Bosque del Cabo--Tropical Garden?
 

As I've been considering a first trip to CR in Feb, I've been lurking around here soaking up the advice. Totally intriguted with Bosque del Cabo and hoping to stay there the whole time. There are 4 of us, my sister, her husband, adult daughter and myself; and they are counting on me planning a great trip. The trip is to celebrate her 50th birthday. She's alrady told me she doesn't want to spend too much time traveling.

So, the 2 br house is available for 3 nights at the beginning of our trip; the 3 br for the week, but it is too pricey. Would it be a huge let down to move to the tropical garden after being in the house? Would Iguana Lodge be a better choice? or splurge and go for the 3 BR. I wouldn't be so obsessed with it except that her actual b'day is the last day of our stay in Osa.

Also, has anyone stayed at BdC and not purchased the meal plan? That might be one way to afford the 3 BR, but not too wild about that option. Would appreciate any advice you can offer.

We stopped at the grocery store in Puerto Jimenez before heading out to BdC. We had planned on buying snacks, breakfast items, beer and soft drinks. It was very picked over. In fact I don't think we bought any of the above items. They only had a few beers and soft drinks in the entire store. We had already purchased the food paackage at BdC. I am not sure how you could buy enough food for a week or more. Plus it is a good 45 mins or so from BdC to PJimenez. We stayed at Casa Blanca, the 2BR house. It is great. The garden house is very nice, just a good walk to the Lodge. Your view would be jungle/garden and not ocean/jungle. The garden setting is not for everyone. I would miss the view of the ocean, but the birds and wildlife in the garden would probably make up for it. But it is a walk to the lodge and it is very very dark. I guess it depends on how you feel about that.
Shillmac, Tully, Susie2 may have more info for you. Email me if you have more qustions, I can email you pics of the house. [email protected] Toni

I haven't been in Casa Blanca (2b) but Miramar (3b) is a dream house. Haven't heard any negatives about Casa Blanca and assume it is nice. If there is anyway you can swing it I would go for Miramar. Any chance of another couple to go in with you? On the otherhand if price was a concern with us we would go with the other option if it was the only way to stay there at that time. Bosque del Cabo is one of our favorite places and there is no place there that is unthinkable for us. Sorry Kim and Phil...I do think Casa Teka would be a bit of a let down. We can make the best of anything so would be fine and you know yourselves how you would feel. Casa Teka is a bit rustic and simply decorated. The living area and kitchen are open which is kind of neat. The bedrooms are separated by the kitchen and enclosed. There is one bathroom that is okay, nothing fancy unless they have fixed it up since we were there. One big plus is that the garden area is very nice. They have done a lot of work out there. A couple of the trails go right through it so you will have an advantage there. Your evenings will be spent by the pool/bar and dining area if you do the split and eat at the restaurant so it won't be like you will be out there by yourselves in the evening. Happy hour starts at 6pm and dinner is at 7pm. We usually head over to the bar around 5 to visit with the bartenders etc. Everyone usually heads back to their cabinas/houses around 8:30. Things start pretty early in the jungle so mornings come pretty quickly.

I sympathize with you on the cooking. My husband (unfortunately for me) likes my cooking and so I probably cook close to 300 dinners a year not to mention that my husbands favorite meal is breakfast and I cook a couple of hundred of those a year. I am ready to go on vacation!

Except for staying in Casa Teka for a couple of nights a few years ago, we are always in the cabinas so we have always had the meal plan.

The grocery stores down there are pretty well stocked. If you decide to splurge on Miramar make up your menus and shopping list before you go and bring the spices you might need other than salt and pepper so you don't have to buy those. Maybe just put what you will need into little plastic baggies. You will have to do your shopping when you arrive in Puerto Jimenez. There are no grocery stores near the lodge.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some tours can get expensive if you have to go back into town. The trail system at Bosque is very nice and will give you options for several days if you enjoy hiking but I am assuming you might want to get out and do a couple of things away from the lodge. This will have to factor into your overall budget. Going into Puerto Jimenez is interesting if you want to see a little town. The shops are very Costa Rican and are obviously there for the residents more so than tourists. A couple of gift shops, internet cafes but the rest are mostly day to day shops. Kayaking with Escondido Trex is fun and we have done the mangrove tour several times. There are a couple of new tours that we haven't done that sound like fun, one is a boat tour of the gulf and the other is a wildlife center. Most people seem to enjoy the horseback riding from Bosque.

