Just returned from 6 absolutely wonderful nights at Bosque del Cabo! It is a fabulous place. It was our first time in Costa Rica, and we didn't want to spend time traveling around on this trip, so chose BdC for the entire stay, other than first and last nights.

Day 1 - Arrived at 4:00 pm. Stayed at the Orquideas Inn. Very lovely place. Grounds were pretty, staff helpful and friendly, room was nice, food was excellent and very reasonable. Turned on the A/C to block road noise and slept soundly.

Day 2 - Started off with great breakfast at Orquideas Inn. Sansa flight slightly delayed, but was a smooth flight. When we arrived in PJ, Kevin was there to pick us up along with fellow Fodorite, Mixter 603 and her husband. We knew we were arriving the same day. Was like meeting old friends! Had a bumpy ride to Bosque. We were immediately greeted with a cold smoothie and sat down for lunch. Heard the howler monkeys in the distance - wow. Then we were shown to our cabina - Mariposa. Was perfect. We were immediately welcomed by the spider monkeys moving through the trees. What a site! We took a walk to the Garden, and saw capuchins and howlers along the way.

While chatting it up with Mixter603 at happy hour, a woman came up to us and asked if either of us was Mixter603 or Janenicole. It was lhgreenacres - another fellow Fodorite! She was there with her significant other and her mother. We all hit it off immediately! Also met others who were so interesting and fun to spend some time with. Had an excellent dinner.

Day 3 - Hit the Pacific Trail with Mixter603 and her husband. At the bottom was the secluded beach - beautiful. Walked the full mile to the waterfall. Took a cooling shower in the waterfall. Headed back on the hot beach. Hike up was a good workout.

Hitched a ride in the afternoon with another couple to the Golfo Dulce beach. Brought our snorkel gear thinking maybe we would see some fish, or interesting rocks or shells on the bottom. Ha! Couldn't see six inches in front of our faces, the water was so churned up. Bounced around in the waves and watched the surfers. Got a ride back up to Bosque. Another great happy hour and fabulous dinner ended the day.

Day 4 - Went with Mixter603 and her husband and another couple on the dolphin watch/animal sanctuary excursion. Saw about 10 dolphins, but no large groups. Snorkeled for a little while on the reef before heading to the sanctuary. Saw a lot of colorful fish in the water, but the coral was not very colorful. The animal sanctuary was a really special place. The owners are so dedicated. Was a great learning experience, and very fun to hold the monkeys and be entertained by them.

When we got back, Mike and I walked the Zapatero Trail. Didn't see a lot for wildlife, but was very dark and mysterious feeling in the primary forest.

After a great dinner, Jose treated us to his wonderful guitar playing and singing. Wish he would cut a CD for guests to purchase.

Day 5 - Hit the Titi Trail with Mixter603 and her husband. We laughed so much it was a wonder we saw any wildlife. But we did. Several troops of spider monkeys, a heard of about 8 peccaries, toucans, macaws, and blue morpho butterflies. Then we headed down the road and walked the Teak Plantation. It was part of new property that the owners of Bosque purchased. Saw a lot of butterflies and flowers along here.

After lunch we went down the Creek Trail, and then headed down the creek bed. The waterfall had dried up by the end. On the way back, a spider monkey tried to poop on us. Guess he didn't like all of our laughter!

Celebrated Mixter603's birthday after dinner that night with another song from Jose. Said goodbye to Mixter603 and her husband. They really made our trip so much fun, hated to see them go. Mixter603, you are such a sport!

Day 6 - Deep sea fishing with Miguel! No action until 11:00, then I caught a small dorado (mahi-mahi). One hour later, my husband caught a huge dorado - close to 5 feet long. The first mate told us about 1:30 that they heard on the marine radio that there had been only one sailfish caught so far that day. It wasn't looking good. Then, at 2:00, fish on! My husband pulled in a beautiful sailfish. His day was complete! The chef at Bosque grilled our dorado, and it was excellent!

