Okay, Suzie and Neta, help me out here! We will have 9-10 days to check out all those places we've never been. Rather than hop around from Monteverde to Cano Negro to San Vito, etc., we have decided to make our way down to the Osa, stopping here and there along the way. I need some input!

Leave Flamingo area Sunday, June 27. Return rental car Monday morning in San Jose.

Bus transport to San Gerado de Dota
June 28-----Savegre Lodge
June 29-----Savegre Lodge
(two nights here recommended?)

June 30-----San Vito area
July 1------San Vito area
July 2------San Vito area
(recommend hotel?)

July 3------Bosque del Cabo
July 4------Bosque del Cabo
July 5------Bosque del Cabo

Have to be back in San Jose for husband's 1:00 flight July 8. Thinking of staying June 27 and July 7 at Vida Tropical and asking them to store luggage for us.

Any recommendations for where to stay on July 6 in order to break up the travel time back to San Jose? Dominical?

We are thinking of taking one of the garden rooms (less money) at Bosque del Cabo. If this is not a good idea, need to know, and we will stay in one of the oceanviews closer to the reception area.

Suzie, you've traveled extensively in these areas. What advice do you have? Neta, any suggestions?

We've never traveled without a car before and I just can't get my mind around thinking of traveling otherwise!

Time to do it differently, I think, however!

I enjoyed my stay at Savegre. The hummingbirds were great by the bar area and the quetzals up the road were amazing. If you want a guide while there, we used Melvin. We actually bought his Swarovski binoculars a few years ago. I think 2 nights would be okay. You could go visit the quetzals in the morning and in the afternoon take the horseback/hike to the waterfall. It is a cool area and I wore a light fleece most of the time.
San Vito, I mentioned the hotel that we stayed in already. It was the one most recommended by the guide book when we were there.
It is a long dark hike back to the garden area after dinner at Bosque del Cabo. Only about 10 minutes or so but it seemed quite long to me in the dark. Lots of night noises. Some people really love it back there and the two houses are cute. Nice thing is that you have very easy access to several of the trails. We spent 2 nights in the garden area while waiting for one of the cabinas to open up. It didn't help that there was a short in one of the light fixtures and the lights kept going out. We finally figured out which light it was after almost one whole night in the dark. Once we stopped trying to use that light the other lights stayed on.
Vida Tropical is very convenient to the airport. I hear Jose/Umberto etc are great. Most of the hotels in that area will store luggage.
Is your husband leaving you behind and going home? We should try to get yours and my husband on the same schedule so we can ditch them at the same time and then investigate.

Sangevre sounds wonderful! Bird watching has never been our thing, but maybe we'll develop an afinity for it! The thought of seeing the "elusive" quetzal is intriguing! I'll have to think about the Bosque cabins a little more. Always hate to give up an "oceanview", but the difference in price is significant, and we have had lots of oceanviews! The little houses sound more adventurous! I'll check your previous reply for info about the San Vito hotel. Thanks so much. If you think of anything else regarding bus travel, get back with me. And, I'd LOVE to be your sidekick sometime. Who knows? It could happen. . .

Yes, my husband will return to the US on the 8th. Then I'll pick up a car again and head back to Flamingo retrieve our daughter who finishes her 8 weeks of school on the 9th. After that we will have 6 days before we come home together on the 15th. I want to take her someplace where she hasn't been. I'm thinking Manuel Antonio, Samara, no se. Whatever appeals to her, I guess.

Okay I won't give you my opinion here as this post was directed exclusively to Suzie and Neta but how are you going to get from San Gerardo de Dota bus stop to Savegre Hotel and from there to your next destination in San Vito?

Dear Mona -
I am sure shillmac didn't mean that only Suzie and I can respond... and I can sure use some help here, since I know so little about the areas shillmac mentioned, I don't want to say a word!
Unfortunately, although I live in Costa Rica, I have not been traveling lately (too much work, I rarely leave the Finca), and never got all the way down to Osa.
Shillmac - Sorry I can't help

Pura Vida,
Neta Talmor

Sorry, Mama! I didn't mean to sound so "exclusive" to everyone else. Savegre website states that, if they know the time you will be arriving, they will have a car waiting at the 80km location just before San Isidro. You ask the bus to drop you there, then the folks from the hotel take you the remaining 9km. The transfer rate is $10, I believe, each way. I'm going to just focus on getting there. Once there, they will help us back on our way, I think. We will be taking a bus (probably from San Isidro) on down to San Vito.

