First time at BdC early December, five nights, Mariposa.

I have read a lot, but have a few questions. Do they have enough walking sticks and umbrellas or should I bring? Is an umbrella better than a rain hat?

Any comfort items you wish you'd brought? I'm speaking more to women here. I don't need a hair dryer but do need hair conditioner/gel.

Should be plenty of walking sticks there. It didn't rain any of our days there, so can't speak to the umbrella issue.

Casitas are somewhat out in the open, but when walking in the rainforest you really won't need an umbrella--trees will keep the rain off you for the most part (some obviously drips down, but not that much).

Oh, Mariposa is a much fought over cabin. It's on the end and has a bathtub. You will love it. When we were there they had plenty of walking sticks. To me umbrellas are impractical in the jungle since they get caught in things, and you can't look up to see anything. We always pack light rain ponchos, the cheap kind that fold up into a little pouch. We got ours at Target. I'd bring a headlamp or small flashlight. It's dark hiking around there at night. There's not enough power in the rooms to run a blow dryer. My hair was pretty much wet for the entire trip! I'd also pack binoculars. We always bring a birding book and check off what we see. Lots of great wildlife sightings there.

Thanks!

You're welcome! I thought of one more thing - quick dry shoes. If it rains, it's hard to get things dry. We pack Keen's, running shoes, and a pair of flip flops.

Me too! Well, almost. Keens, hiking shoes, and flip flops.

I like the flip flops to wear around the cabin, especially if I get up in the middle of the night. I'm afraid of stepping on critters.

Volcanogirl, exactly!

I'll probably bring old Crocs for the cabin at night; I wear them for work. How are the complimentary bathroom supplies?

Hoping for geckoes in the cabina.

They have some kind of liquid soap in a pump - it has a distinctive smell to it that you'll find all over CR. I don't remember much in the way of other provided supplies. A lot of people sleep with their doors open to allow the breeze to come in, so you may very well have geckoes.

They have new toiletries, Rainforest Solutions is the name I think. Just soap though, anything else bring from home.

Croc's are actually great for walking around in, especially if you go to the waterfall or beach. So easy to go thru creeks, water and not have to change shoes. A lot of the employees wear them, very practical.

Hard to avoid geckos if you want to, even with doors closed. We kept our doors closed because there's a lot more than geckoes that roam the grounds there. Still plenty of breeze via the windows.

We had a gecko in our room in La Fortuna, and it made the most wonderful sound. It sounded like music, like it was singing. We have them back home, but I've never heard one make a sound. It seemed very magical.

One item I like to bring is a small, travel sized spray bottle of Febreeze. In extremely humid climates your sheets can stay damp, so it's nice to freshen them up.

Make sure you bring a good flashlight, too.

RAC, I'm confused. Did you intend to post on the Costa Rico thread?

No, I meant to post it in my Panama trip report. I alerted on it for it to be deleted.

The Osa is fairly close to Panama, but not that close.

Who knows? Maybe someone was tempted by this to continue on. It spiked my interest!