You guys are amazing with the speed of responses. I just wrote and confirmed the Casa Blanca for the 3 nights available and am awaiting for a response back about options for the remaining 4 nights. Leaning towards the mail plan, but have asked to see the ala carte menu.

Thanks for your thoughful replies

My reply was a work in progress when prrmt replied. There are a couple of grocery stores. When I have been in them they seemed pretty well stocked! Perhaps it was one of the pulpurias (mini grocery stores)? I haven't been in one for over a year or so now because I haven't been down there alone which is when I usually get out and look in places like that. For some reason hubby just isn't interested LOL.

There are several rental houses in the Cabo Matapalo area as well where people do their own cooking. Must have just been a bad time at the store. There is also a meat shop and the bakeries are great (really inexpensive too!).

Another thought might be to split time between Bosque and Iguana if you are going to have to pack and move anyway. I know of several people that have done that and were happy with it. Iguana has the house now that you could share. Not quite the place Bosque is but it is very relaxing and pleasant. Not bad different just a different type of place. I love going there for the beach. I often take long walks and don't run into anyone else. Jose is an excellent chef. If they just had a pool it would be wonderful because there are times that you don't want to go into the water. It would probably be a nightmare for them with the beach sand.

My only warning about the beach would be not to go in at the tide change unless you are a very strong swimmer. The undertow gets very strong at that time. I had to be pulled out once.

Suzie,

After seeing the first 2 responses, I called my sister. She thinks we obsess way too much over money when, in the end, we do what what we want regardless. I, on the other land, like to explore every single option and obsess over all the details. Since she doesn't want to move to another resort/hotel I am sure we will end up booking the Miramer for the other 4 nights. At least by splitting between the two we will have some slight savings. We haven't settled on the food thing yet, but as long as we get the rooms booked, I think we are in good shape. Next is to find a decent airfare....

You are going to love it there no matter where you stay. I would love to spend my birthday at Bosque. I am sooooo envious. We haven't been there since last Nov and I am having withdrawal pains. We were in CR in Aug but didn't make it down that far.

Sounds like your sister is the cool headed one. Stop obsessing and enjoy. Life's an adventure and sometimes the surprises are the best part :-).

Good luck with the airfare!!

Not sure if you could do this, but I wonder is there any way to split the food options? To provide yourself breakfast & lunch would save money and be relatively simple if you stick to toast/eggs and sandwiches. The one little store that Kevin (or whomever is picking you up) usually stops at is usually well stocked. But I would definitely have dinners at the lodge. I think a big chunk of what makes the food so good there (and it is very good) is the atmosphere. Meeting your fellow guests there every night is a real treat.... talking about what you did/saw that day, other travels, life in general, it really is a great way to cap off the day. Well, actually a drink or two at the bar after dinner is a great way, just take it easy as you have a short hike back to the casa! Have a great time.

We stayed at Casa Blanca last year and are going back this year for a full week. What we did about the food is that we have only breakfast and dinner most days. The breakfast is delicious and I believe it is a set price with no a la carte. You can choose whatever you want on the menu. We did stop and get some food in Puerto Jimenez on the way in and brought are own protein bars and nuts to snack on it we were hungry during the day. I think your decision to stay in the two houses is the right one. We never wanted to leave Casa Blanca and the magnificant deck that overlooks the ocean. Have a great time. We will be there March 4-11.

Wanted to follow-up with our final decisions in case anyone else can use the info for their own trip planning.

We did book the 7 nights in the two houses (Casa Blanca and Miramar); got a weekly rate. Looking for others to join us, but no takers yet--can't understand why people are not jumping at the chance.

We can make the decision when there about the meal plan; we are leaning towards fixing our own lunches and buying the others. I think the prices were $12 each for lunch and breakfast and $22 for dinner.

Ended up getting a good airfare from Boston ($441). Biggest shock to me this morning was learning the flights I wanted to/from Puero Jiminez from SJO were already booked (3 months out). Wanted to fly Sensa (because of location at SJO), but ended up with Nature Air on my second/third choice of flights. Will stay at Orquideas Inn the first night and just hang out there.

Next onto figuring out what I want to do while there. Thanks again for all your help.

Yeah, I know what you mean about the flights to PJ. We booked our March flights 3 months ago and had to switch to Natureair on the return to get the time we wanted. Crazy, isn't it? I'm amazed that I had the presence of mind to start working on those flights so early--and glad I did! :)