Took a short night walk down to the Tropical Garden. Saw lots of spiders and some frogs. Saw some larger golden orange eyes glowing in the pond. Could it have been the cayman (sp) that someone saw the night before?

Day 6 - Walked the Saino trail. Once again, saw lots of wildlife. Got the best show by the capuchins on the grounds at Bosque before lunch. They were busy eating and we were so close to them!

After lunch, we walked the Pacific Trail again. This time we headed to the left at the bottom, and found the arch with the beach behind it. Spent some time cooling off in the tidal pools.

Had final happy hour and dinner with lhgreenacres and her man and her mom. Mom was wonderfully entertaining. She has traveled many places with lhgreenacres, and tells great stories. lh, you and your family are awesome - love your upbeat attitudes and enthusiasm.

Day 7 - Walked the Trogon and Manakin trails before breakfast. Ate our last breakfast of banana pancakes. It was so hard to leave such a magical place.

After smooth Sansa flight, we were met by the driver from Hotel Buena Vista. Asked him to line up a driver for us to head up to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Dropped our bags at the hotel, and were out the door in 10 minutes. Enjoyed the lovely countryside and seeing the coffee plantations on the way up to the falls. We toured La Paz in a light rain. Was beautiful and lush. Got back to hotel around 6:00. Had a light dinner. Service at the hotel was excellent.

Day 8 - Flew back home.


Have no complaints about Bosque del Cabo. I have never felt so relaxed, and yet at the same time energized as I did while staying at BdC. We enjoyed every aspect of the place - the grounds, the cabina, the attentive service, the food, the drinks, the refreshing pool, the wildlife, fellow guests, and the scenery. We saw all four types of monkeys, a sloth with her baby, an anteater, peccaries, toucans, macaws, poison dart frogs, spiders, one scorpion, green vine snake, bats, coatis, agouti, many types of birds and butterflies.

It was awesome to spend almost every moment outside or without walls. Showering outside with the monkeys swinging through the trees overhead, sleeping with the doors wide open at night, dining in open air, and exploring the trails and beaches were all experiences I will never forget. We will go back!

I am both happy and sad reading your report. Happy that you had such a wonderful time at BDC and sad that I don't have another trip there planned...yet. Thanks for a terrific trip report! Pretty soon it will only be fodorites at BDC all the time!

Terrific report! Your trip sounds wonderful. Thank you for posting all the information about the different trails. I have been hoping to learn more about them we before leave for our trip. Less then a month and will be staying in Mariposa, too.

Very Best,
Gem

I am not sure how informative my report was, but was fun to "relive" our stay.

I was excited when I heard we were going to be in Mariposa, and thought the outside tub would be great. We never used it! But the monkey show while showering was great! The anteater also appeared just out of the woods on the edge of the cabina.

Thanks for the great report! We are headed to BdC next month for the first time. We tried to reserve Mariposa but it was already booked. Our group (2 couples) is staying in Congo and Lapa. Did you happen to see either of these cabinas? Which is the more private of the two?

What a nice report! So nice to relive BdC, vicariously. It took me to my 2nd to last night there before I made it into the tub myself, it's lovely but always on the go there! Glad you got to meet up with other posters here and saw so many animals. I also love staying at Orquideas, their food is fantastic and such friendly people there.

haydencat - I have pics at kodakgallery, several of Lapa & a couple from the deck of Congo if you would like to see. My email is [email protected] and I could send you an invite. The last cabina is Mariposa, then Congo then Lapa Then La Palma, Gecko, ...something like that). Anyway, they are near other cabins so not completely private but I felt more than comfy taking a shower, walking around in the am in my pj's, etc.

Great, great report. isn't BdC just the best?? If you post pics be sure and give us the link! Toni

What a wonderful report. I really felt like I was there. We have been many times but each time feels like the first because you just never know what will happen with the wildlife.

haydencat,
The Congo is right next door to the Mariposa which is the last cabin. The Congo has my favorite view of the ocean and Arch rock down below. We saw our first whales while sitting on the porch there. There is a pretty watercolor painting on the wall that was done by a previous guest. Every day was a different show as far as the wildlife passing by while we took a break and relaxed. Do bring a flashlight. The paths can be a little dark.

