I had been to Costa Rica before, targeting my adventures to the north– Guanacaste, and the surfing beaches of Tamarindo and Langosta.
My next trip takes me into the southwestern area known as the Osa Peninsula, a wild and rugged region in the southwestern Puntarenas Province, and home to Corcovado National Park in the tropical rainforest.
San José, the county’s capital city, is where most visitors fly into before heading out to other regions. However, before heading out to live like “Jane of the Jungle” for a week, I opt for a little bit of luxury– an evening at Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn, just a short 15-minute drive from the international airport.
The charming 13-room eco-boutique hotel is owned by U.S. expats, Glenn and Teri Jempol, who came to Costa Rica to live a pura vida lifestyle and to create a purely sustainable compound, which also includes a 30-acre organic coffee plantation.
More of an urban oasis just outside the city, the inn boasts well appointed suites with balconies complete with views of the central valley, an organic garden– fruits and vegetables are used in the gastronomic restaurant, and guided hikes through their coffee fields with experts, who then show guests the marvels of “cupping” or coffee tasting.
A morning departure from San José Airport to Puerto Jimenez– a sleepy seaside town, with one airstrip landing right next to a cemetery, makes for a perfect photo opt while deplaning, and where I begin my escapades in the Osa Peninsula.
The two lodging accommodations within the Puerto Jimenez area couldn’t have been more diverse.
The Danta Lodge at the edge of the Corcovado Rainforest is remarkable, with much of what guests see, sit on, and stay in are creations of the Oviedo family. A 100% local business and community advocates, it also boasts sustainable tourism.
Adventurous guests can choose fantastic bamboo lodge bungalows smack in the middle of nature. Nets in lieu of walls, beds draped with mosquito nets and bathrooms in open-air set the tone for a one-of-a-kind experience. There’s nothing more spectacular than falling asleep to Potoo bird whistles and kinkajou clicks, then waking to the call of squirrel monkeys.
The Crocodile Bay Resort and Spa, caters solely to sportsfishing. Rooms are simple but spacious, (ask for the newly remodeled ones). A new spa offers a bevy of treatments meant to ease soar muscles from luring in the catch of the day. However, this place is not about the rooms or a spa, because it’s all about fishing.
Crocodile Bay has been visited by every major sport fishing magazine on the planet to report on catch and release Bill Fishing in the area. Saltwater Magazine noted that it’s the #1 Destination for Roosterfish, and after an hour’s battle between fish and woman, I angled my first ever catch and release– a Roosterfish.
A several hour drive, or four-seater plane ride takes visitors into Corcovado National Park, part of the Osa Conservation Area– a major primary forest on the American Pacific coastline with one of the largest lowland tropical rainforests in the world.
It’s also home to a place I like to think of as “paradise”– a remote locale set inside 150-acres of rainforest, with 75-acres of virgin Osa jungle, only reachable by a tough utility vehicle, which winds guests into the hills, through a river then up to a hilltop’s peak.
The destination is called, Luna Lodge.
Surreal, exotic, mesmerizing, astonishing, ethereal, and magical are just a few metaphors that come to mind when describing the essence of this dream-like getaway, which owner, Lana Wedmore has began creating for more than 20 years.
Luna Lodge oozes romance, with eight thatched-roof bungalows set into the verdant hillside, all with viewing decks and rocking chairs. Three hacienda-style rooms set closer to the main lodge, come complete with hammocks in trees where toucans settle most afternoons. There are also glamping tent options for “nature lovers”.
Activities offered are panning for gold in the Carate River below the lodge, nature hikes and talks on the White Hawk Project and conservation, yoga classes on a platform high above the jungle, Latin dance lessons, and a spa offering treatments such as the coconut scrub, Reiki, and Chocolate Therapy, known as the “therapy of happiness.
