Bosque del Cabo in mid-September: lunacy??
 

Hi!
We've been reading all the posts about CR for a while now, since we are headed there for our honeymoon on the 8th of September, due to arrive at Bosque del Cabo on the 9th. We booked there with full total complete knowledge that it might be a bit wet, but are we totally out of our minds to stay there for 5 nights? We chose to go to the Osa because we wanted to be pretty remote, and it was a part of Costa Rica that my fiance hadn't seen yet. Will it likely rain most of the time, or only part of the day? Are we staying there too long, even though we just want to hang out and chill in peace and quiet and enjoy some wildlife before we move on to be pampered at our next stop? Also, has anyone stayed in the deluxe cabina Manglillo (don't know if I got the spelling right) at BDC?

One last question. Having a hard time deciding where to stay in San Jose the first night. Our flight doesn't get in until 8:30 at night, and we leave on an 11 A.M. flight to Puerto Jimenez the next day. Thoughts?

Thanks a bunch for any tips, and for all your previous posts that have been a lot of fun and very helpful.

I think your plans for 5 nights in the Osa are fine, especially for honeymooners. It will rain but not every day, and only for a small part of the afternoon on the days when it rains (at least, that's true usually - ya never know about the weather, though, y'know?)

As far as your first night (and perhaps your last night) goes, here is a suggestion - not fancy but clean, secure and comfortable - AND they will pick you up at the airport and get you to your flight the next morning. This B&B is located in Alajuela, the city next to the airport (but not under the flight path).

http://www.vidatropical.com/

I was in Cabo Matapalo (same area as BDC) one mid September for 3 nights. The first night it rained BUCKETS from about 6:00 until early morning. I thought the hill near us would colapse, but it didn't. The days dawned clear and sunny then rain would come in again about 4:00 to 6:00 and it would rain a few hours, but not like the first night. As I said, we got plenty of sun in the mornings and early afternoons. Personally, for me, 3 nights was enough, but there is only so much hiking I can do before it all starts to look the same and I get bored. That's just me.
Another place to stay near the airport that is great is Orquideas Inn. A bit more upscale than Vida Tropical, with wonderful gardens, a cute little pool, fun bar, great restaurant and full breakfast buffet which is included in the room price. They will also pick you up and take you to the airport, but charge about $10 (for the ride, not per person) which is the same that a taxi would cost, tip included.

thanks for the info... we are checking out the orquideas.

especially thankful for the reassurance that we won't float away in september. hopefully we won't get too moldy either.

in terms of packing, we both have gotten pairs of these sandals called Keens, sort of like a cross between a Teva and a hiking shoe. do you think that would be enough to navigate the trails in the rainy season, or would you suggest something more rugged like a hiking boot?

If money is not an issue Xandari is a beautiful place to start or end a honeymoon. They provide free aiport transportation. We always end a Costa Rican trip there to cure the vacations over blues. Bosque has a lot of activities you can sign up for, also. I don't think you will be bored. I have not stayed in Manglillo but we are going in two weeks. If I think about it I will check it out.

Ah, yes, Xandari. Needless to say, i have been to their website numerous times. my first choice for our first night, actually. the concern: we get in so late, and leave again so early (well, relatively, when you are on your honeymoon...), would it really be worth it? can you tell that i am angling for a yes, that it would be worth it?? are we likely to get out of the san jose airport in reasonable time, assuming all our flights go according to plan (we are coming from vermont)?

karenski, it sounds as if you have opted to stay at BDC despite it being kind of full. (had read your posts about your room crisis) you must really love it! one question, do the cabinas have shampoo etc.? don't need a lot of frills, just thinking about that baggage weight limit...

Hi cheesygirl, Yes we decided to squeeze Bosque in even though it involves changing rooms three times. Un believable because last year at this time there were only one or two other families there when we were there. I just thought of something else. When we were debating about going Leonardo from Bosque sent me pictures over the internet of various options for cabinas since Congo was not available. He might do it if he has a picture of Manglillo. If it is the honeymoone cabina it is probably nice,although I guess you know that they are all luxury rustic so to speak. Xandari probably has a cheaper rate for September. If there is more time at the end of the trip that would be an option for your last night.It probably isn't worth it for the short time you will be there but it is just lovely. Even the cheapest villas are very,very nice.Don't you have to return to San Jose for your last night?

Would love to hear about your recent Bosque del Cabo visit. We will be there next week. Any insights and reports would be great. Thanks.