Hi janenicole and Mixter603- I have been so swamped since we returned but was thrilled to read janenicole's trip report. We absolutely loved Bosque. This was our second trip but I have to say this time the people even made this remarkable place even better. It was so fun to feel that you had friends right away with fellow fodorites. We laughed so much with everyone. I been telling everyone that I just came back from 12 perfect days. How often in your life can anyone say that? Thanks to Janenicole and Mixter603 and their spouses for adding to our perfect days.

Thanks for the report - I sighed as I read it - I actually miss BdC and it's been a month since we were there. I've never said that about any of the places I've been too.

I'm so glad you had a great time.

janenicole,

Very nice to hear you had such a good time. We leave on April 22nd and after reading your report I am even more excited! We also are staying at the Orquideas Inn. I would love to do the animal sanctuary trip. Should we pack our own snorkel gear?

Lovely report.

BdC is truly a magical place. I still miss it and it has been 2 years since we visited!

Am glad everyone enjoyed reliving our days at BdC with me!

moonpie - We brought our snorkel masks and tubes, but not the fins. If you have room in your luggage, and you plan to go on the sanctuary/snorkel trip, then I would bring them. They do provide them for you if you decide not to bring your own.

haydencat - As others have mentioned, Congo has a great view of the Pacific. When looking in the direction of Congo from Mariposa, the only thing I could see was the hammock on Congo's deck. There is a lot of vegetation that blocks a full view.

Enjoy every moment of BdC, moonpie and haydencat!

I will try to post pictures once I get this techie stuff figured out!

Thanks for the great BDC trip report! Can't wait for our first visit coming up in May. We're sooooo excited! Really cool you met up with so many Fodorites!

Hi janenicole,

Thanks for posting your comments. Sounds like a fabulous trip! Very cool that you got to meet up with other fodorites.

Can you provide more info about your excursion to the animal sanctuary? It sounds like my kind of thing! Did you arrange that through BdC? What was the approximate cost and how long was the tour?

Thanks for any info. I just started piecing together the trip I want to take to CR for this December. BdC is at the top of my list.

Glad you had a wonderful time!

cmerrell,

Bosque can arrange your animal sanctuary trip when you get there. However, if you arrive in Puerto Jimenez early in the day, you could do the trip before you get to Bosque del Cabo. Not sure who you would arrange that through - maybe someone else on the forum would know? It just saves you a trip back into PJ on a bumpy road.

When we went, we also did a dolphin watch and snorkeling as part of the trip. We knew another couple were going, and had planned these other things. It made sense for us to go with them, as it was cheaper and more fun. We also talked Gerly into checking with the captain to see if a third couple we had gotten to know could come with us. They usually only like to have 5 passengers in the boat, but we assured them we would be just fine, and we were.

So, splitting the whole day by three couples only cost $120 per couple. Not bad. The boat itself (just for the sanctuary - not the dophin tour) costs $120, the taxi into town and back is $60, and the entrance fee for the sanctuary is $40 per couple. So if you have others with you, you can split the cost of the taxi and boat.

We left Bosque at 7:00 a.m. Got on the boat at 8:00. Cruised around looking for dolphins until 11:00. Snorkeled 30 minutes. Went to the sanctuary at 11:30 and stayed until 1:00. Back to Bosque by 2:30.

The sanctuary is very neat. It is really special to get up close and be able to hold the monkeys. Plus, it is a great learning experience. Enjoy your trip! Wish I was still there!

Thanks so much for the info, janenicole!

Appreciate it!

Here's a nice little article about the Sanctuary - http://www.bradenton.com/mld/bradent...s/16919522.htm

Excellent! Thanks, Tully!!

lhgreenacres, I was wondering what happened to you! We sure missed you guys and janenicole and her hubby when we left. Hubby is already thinking about next year and wanted me to reserve it the day after we returned. Do you think you'll be there again next year? If yes, make sure you contact us so we can plan to be there at the same time.