jeantx

I am planning my family's first trip to Costa Rica for March 2008. I will be traveling with my husband (a birder) and my two kids (ages 7 and 9).

Our itinerary is:
San Jose - 1 night
Tortuguero - 2 nights at Mawamba Lodge
Osa - 3 nights at Lapa Rios
Arenal - 3 nights at Lost Iguana
San Jose - 1 night

I am really looking forward to Lapa Rios but am somewhat concerned about the bugs. Are they as bad as I have read or is it manageable? Does it matter which bungalow we get? Which of the hikes or tours are the best? My family would love to do the dolphin tour in the hopes of getting to see both dolphins and whales – does anyone know if it is possible to see whales in this location in March?

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated!

volcanogirl

We were in the Osa in July, at Bosque del Cabo, not Lapa Rios, but I would assume the bug situation is fairly similar. We wore bug spray each day and only got a couple of bites on the ankles; the sea breeze helps to keep them away. In our cabin, we had a few small moths that got in, but nothing too freaky.

If you can, visit the animal sanctuary - your kids will get to hold and see baby monkeys and sloths, really neat. They'd probably like to swim with the dolphins as well.

shillmac

Volcanogirl is right on regarding the bugs. . I'd report about the same. She and I were both there in July.

You'll find it a bit different in March. We were there this past March (Bosque del Cabo, right next door), and during the dry season, we found the bugs to be fairly non existent. We never wore repellent and had almost NO problems in the cabinas. The owners of BdC said that was very typical for the drier weather. . .so good news for those who worry about the bugs.

In July, I had NO bugs in my cabin (4 days) and got ONE mosquito bite out on a trail. I put repellent on once or twice, didn't bother the rest of the time. But there do tend to be more bugs when it is wetter.

Nice itinerary--you'll have the time of your lives! It's probably all set, and I'm sure you're not interested in revising. But I have one suggestion (asked for or not!):

Tortuguero is a great place to visit--wonderful for birding, but the very best time to be there is July-October when you have the added bonus of seeing the turtles. That is just an awesome experience.

While at Arenal, you COULD do the Cano Negro tour, which will provide similar bird sightings to the Tortuguero area.
By saving Tort. for another time, you could add a couple of nights at Lapa Rios. The area is so nice with many, many wonderful options, I think you would be very glad to have more time there. 2 full days is not much for that area.

I'd start out renting a car, driving up to Arenal for 3 nights (or 4 if you get into SJO early enough). Then returning the car and flying down to Puerto Jimenez for 5 nights. I think you'd find it less rushed and a better use of your time. You might need to overnight in SJO to catch an early morning flight to Puerto Jimenez. Just a thought. . . .

hipvirgochick

By bug problem, do you mean infestation? Or biting you?

We didn't experince bug problems "much" in our 2 1/2 weeks there. Granted, the time I forgot I had peanuts in my bag was a nightmare, tiny little bugs everywhere. I had to empty and clean out my bag. Another night we had a swarm of flying ants aka termites? that made a trek across the bathroom ceiling and disappeared (thank goodness for geckos)! This was in Puerto Viejo.

Considering we slept with doors and windows open in Osa I would say the bugs typically stay away, except for a randon bug, or if you have any open food items or snacks. Make sure the kids know this!

Biting, the bugs love us. We had to wear Deet all the time. Reapplying during hikes. Others say they didn't experience this depending on the time of year, or just population at that time of year, I guess. We tried the all natural bug stuff, but it didn't work for us.

ALSO, not intending to sway you, but I do recommend reading the reviews and comparisons here between Lapa Rios and Bosque del Cabo. General consensus favors BDC and if you have time to do weigh some pro's and con's you may find it's a good choice too. I took my 10 year old this year and had a fabulous time. (If you click on my name you'll see a trip report a few postings down). Many feel there's a lot more wildlife easily viewable at BDC. There are a number of other reasons, but I won't go on an on unless you request I do!

The dolphin swim is fun. No guarantee you will see whales, but it's possible. We didn't in May. We did round up about 100 dolphins and trolled behind the boat on a small boogie board with them. That was fun! Light snorkeling is on this tour too.

The highlight tour though was the Wildlife Sanctuary. I'm sure your kids would LOVE this! Lulu, Winky and Sweetie are all resident monkeys you can hold, and there are other animals there as well. One of the monkeys crawled up under my daughter's rain poncho and stuck her head out the top. So cute! Also, Winky was still in diapers.

Well, I could go on, but don't hesitate to ask if you have any more questions.

hipvirgochick

Ok Virgo ladies -- I can see I need to type faster as by the time I hit post you two were already ahead of me!

I second shillmac's recommendation of the Cano Negro tour along the Rio Frio. Many of us, including volcanogirl, loved this tour and it was a highlight of our time in Arenal. A wide variety of both birds and animals.

tully

Not sure if you mean bugs biting you or bugs like in your room. Never had much problems with biting bugs in May next door at Bosque del Cabo. Bugs in your room/flying about can be a hit/miss situation. Little small moths at night trying to read, found a plum sized spider in my closet once and a freaky grasshopper oddity one night on a run to the loo. hvc - I've had the swarms of termites too, they're very common in May. I found if you leave the lights out and kidnap a few geckos the problem is taken care of I must agree with shillmac, I'd take the extra time in the Osa.

hipvirgochick

PLUM size spider...NIIIIIIICE!