Fae, We were at Bosque last year and will be there the week after next. We loved it. It was the highlight of our trip, but we were there when it was very very quiet. When we arrived there were two families, one left, and then another couple came. We had the whole place practically to ourselves. The animals are very easy to see. We had Congo cabina and sat on the deck and the monkeys were right there. Scarlet macaws flew over our heads. We basically hiked each day. We didn't do any activities other than hiking and sitting on our deck. The food was good. They serve snacks in the bar by the pool each night and make drinks. The night the chef cooked the food was outstanding. The other nights the owner cooked. In fact, one night Kim, the owner's wife, was our waitress.This might have been because there were so few people. It should be very different this year. We were so disappointed to find out that Congo was not available and in fact we will have to move around just to be accomodated for three days. After that we are going to Drakes Bay to hopefully do a dolphin swim.I would be happy to answer any questions you have about Bosque. My only complaint is the price.Also, I wish they had cold drinks available during the day like iced tea and lemonade. I think for those prices they should have something for you do drink besides water. You can purchase soft drinks. They had the honor system last year. Also, last year we drove, yes drove ,down there so we had our own car. This year we are flying.

Karenski, we are actually returning to vermont via liberia. i know, sounds crazy, but we have divided the trip into adventure (bdc) and a bit of luxury at the 4S, and we wanted to maximize the amount of time we had. we are farmers and cheesemakers, and rarely get any sort of vacation time, and unfortunately, andy was interested in minimizing our time in the san jose area as much as possible. the whole honeymoon planning thing was traumatizing, because he wanted a beach, but being hurricane season, i wasn't interested in taking a whole lot of risks with the weather (why you ask are we then going to cr in the rainy season....). so our options were either really far away (europe, hawaii) or too expensive (europe, hawaii) or both (the seychelles), and with our limited amount of time, we didn't want to be so exhausted from the travel that we would spend our whole vacation recuperating from the flight, and the week after our return recuperating as well. i digress...
leonardo did email some pictures back when we made the reservation, and silly me, i didn't open them...don't ask, no idea why....i;ll have to go find that old email.... i think i figured they'd be like the ones on the web site (of which i am a far too frequent visitor, since i love dreaming about our trip and am hopelessly excited). still toying with the idea of xandari...what about the bougainvillea? does anyone have thoughts on that?

Karneski - When do you actually get to Bosque? We might be there when you arrive. We will be there Aug. 5 - 10 for five nights. The conditions you described on your previous visit sounds like what we experienced at Lapa Rios 4 years ago. Even on guided tours, mostly it was just our family of 4 and sometimes one or two other people at the most. Do you remember them having hiking sticks available as well as rubber boots you could borrow? They had those items at Lapa Rios and we did use them. Thanks for the help.

Fae, No hiking sticks, no boots at BdC like Lapa Rios. We did try to find a good stick on each of the trails, though, that we used for swinging spider webs out of the way.

Cheeseygirl, Your trip reminds me of ours just a few weeks ago, since my husband was only up for 2 stops (we spent one week at Capitan Suizo in Tamarindo and one week at BdC). Hope you'll have an awesome time!! For your first night, have you checked out Hotel Buena Vista?? We arrived late as well (9:20 pm) and they were there waiting for us. We had a really nice jr suite ($85 incl airport pick-up and brkfst) overlooking a beautiful coffee plantation - and San Jose in the distance - from our balcony. Later that morning, they took us back to the airport for our Sansa flight to Tamarindo. When we came back at the end of our 2 weeks and they picked us up from our Sansa flight from Puerto Jimenez, it felt like we were coming back home! A really nice find.

P.S. During the sunny times at BdC, you can hike down to either the Pacific beach, or the Golfo Dulce (as you've probably studied on their web site already!) They're not great beaches for swimming, but for everything else incredible about the ocean, you will find paradise. Our favorite was the short hike down the Pacific trail during low tide, then walking along the beach for hours .... it was magnificant.

Our biggest regret was lounging on our balcony with coffee and our books not really thinking about how long the sun would last, then getting caught in the afternoon rains (more than once!) when we finally went off for a hike. Always glad to have ponchos in our packs!

I haven't checked out the Buena Vista yet, but will do so this morning. Golondrina, I read in some of your other posts that you had real trouble with bugs at BdC, and that the mosquito netting was not so great. Which cabina were you in? Has anyone else had such trouble at BdC? Since we live in a remote area in the woods, I am not too afraid of bugs and the like, but just want to be mentally prepared for that eventuality...
also did your cabina have shampoo etc., or did you bring it along with you? and thanks for the great tip about not lounging on the deck during the sunny times!

Correction, my mistake, it was MonaManuel who had trouble with the bugs and mosquito netting, not Golondrina. Apologize for the mix-up! Still have the same question about the level of mental-preparedness I need for confronting the bugs...

Hi fae, We will be there on August 8,9,10. We leave tomorrow and are spending the first week in Samara and Nosara. After Bosque we go to Drakes Bay for three days.See you there.