Neta! Hola! It is good just to hear from you. I thought of you last night. I was outside and it was so calm and still--we have had 2 very beautiful days here. I thought about your hotel and the sounds of night, the wind, etc. Too bad none of us can close our eyes, click the heels of our little red shoes together, and transport ourselves to other places! I'd be there in a New York minute!

Hi shillmac, My husband and I have reservations at Savegre Lodge for three nights, June 29-July 1, so perhaps we will see you there! Look for a 40ish couple.

I too have heard great things about this lodge. We are not experienced birdwatchers, but enjoy nature and wildlife.

Savegre Lodge does offer transport service; we are using them to get to the boat landing in Sierpe and on to the Osa.

Thanks, Molly! We will find you! Unfortunately (or should I say thankfully , we are a 50ish couple! Just barely. . .

We will probably just think about getting to Sagevre, then let them help us with the rest of our trip. My husband laughed when I told him we were going to be birdwatchers, but we love to hike and the waterfalls look beautiful.

Have you been to the Osa before? We haven't, and there are so many places there I want to see. We hope to visit there other times, and are especially interested in the Sierpe/Drake Bay side, but for now will just check out Bosque del Cabo.

shillmac, this will be our first trip to Costa Rica, and we are so excited! It's been a bit of a challenge {but fun} to choose a few destinations. We are going to San Jose {our base}, Tortuguero, Savegre, the Osa, and Arenal. We wanted to visit Rincon de la Vieja, but our plans fell through. We too like off the beaten path spots.

See you at Savegre!!!

Sounds like you have chosen an excellent itinerary! We have been many times, but have spent a lot of time at the beach! Still on our list: Monteverde, Tortuguero

After this trip, we will have been to most areas of the country. But there is still so much to see! I'd like to travel the San Juan River up to Nicaragua and over to the lake, spend time at Cano Negro, visit Santa Rosa Park, and a "few" other things!

Hopefully, we will have lots of time and travels ahead of us! We have truly found ourselves fascinated with Costa Rica. I would like to live there for 3-4 months out of the year!

Perhaps we can have dinner together on the 29th. Our arrival day at Sagevre is the 28th, and we will be leaving the day after you arrive, on the 30th.

Looking forward to meeting you!

Dinner would be fun, shillmac!

We would love to get your impressions of other areas of the country - it sounds as though you REALLY like it! I have a feeling that we'll also want to return, perhaps many times. Nicaragua via the San Juan River would be a very interesting trip.

What fun to meet up with a "Fodor's Friend" on our travels - Can't wait!

Safe travels until then!

Molly,
I just went to Nicaragua via the Rio Sarapiqui, Rio San Juan, and on into the Rio Indio. There is a lodge called Rio Indio lodge (imagine that!) that was just beautiful. It is the only lodge in that 700,000 acre reserve. There is an indian village as well as indian homes spread out along the river but that is all. It was really interesting to see the difference in the shyness of the animals and birds. Some were not nervous around us but others were because they aren't used to people.

Suzie, I'm jealous! How did you make the arrangements? Did you just arrange as you went along or did you have prior reservations at Rio Indio, river transportation, etc.?

O.K. Suzie, now you have me wanting to plan out next year's trip, and we haven't even gone on this year's yet!

Are there trails available at Rio Indio Lodge? A good sign that all of the *wild* animals aren't begging for food yet!

There are some trails. Much of the traveling down there is done by boat. There are lots of canals. We got out and did some hiking as well as some kayaking. We were assigned a Rama indian for the duration of our visit. I found Greytown interesting to walk around in but it was buggy. Cornelius Vanderbilt had a huge goldmining operation going in this area many many years ago. Very little is left but there is an old cemetery with stones that you can still read. There is also a little bit of the railroad track that they used near the lodge.
The Lodge itself arranged for the boat trip up there from Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui. We returned from there through Barra Colorado (just north of Tortuguero)which was about a 1 1/2hr boat ride. From there we caught the (very)early flight back to San Jose.
The lodge is fully electrified and even has hair dryers in the bathrooms. There is a nice sized pool and all the walkways between the rooms (duplexes) are thatch covered. There was a huge troop of white faced monkeys that came running up the walkway one day.

Sounds fabulous! Rio Indio is now officially on my must-visit list for our next CR trip.