I probably shouldn't mention the crab or the bat either...I'm so bad!

tully

oh I squeaked and he took off - hopefully outside. The most perplexing was the crab in my shower, poor guy didn't move for over a day (I could tell by his, um, droppings) and finally I grabbed Kevin to remove him. The weirdest things are the big things that sometimes fly about during dinner in the rancho - diablo or something? I thought they were moths but when I saw it finally sit still it wasn't. Anyone know what they are?

shillmac

Now you girls have had more bug experiences than I! In 3 visits to BdC, we've had a bat (droppings in floor led to that conclusion--didn't see it), one of those plum sized spiders (inside my mosquito netting, yikes!), and that's about it.

In March, the 2 ladies in our group (staying next door to us) called for my husband almost every night to remove some little something--a grasshopper (one of the weird ones) or a spider (who made a quick dash under the bed, which didn't make the girls happy).

BUT they slept in the cabin with the light on all night, for Pete's sake. You can't do that, as it ATTRACTS the bugs! They insisted, and no amount of reasoning would convince them to do otherwise!

When I was there alone in July, I would get to my cabin using the flashlight, turn on the bathroom light only long enough to do a quick face wash/teeth brush. Then I'd turn on the nighttable light just long enough to look around a bit and maybe read 5 minutes. Kept those lights to a BARE minimum. I'd have to say, we've been very lucky. Really no problems at all out on the trails.

My older daughter, who has a bug phobia, enjoyed her stay there, but she did say she wasn't able to completely relax at night because of her nervousness. She loved everything else about it, though!

hipvirgochick

Uh, oh! I think we may have scared her away!

tully

you started it hvc

shillmac

Well, I was TRYING to be reassuring! Does anyone remember MonaManuel and her honeymoon there a few years ago? She was just horrified. I guess her experience was a little on the extreme side. We've just never been that "lucky"!

agswimmer

So has anyone ever actually stayed at Lapa Rios??

cmerrell

You guys (girls!) are cracking me up on this topic!

I am pretty fascinated by bugs as long as they aren't crawling right on me or flying directly at me! I'm one of those types that usually catches any stray moths or spiders that venture inside the house, and releases them back outside!

jeantx

You all have been most helpful although I'm starting to think that what I didn't know about the bugs in advance may not have hurt me. We will definitely keep the lights off to reduce the infestation, but I guarantee you that there will be a full light inspection of the beds and the showers before I put a body into them.

I really appreciate the suggestion on saving Tortugeuro for another visit and extending our Osa stay. I was really trying to see as much of the country as possible and had originally had us planned to go to 4 different locations. Luckily, I bounced the itinerary off of the Fodor's board and got a resounding response that we were crazy. This is my 8th attempt at a good itinerary and will try to work with the guide company we are using to see if we can adjust it again.

I had read that Costa Rica was the size of West Virginia and I foolishly figured we could see the whole thing in a week and a half. I'm quickly learning that this adventure will take a couple of trips.

Thanks again for all of your help! I may have nightmares of that plum-sized spider, but the monkey in the diaper should at least be entertaining.

hipvirgochick

ag - Nope. I haven't stayed at Lapa Rios. I just suggested she look into BDC if she hadn't heard of it, because I know it's a comparable property. Lapa Rios has gotten rave reviews and has been written up in magazines as well. There are posters here who have stayed at both, Suzie2 to name one, that prefer BDC over LR. That's all!

cmerrell

Hi Jeantx,

I think most of us underestimate how much ground we can cover when we start planning that first trip to CR! Reality is that with the mountainous terrain and sometimes 'interesting' roads, you just can't get from point A to point B as quickly as you would expect.

One of the best things I did last year when planning my first trip, was to stumble across the fodor's forums. The truly helpful people here
provided invaluable advice and I was completely delighted with my trip as a result!

You'll get it all worked out!

hipvirgochick

jean -- Thanks for taking everything with a sense of humour!

If you do opt out of Tortugero, you could always add another night in Osa, and a night at Peace Lodge. (Or Peace Lodge instead of San Jose the last night, not sure your flight times.) Anyway, the kids can feed toucans and hummingbirds there, largest butterfly observatory in the world, jacuzzi on the balcony, 5 waterfalls to hike to, up in the cloud forest. The hotel is something out of a fairy tale (i.e., a little over the top), but a great place to see things close up. My 10 year old had a blast!

Sorry to add more options to your 8th attempt. It's difficult to choose!

shillmac

LOL--I recently came across my "almost" 8 itinerary plans for our second visit to CR in 2002--a "do it ourselves" vacation. Oh, the ground I thought we could cover! As it turned out, we did cover quite a bit, but toned it down considerably when settling on that final itinerary. I had us considering impossible options--it just looked so do-able!

The good thing about the Fodor's board, as others have stated, is that you can get some very trustworthy advice from people who are using sound judgement and are open minded enough to be able to share lots of options with you. You'll know when the right plan falls into place, and in the meantime, rest assured that about the ONLY way you can run afoul on a Costa Rica itinerary is trying to spread yourselves too thin.

If you schedule 3 nights down on the Osa, you really will leave feeling as if you should've spent just a little more time! Been there, done that! Enjoyed ourselves, but the time was just too short.

hipvirgochick

cmerrell -- Tee-hee! I do get a little bit carried away sometimes. Someday, it's going to bite me in the butt! Something wiggly or furry or with funny little antennae will jump on me and I will be freaked out forever more!

Your countdown clock is ticking away!