Gina

Thank you to all who contributed to our trip being so great. Your ideas, suggestions, experiences were very helpful in deciding where to go, where to stay, what to pack and what to see. We stayed in Vista del Valle in three different cabins. In Lapa Rios, then in Savegre Lodge (it was our own choice since our goal was to see the Resplendant Quetzal and we saw many of them), and in Monteverde in a place that I wouldn't return to.<BR>Thanks again for your help.

wendy

Where did you stay in Monteverde?<BR><BR>Thanks.

Gina

We stayed in Trapp Family Lodge which is the closest to the Monteverde Could Forest Preserve. Within 20 minutes we were in the Preserve. We also had a big room but very simple with very cold floors and plumbing that did not work properly. Further, any meals we had there were terrible and very expensive comparing to other places and the place had no charm or any character. The owner pretend to be a big shot but he was not helpful at all in answering our questions. He seemed to be enoyed by our questions regarding the Sky Walk. But we had a great time regardless of the roads that are worse than I ever experienced. Even roads in Kenya are in better condition. People in every place we visited in Costa Rica were very nice.

ttt

For Sheila

len

leaving mar 1st for two weeks. could you expand on where you stayed so i can check it out. I'll stay away from "Trapp"<BR>len

Gina

We stayed in <BR>Vista del Valle<BR>Lapa Rios <BR>Savegre Lodge<BR>Trapp Family Lodge<BR><BR>What wouyld you like to know about those places? There are many positive comments on this forum regarding Vista and Lapa Rios. We took them under consideration when planning our trip. I will be happy to answer your questions.

Matt

My wife and I are planning on staying in the Osa Peninsula, and possibly Lapa Rios in particular. What were your impressions of the lodges, and Lapa Rios in particular? Did you visit Corcavado National Park or Cano Island? If so what were your impressions? Thank you very much!

Gina

Matt, only place we visited in Osa Peninsula was Lapa Rios. What would you like to know? About food, activities, beach, birds, monkeys, stuff, cabins, swimming pool, location, tips, extra charges? I'll be glad to give you my opinion. <BR>Our friends went horesback riding to Corcovado and they liked it but I do not have any more details about their visit there.

Barb

Hi Gina,<BR>We're going to CR in one month and are staying at the Vista del Valle. Any comments would be appreciated - wondering if you had evening meals there. Thanks alot!<BR>

Dawn

Hello Matt - <BR><BR>I returned from the Osa Peninsula last month. We stayed at the Aguila de Osa Inn in Drake Bay, which is Lapa Rios' main high end competitor. We loved it! We had a guided tour of the Corcovado one day, which was great. We saw lots of monkeys, toucans, scarlet macaws, etc. Our group had six people in it and we only saw one other small group on our six hour hike. Guided tours to different areas left daily so you could go to several different places, if you stayed long enough. We also went to Cano Island for the day, which was very nice. It is about an hour boat ride from Drake Bay, which means it would be over two, perhaps three hours from Lapa Rios, which is on the other side of the peninsula. I have had friends who stayed at Lapa Rios and loved it, however, they tend to keep their patrons in their private reserve and don't venture into the park. What is so wonderful about the park is seeing all the different ecosystems and the old growth trees (over 500 years old) that are found as you venture deeper into the park.

pjr

Barb:<BR><BR>We stayed at Vista del Valle for a week and loved it. They do serve meals there every night, and we had breakfast every morning. It is a beautiful place. Let me know if you would like more information.

Gina

I agree with the last poster about Vista. It is a wonderful place to realx. We had dinners there every night. We did not consider getting a taxi and going somewhere else to eat. Dinner costs $18.00 plus tax 13% plus 10% service. There is no choice but if you have some special requieremnts they will accommodate you. Each dinner includes salad, main dish and desert. I think also coffe is included but my husband did not drink any after dinner and I do not drink coffe at all. The setting for dinner is beautiful, people are nice and food was good too. Breakfasts are great and they are included in a rate of your cabin. <BR>There is a nice walk to the waterfall and it is steep going down and demanding coming back but if you take your time and water with you it is a wonderful excurssion right on the property. We also went every morning before breakfast bird watching around non-working coffee plantation. It is a nice place for walking even if you are not interested in spotting birds. If you enjoy horseback riding there you will find this opportunity as well.<BR>Barb, do you know what cabin are you staying in? We stayed in Ceibo, Mona Lisa,and Ian,Ian. If you interested I could give you more details if you chose one of them.

Barb

Peggy and Gina,<BR>Many thanks for the info. which makes it very easy for us now just to eat on the property. We're only there for one night and it saves having to search out a restaurant. Gina, we're staying in Mango Manor which is large enough to accomodate us and our two teens. Can hardly wait! Many thanks again. This forum is so great.

Matt

Thank you for your reply, Gina. You actually brought up something I am curious about: tips. What were the expectations, both in Lapa Rios and other areas of Costa Rica? Was it a costly expense?<BR><BR>Dawn: your reply was very informative. How would you rate your lodge's excursion into the park? Was it informative? Strenuous? And have you or anyone else heard anything about the Casa Corcovado lodge? It looked very nice on the web site. Thank you!

Dawn

Matt - <BR><BR>I would say that our Corcovado excursion was the highlight of our trip. It was about a six hour hike. We left very early in the morning around 7 AM for the boat ride to the park. The park is not like the typical American park, it is more for the animals than for the entertainment of humans, and therefore, it has no roads. The boat ride to the part of the park that we hiked, which was Siena, was over an hour. The "typical" Corcovado hike begins from a location that is about 30 minutes from the hotel. However, I would advise against this hike. It is VERY popular with all the local inns because it ends in a swim in a waterfall. Too many people and too short, only four hours max. Try to convince a small group and/or the tour guide to take you to another part of the park. At the Aguila de Osa this was rather easy to do. Our guide was very informative, could identify any animal, bird or plant that we saw. He was also very well informed regarding all the different levels of primary and secondary forests that we walked through. But the best reason to have a tour guide was that he could spot these animals in the trees that we all would have walked right by. The hike was medium strenuous. I am 26 and in pretty good shape so I found it rather easy, but there were some fifty year olds who were in good shape who kept up just fine. I have heard of the Casa Corcovado Lodge, but I don't know much about it. You may want to compare it with the place we stayed. Their website is www.aguiladeosa.com

Dawn

I am sorry, we didn't hike in the Siena area. We hiked in the area near Sirena (sp?) pronounced like sa-ray-na.<BR>

Matt

Thank you very much Dawn...you are very helpful!<BR><BR>Anyone else know anything about Casa Corcavado lodge?

Norma

Gina, we are booked in the Ylang Ylang room at Vista del Valle. How did you like it? Thanks.

Brooke

Matt - <BR><BR>A friend of mine stayed at Casa Corcovado and liked it very much. It's very close to the park.

Gina

Hi Norma. We stayed in Ilan, Ilan (it is named after the tree, we been told) one night and really like this cabin but not as much as Mona Lisa. It is isolated (relatively speaking), has an oudoor wonderful shower but it was hard to take a shower very early in the morning because it gets cold at night. Overall we liked this cabin a lot but there is not much of a view. If I had a choice I would go for Mona Lisa. we loved this place and hope to return there one day.