tour we took. That was cool! But that's about it for snakes in CR to date. Maybe next visit I'll get to see one of those cool eyelash vipers... :-)

I bet your partner will love BdC. It is such an idyllic place. I remember physically feeling all residual tension and stress that I was under from my job last year just melt away that first afternoon at BdC. The scenery is gorgeous, the food is delicious, the staff is warm and accomodating, the wildlife viewing is phenomenal. I'm getting excited for you! March will come before you know it...