Cheeseygirl, We were so relieved not to have a problem with bugs during the 7 days we were there. I read, too, that MonaManuel had a miserable time with bugs during her stay so I was bracing myself for the worst. Shillmac was at BdC for 3 days when we were there and I asked her about bugs in their cabina -- they also found it to be no problem. Must be good luck or good timing or something. Only came across a spider or two all together -- like you, we have more than that at home.

There wasn't shampoo in Casa Blanca, but maybe there are different amenities in the cabinas? I'm not sure. Happy Honeymoon!!

Happy Honeymoon from us as well! We had a standard cabina (very nice, the difference was 2 doubles rather than a king) and there was no shampoo. Shower gel, yes, shampoo no. I had taken little travel bottles. Bugs absolutely NO problem as Golondrina said. She mentioned they stayed for a week. We were there for 3 nights. We were at first concerned that we wouldn't have enough time to combine activities with relaxing, but when we left we truly felt that we had explored the area completely and relaxed plenty. We weren't able to do extra activities (hadn't planned to anyway) like the dolphin tour, surfing, etc. We were content to hike all the trails on our own and with a guide, etc. For us, another day would have been too long. We had packed light, were out of dry socks (very necessary), clean clothes, and the 3 days seemed just right. I do remember our guide, Philip, telling us that the rain can be a real problem in September and October and that there are times when the entire property has standing water.

Cheeseygirl, we are going to Bosque del Cabo this summer and have been given Manglillo. How was your stay there? Would you recommend another deluxe cabina - should we ask for something else? We are on a honeymoon of sorts.

clove,

All of the cabinas at Bosque del Cabo are very nice. Some offer better views or slightly larger or smaller variations of each other. We stayed in the Mariposa this year which is down on the very end. It is large and is the only one with a bathtub (that we know about) out in the open shower area. It is big enough for 2 and fun to stargaze from. Would be nice for a honeymoon "of sorts".

Thanks Jessie! Very helpful - i love the sounds of the bathtub! Do you think 3 nights is enough or would you recommend a couple more? Also, are there any tours that you would recommend while we are there? I'm really set on seeing some dolphins. Also how does Corcovado for the day compare with just hiking around the hotel?

Clove,

We stayed in Mariposa as well and recommend it highly.

A couple tours we recommend on the Bosque grounds: The night tour (just after sunset--we saw toads, frogs, snakes, etc) and the early morning birding tour (arakaris, sloth, hawks, etc). Both were guided by Eduardo when we were there.

I can't imagine staying less than 4 nights but I have already seen plenty of the rest of CR so I won't feel like I am missing out someplace else. Even without extra tours, we found plenty to do there this year and we have been before.

Do go out with Philip for his morning tour. We always learn something new from him. There is horseback riding in that area. One of my favorites is the kayak trip from Escondido trex. It will require a ride back into Puerto Jimenez but we really enjoy it. You can do the mangrove or the sunset or, if the tide is right, you can combine them and do both. This year we went from a birding lodge near PJ. Last time we kayaked in there (I went in by horseback last year) we had more time in the mangroves so were able to see more in there. This year we had to get out quicker because the tide was going out. We just ended up spending more time on the swimming beach as well as in the Gulfo Dulce. While we were taking our snack break at the swimming beach we saw dolphins coming. We all finished up and headed out in the kayaks again and the dolphins were swimming around us. We also got to see some large green sea turtles swimming near us.

There is a swim with the dolphins tour that I haven't been on but just about every time I have been out on the Gulfo Dulce I have seen dolphins so it is a pretty good bet that you will get to see them if you do it.

One last tour that depends on your likes but is really nice if you like that type of thing is the Casa Orquideas tour. Ron and Trudy have built a beautiful place over there with all kinds of plants. They are very knowledgable and you get to taste a few very interesting things...no bad tastes.

One other option is next door at El Remanso. There is a waterfall nearby that Joel runs a rapelling tour to. I have heard some good things about it.

As far as wildlife, you will see just as much at Bosque in my opinion. They have set up a camera with a trip line and have pictures of all kinds of things like ocelots and pumas that have walked around on the property. They even had a jaguar. We always see all 4 kinds of monkeys.

Jessie and Rick

Thank you very much for your very detailed responses -- reading them literally transported me to Bosque. I plan to go in June/July and will write back when I return.

Quick note to Rick and Jessie - Mariposa is available so I am switching from Manglillo to Mariposa =). Thanks again for the recommendation.

Jesse,
we plan to visit Osa this April, we will have 3 weeks in CR all together and will rent a car as we like our independence. Do you think it makes sence to do a circle of Monte Verde, Manuel Antonio and Osa peninsula all in a car? What parts of Osa would you recommned to visit, are they accesible with our rental car?
ALso- we are avid hikers, how much time do you suggest to spend there. We can rarely get tired of hiking in the nature. Thank you.

