Continued from
The Roads Less Driven: An Osa Peninsula Journey
During our one full day in Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, we found ourselves in cushioned chairs on a wooden deck that sits 20 feet above the ground, surrounded by a primary rainforest and perched atop a long, long slope to a wild and empty stretch of Pacific Ocean coastline.
The air felt soft and damp, and every few hours it would rain. Awhirr with clicking and buzzing and flitting and rustling, these trees were the highway for a whole kingdom of creatures.
This was a wildlife lodge called El Remanso, and we dearly wish we were still there.
Small, family-owned El Remanso is now run by its second generation, a lovely Spanish/German couple named Adriana and Daniel; these two lived together in Paris for years before coming to run the lodge. The two places are, shall we say, very different.
When we arrived on a late June evening at the tender hour of 6pm, it was just 15 minutes before nightfall. City of Light, not so much.
After bumping up the hilarious road from Puerto Jiménez and down the Lodge’s dark jungle driveway, we were met by Daniel and staff member Elyer, who swiftly ushered us and our luggage down a long path to our cabin-in-the-trees, La Guinda. Daniel reminded us that dinner would be at 7, and handed us flashlights to 1) see our way in the dark and 2) see any snakes before we could surprise them…with our feet.
True to the lodge’s sustainable concept, La Guinda had washed concrete floors; a large, spare bed with simple white sheets; a hydro-powered ceiling fan and room lights; and in the large, rustic-glam bathroom, spring-fed water at low pressure. The deep bathtub was big enough for us both and faced the treetops, and the screen-only windows let breeze in but kept out insects, both tiny and enormous.
La Guinda, our deluxe cabin at El Remanso
La Guinda's deck, with a view of the rainforest treetops
The star attraction, though, was that deck. As we stood on it for the first time in that brand new darkness, frogs began to softly croak.
All meals in the tent-draped, bamboo-tied, high-ceiling dining room – open to the forest on three sides – are lavish affairs; our favorites were the candlelit three-course dinners with tropical bouquets and South American wines. Produce and meats are locally-sourced whenever possible, but a reluctance to use eco-unfriendly insecticides means the lodge’s gardens produce an unreliable vegetable crop; chances are that salad was grown down Puerto Jiménez way.
The main hall at El Remanso
Meals at El Remanso are romantic...and delicious
Though the lodge’s romantic setting is generally a magnet for couples, that first night we sat beside a large group of teenagers from Wisconsin; one table for boys and another for girls, this was a church group moving its chaperoned way across the country, one protected area at a time. They had all spent a long day touring nearby Corcovado National Park with Mike Boston of Osa Aventura.
After dinner, Adam and I joined Mike, a friendly local character with an Irish accent and abiding love for the rainforest, for a drink at the rough-hewn bar. He’d spread his love of the tropics ’round Ireland and Scotland before choosing Costa Rica as his home; however, not unlike Crocodile Dundee (check out the photo on his “about” page), he’s most at ease in the Osa. We’d love to someday accompany him through Corcovado on a 2-3 day hike or a flying/boating adventure, and possibly stay at La Tarde, an off-the-grid cabina at the park’s entrance.
Safe to say, though, that we’d miss the laid-back luxury and activities at El Remanso. Each day they post a chalkboard list of things to do: birdwatching, self-guided hikes, night hikes, canopy zip-lining and more.
The activities chalkboard is up every day in the main hall
Adam and I started our one full day with an early-morning hike down a long, damp forest hill to Matapalo, the widest, wildest beach we’ve ever seen for some serious tide pooling; we had the whole quarter mile stretch to ourselves.
The Pacific Ocean beach below El Remanso is wild and empty
Later, Adam went waterfall rappelling with a small group, taking steep, harnessed plunges off the property’s four cascades, while I went for a long massage by twinkling and funny San José transplant Laura (pronounced Lauw-rrah). Eyes closed, muscles melting and the sound of forest rain: a recipe for what ails you. Or me. Whatever.
One of four waterfalls on the property at El Remanso
Earlier that day, Adam and I passed up more hiking in favor of more deck-sitting, listening, wide-eyed, to the air-siren whoops of unseen howlers. Not long after Adam went in for a nap, I heard leaves rustling rustling overhead, then a snap and another snap. 10 feet from where I sat, long brown furry limbs swung out of the green. “Monkey,” I said. Another swung up behind him, then another. “Monkey! MONKEY!”
Adam sat bolt-up in bed. “Monkey?” he asked, as another swung along.
“Monkey!!”
He jumped up and joined me on the deck, where we were witness to monkey rush hour, a dozen primates on their way to somewhere. When the train finally stopped, we smiled and high-fived. Now that’s what we came to see.
Wildlife viewing platform near the main hall
(Note: To see even closer monkey action, our friends Phil and Erika suggest a day trip for a private tour of the Osa Wildlife Sanctuary, a home for injured or abandoned wild animals. The Sanctuary is accessible by a boat across the Gulfo Dolce from Puerto Jiménez; for more info, send an email to info@osawildlife.org)
Before we left El Remanso, we’d see a toucan land on thickly-branched tree, a long green iguana preening on a bush, the waxy wand of a beehive flower, a profusion of papaya blossoms and truly enormous hawks. We’d love just a few more days and nights to sit and watch the forest unfold.
Another day, another toucan
Now, put your Osa daydreaming on hold for five minutes and check out this video on El Remanso. An impassioned Daniel, the lodge’s gorgeous views, and the rainforest’s fantastic creatures will really stoke the fire. (*Sigh.*)
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Rooms & prices: El Remanso offers stand-alone cabins, deluxe suites, standard guest rooms and a group house that sleeps up to eight. Prices per couple/night, inclusive of three meals per day and Costa Rican taxes, range from $260US to $390US. Guided activities, massages, tours and alcohol are not included.
Getting there: You can drive a 4×4 down the west coast to the Osa Peninsula and El Remanso, but a one-hour Nature Air flight to Puerto Jiménez from San José would be faster. (Nature Air’s airport in San José is a short shuttle ride from Juan Santamaria International Airport.) El Remanso has an office at the Puerto Jiménez airport and will arrange your 30-40 minute ride from there to the lodge.
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See also
Images of Western Costa Rica
Western Costa Rica: Anatomy of a Vacation
Hotel Sugar Beach: A Sweet Stay in Costa Rica
Si Como No: Yes and No
Strolling Through Hacienda Baru
The Roads Less Driven: An Osa Peninsula Journey
Taking Flight in Costa Rica
TWT Travel Binder: Costa Rica
Mmmm, that sounds delicious on all fronts! Sign. Me. Up.