What do you think about this itinerary?

Arriving late (around 10 pm)in San Jose and staying in Hampton Inn near the airport

Next morning transfer from the hotel to Savegre where we will stay for 3 nights

Transfer to Las Cruces/Wilson BG for 2 nights

Transfer by taxi to Golfito for the ferry to Puerto Jimenez and taxi from there to Bosque del Rio Tigre where we will stay 4 nights

Transfer to El Remanso for 3 nights. They are builing a new cabin that we would like to stay in.

Flight to San Jose from Puerto Jimenez and staying in Coutyard near the airport.

Next morning departing for Newark at 9 am

Well, I think we will give up on idea of the East Coast. Maybe next trip (January 2005?) that we already are thinking about.
I think we should be fine staying on Osa Peninsula for one week as we are hikers, birders who like to stay in small and quiet places

Do you have any personal experience with the Golfito's ferry?
Thanks Suzie

Hi Wildflower,
My husband and I are hikers/birders also and like you prefer the quieter out of the way places.
Savegre is wonderful for seeing the quetzal and hummingbirds. Didn't you say you had been there before? The Chacon family are wonderful people. It is like Shangri La down in that valley.
The botanical gardens are nice and they have two wonderful bird stations to watch the birds at. One is right by the entrance and the other is on the deck by the dining room. There is a longer farm trail you could hike but it was pretty scary. It was a constant steep up and down climb and the trail was marked well but was slightly overgrown because not too many people actually go on it. It is very long and when we finally found our way to the end we were hot and exhausted. We ended up just walking the rest of the way into San Vito to catch a cab back to Wilson BG. We ended up not sleeping there although we had paid for a room/bungelow. When we got there we were told we would have to sleep in the dorm room in bunkbeds for the first 2 nights then we could have a bungelow for the last night. We took one look at the dorm room and headed to town to rent a hotel room instead. We just ended up getting up early and taking a cab to the gardens so we could see the birds. We never did spend the night there even though we had paid for them. We did take a peek at the room they had given to us for the last night and it was very nice. The food was good and was served family style. It was included in our room price so we at least ate some of our meals there. San Vito is a pretty good sized town.
Bosque del Rio Tigre will be a different experience. Abraham is extrememly knowledgable and there are just tons of stuff to see there. I haven't stayed there yet but it is high on my list and may stay there next year. I have been on his horseback tour.
The new cabin at El Remanso is beautiful!!!! It is actually being built by a serious bird person. Belen told us who but I can't remember at this time. He is building it for his use but when he isn't there they can rent it out to people. They have an interesting place to have breakfast or just your early morning coffee if you want while you are watching the birds wake up . We didn't stay there but went over to see it and to talk to them when we were staying at Bosque del Cabo which is right next door. Joel was out taking people on a waterfall rapelling trip but we had a lovely talk with Belen. Just walking along their driveway was beautiful.
Regarding the personal experience with the ferry.....yes I do. Will I go on it again???? No. Not if I can help it. I was staying in Pto Jimenez and thought it might be interesting to take the ferry over to Golfito and back. There is nothing in Golfito to speak of.
You go down steps to almost below water level and it is a small cramped area that is stuffed with hot smelly people. The smells alone made me ill. It is open to the air on the sides but the top, front, and back are closed. On the way there I sat next to a Costa Rican woman with a baby and helped her by letting the baby sleep halfway on my legs and half on hers. The trip was a very long, very warm, 1 1/2hr. The trip back was a little more interesting. When sitting in the chairs your head and shoulders are just above water level and a whole pod of dolphins decided to swim along with us. It was neat seeing them at eye level. We also saw iguanas and turtles swimming.
The ferry leaves at 11:30a.m. to go to Pto Jimenez.

Your itinerary looks fine. I am wondering how you had planned on getting to Wilson BG. It is a long trip. By bus it takes about 9hrs to go from San Jose to Pto Jimenez.

I am going to give you some places to chew on for your next trip.
We swore we would never stay at an all inclusive but this was not your typical AI. We stayed at Villa Lapas near Carara. It is a small place set down in a little valley all by itself. Only 50-52rooms. It has a small pool but not much else. It is a very pretty setting and there is a little stream that runs by it. We saw some wonderful birds down in there as well as at Carara. The food was very good and it did have air conditioning in the rooms if you wanted it.
La Quinta de Sarapiqui. A Costa Rican owned lodge near La Selva which is an OTS place like Wilson BG. That whole area is biologically rich with all kinds of wonderful things to see. This might be a good option if you decide to see the east coast next trip. You could stop here on your way.
Tortuguero. Not much hiking-just riding around in the canals looking at the wildlife. Lots and lots to see.
Rancho Naturalista in Turrialba-a very serious birding place but you can do your own thing if you want. They sit around in the evening with life bird lists (which we don't keep) and mark off what birds they saw that day. There are two amazing things there to see. One is the early morning coffee/birding on the balcony. What a wonderful sight to see. They set food out in various spots on the back yard and you watch the birds come in to feed while sitting on the balcony having your morning coffee. Some of the best food in Costa Rica is served here. The other amazing things to see are the hummingbirds. They have a feeding area in the woods that attracts wonderful hummingbirds. There is also a place in a stream where you can watch them come in in the late afternoon and bathe.

Suzie,
I greatly appreciate your comments regarding our itinerary and suggestions for the next trip.
I can't believe our trip is almost booked.

Savegre people will transfer us to Wilson Botanical Garden.

Thank you for your description of the ferry. At least we will be prepared and we are going only one way.

Both, Liz of Bosque del Rio Tigre and Belen of El Remanso were wonderful with answering all my questions.

We do not keep life bird list as well although we love birds and we always look for new places to see them

I will keep your descriptions of Villa Lapas, La Quinta de Sarapiqui and Rancho Naturalista. I bet we will go there soon if only to see hummingbirds bathing.
Do you have websites for theses places?

When is the best time to visit these three places? How about March? When do you travel to Costa Rica since you go there every year?
Thanks again

Hi Wildflower,
We usually travel during the late Jan-early March time. My husband usually spends two weeks down there with me and then I spend another 1-3 weeks down there by myself. I really like to get away from the short, cold days. We really prefer to go between Jan 15th and the end of Feb because there aren't quite as many tourists. March is an incredibly busy month down there.
As far as web sites go just type in...
Villas Lapas
La Quinta de Sarapiqui
Rancho Naturalista
If you have trouble finding the web sites let me know and I will give you my email address and then I can send you the actual addresses.
I grew up in Connecticut so have flown into Newark a few times myself.

Thank you Suzie
I tried to find website for those three places you are recommending. Well, I found some info for Villas Lapas and La Quinta de Sarapiqui but not their own sites.
Rancho Naturalista's website doesn't include prices.

Suzie, we just came back home from another great trip to Costa Rica. I know you are leaving in a couple days and I will be too busy for the next 2-3 days to post any report here. I want you to know that we loved Bosque del Rio Tigre. The place is spotless. Food was exceptional, Abraham and Liz are fantastic guides. We stayed in the cabin. Birds were plentiful. The road to get there was something else but that wouldn't be any surprise to you as you know better than me what to expect on Osa regarding roads. We did not enjoy El Remanso as much and food there was dissapointing. We stayed in their new big cabin.
Did you check Walter's website?. Certainly Savegre and San Gerardo de Dota area did not dissapoint us. What a place! Suzie, if you want to contact me before you leave feel free to send e-mail to [email protected]