Wow, 3 weeks! A wonderful amount of time to see tons of things and get your hiking fix. You are definitely picking a good country if you like hiking.

You could easily do a tour in 3 weeks of the places you mentioned. And yes, all are readily accessible by car. Might get a little bumpy in places but all part of the adventure.

With your time you could take a couple of days to stop in Arenal on your way to Monteverde.

Day 1 arrive. night near airport or drive to Arenal (2 1/2-3hrs). night Arenal

Day 2 hike down to the waterfall, hike around on the old lava beds, walk on Hanging Bridges. Relax in hot springs. Night Arenal

Day 3 drive to Monteverde (4hrs) Afternoon hike at Finca Ecologica or visit the butterfly garden and do a night hike at Finca with a guide. Night Monteverde

Day 4 early to Monteverde reserve-make arrangements day before to go out with a guide. When finished with the guide there is an outer loop you can do on your own. Last time I did this there was very little foot traffic and very peaceful. Afternoon, investigate the shops on the road between Monteverde and Santa Elena. Stellas Bakery a great place to eat. CASEM is a nice gift shop for the local women (and a few men) artisans. I always pick up a few things to support them. There are also some very nice shops with higher priced items in the area. Night Monteverde

Day 5 visit one of the other reserves, do a zip line Night Monteverde

Day 6 Drive to Manuel Antonio (about 5-6hrs) Night MA

Day 7 Manuel Antonio early. Night MA

Day 8 More tours in MA. Lots of things to choose from. Your hotel can help with options. Night MA

D9 Drive to Drake Bay (about 6 hrs) or stop in Dominical (1 1/2-2hrs) or Uvita for the night and check out the Bellena Marine Park.

D10 if in Drake Bay do a day trip to Corcovado. Great hiking.

D11 Day trip to Cano Island or just do some hiking in the area.

D12 drive to Puerto Jimenez area (6hrs)
There is a little place in Dos Brazos that we like. It is really more of a birding lodge but they certainly offer plenty of hiking in the area. A new entrance into Corcovado is scheduled to open soon from that area. It is literally at the end of the road. Two river crossings after the road ends to get to the lodge. They even offer a hike from there to Carate. It is a tough hike. They will have a taxi waiting to bring you back to the lodge. Some of the best food we have had here. If you choose not to stay here you can go on to PJ itself (20mins). From here you can spend a night or two on the beach at Iguana Lodge or the Pearl of the Osa where you can walk for miles with very little people contact. You can kayak around here and do other things. Not much hiking from this lodge. Night in PJ area.

D13 possible second night in PJ area depending on choices.

D14 Head up toward Carate (2hrs). Another end of the road. Don't know what your budget is but there are options from camping on the beach, a motel with no electricity, upscale tent camps, a couple of nice lodges and an even nicer lodge. The La Leona entrance to Corcovado is just up the beach from the end of the road. The lodges/tent camps in the area can arrange for a guide to take you into the Park. You need to let them know several days ahead of time though. Another option would be a fly in hike out. This is where you hire an air taxi to take you into the park where you then hike out. Don't really know the specifics of this but any one of the lodges can help with more info. Other options would be to stay someplace in the Cabo Matapalo area and do day hikes either on the property or to Corcovado. Night Osa
D 15,16 nights Osa

D 17 Start heading back to San Jose. From Puerto Jimenez it is about 3 1/2-4 hrs to San Isidro. From this area you could spend a night or two and do some hiking on Chirripo (do have warmer clothes for this).

I am going to leave a few days off this very rough idea for an itinerary for your own thoughts. Obviously, if you decide to stop in Dominical it could add a day or if you decide to skip a place you could take a day or two off the itinerary. If you have an extra night or two when you get back to San Jose, a day trip rafting would be a great way to finish up your 3 week adventure.

Hope this gave you some ideas for some of the possibilities. Driving times are only approx based on your stopping and driving style as well as road conditions at the time which can be variable in some places. Could be a little longer or a little shorter times.

Jesse,
thank you again for a quick response!!! let me digest your suggestions and I'll be back with more questions soon.

Jesse

I am getting some feel for Osa, finally.
Here are new questions (ready?)
Hiking in COrcovado- originally I thought we can hike from La leona via Sirena to Pedrillo, but... once at Pedrillo we would have a problem of having our car parked in Carate. Thus I have two options. One- hike Corcovado from La Leona to Sirena only and do some day hikes from there, then drive over to Drake (what condition of the roads are there?), find accomodation at Drake Bay and hike to Pedrillo from there. Option numero Dos/Two: Do the loop from La leona to San Pedrillo, then to Drake Bay and try to find a transport back to Carate (what options are there?)
THANK you for your thoughts!!!