Costa Rica is a biodiversity hotspot. I wanted to see as many different types of animals in their natural habitat as I could but with hundreds of bird and mammal species, to potentially thousands of turtles during an arribada, not to mention other sea and land life, I was panicking trying to imagine how I’d get from one place to another with the time I had.
Based on my research I really wanted to visit the Osa Peninsula located in the remote southwestern corner of the country. A beautiful lodge called Lapa Rios kept coming up in my search. I learned that it was one of four properties owned by Böëna Wilderness Lodges. After perusing their other locations, I turned my trip planning over to them (I was not disappointed.) and we finalized an itinerary that included staying in 3 different areas of Costa Rica: Osa Peninsula, Monteverde and Tortuguero.
Osa peninsula
Day 1: Arrival in Lapa Rios
We headed to the domestic airport first thing in the morning to catch our Sansa flight to Puerto Jimenez. We squeezed into a Cessna and flew southeast over lush green hills out towards the ocean and back inland to the Osa Peninsula.
About an hour later we landed on the tiny airstrip in Puerto Jimenez, grabbed our bags and met our driver. The wildlife sightings on the 40-minute drive was a small taste of things to come—a scarlet macaw, white-faced capuchin and white-nosed coati.
While we waited for our room we had lunch on the terrace which offered expansive views over the rainforest down to the ocean. Eventually, when they took us to our room, it felt like we were entering a luxurious treehouse. In fact, the whole property seemed like it was suspended in the canopy. With screens in place of walls that provided unobstructed views of the water, it reinforced the feeling that you were outside and that much closer to nature.
That afternoon we ventured out on the Matapalo tour (well, more a leisurely humid walk for us), one of the many activities organized by the lodge every day. Frank, our guide, had extensive knowledge about the area and it was interesting to get his perspective on how the local economy had evolved since the founding of Lapa Rios.
Our first animal sighting was an anteater in the bushes alongside the trail. That created quite a bit of excitement! We watched it poke its snout into the dirt (looking for ants?) before it disappeared into the thick vegetation. On our way to Playa Pan Dulce we stopped to watch a pair of scarlet macaws playing up in the trees. We continued our walk to Backwash Bay and then turned inland where we encountered a family of howler monkeys making their way through the tree tops. Following the road, we came upon a large group of spider monkeys munching on hibiscus flowers. Chris grabbed a flower and then the most hilarious thing happened. One of the spider monkeys came down from the tree toward us and then started picking flowers and shoving them into its mouth as fast as it could. That monkey must have thought Chris was a competitor for its food! We all stood around smiling and marveling at this creature stuffing its face. Eventually we came to Matapalo Beach. After admiring the raw beauty of the coastline, we were picked up and driven back to the lodge.
Originally, we were planning to the do the nighttime walk but opted instead to have drinks at the bar. It turned to be a good choice—we got a chance to cool off and see more monkeys!
Day 2: Wildlife Viewing
Ended up sleeping fitfully – it must have been all those jungle noises and the fact the howler monkeys started howling around 4 a.m. It sounded like they were right outside our room. Then of course, the dawn sky appeared around 5 a.m., and with our east-facing room, I decided to stop fighting it and got up to watch the sun rise. This was followed by listening to the parrots squawking and singing in the tree in across our deck.
That morning we hiked the Osa Trail which starts at the top of the Reserve and meanders down through the forest. Over the course of 3 hours our guide pointed out various plants and trees and educated us on the local ecosystem. We saw spider monkeys, barely escaped from leaf cutter ants, spotted a female curassow and caught the lingering scent of peccaries but failed to find them. The highlight though, was actually seeing a juvenile puma. It was walking on the trail up ahead of us, barely 20 feet away.
Back at the Lodge we had another multi-course lunch at the restaurant. They rotated through 3-color coded menus, so one day it might be the “red”, the next day it might be “blue.” There were plenty of options and everything was well-prepared. While waiting for our dished, we spotted our first toucan. This was shortly followed by a coati leisurely making its way across the restaurant.
As if we hadn’t seen enough critters for one day, that evening we went on the Night Walk. Wearing rubber boots and holding flashlights, we followed the self-guided tour trail that wound its way through the forest surrounding the lodge. In the span of an hour our guide pointed out all sorts of spiders (wolf, golden orb), frogs (bullfrog, red-eye tree frog), snakes (cat-eye, chunk head), and a crab (Halloween).
Day 3: Birdwatching and Bioluminescence
On our way to meet Frank and another couple for the Early Birds Tour, we saw the squirrel monkey! Seeing all four monkey species native to Costa Rica—check!
En route to our destination for bird watching we suddenly stopped. Frank got out of the van, set up his spotting scope and gestured towards the top of a tree. “There’s a sloth up there.” A sloth? How anyone could have seen the curled up gray ball hanging on to a topmost branch was beyond comprehension.
We arrived at a large field that had been planted with trees to specifically attract the various birds. As we wandered among the trees we came upon all types of birds—from parrots to egrets and to my favorite—a pair of spectacled owls.
Back at the lodge we ate a leisurely breakfast and undaunted by the heat and humidity, took a pre-lunch walk down to the waterfall, and then came back up to the lodge following the rest of the self-guided trail. We spent the rest of the afternoon before our bioluminescence kayaking tour moving us little as possible, the fan in our room barely cutting through the mid-morning heat and mugginess.
Our tour was operated by Aventuras Tropicales in Puerto Jimenez. An hour before sunset, we donned our life jackets, grabbed our oars and paddled into the Golfo Dulce. While we bobbed around in our kayaks, Tamar, our guide, gave us a history of the area. After the sun went down we headed to a nearby beach. This was when things started to get more interesting. We swam while Tamar handed out wedges of pineapple. Eating cool, sweet piña while sitting in the warm gulf water was hard to beat. As it grew dark, she told to start “activating” the bioluminescence. She showed us how to agitate the water and suddenly, you could see little neon dots lighting up in the water like glitter. We were all splashing, twirling and stomping around. It was definitely one of the coolest things I’ve ever experienced. Truly magical!
By the time we were getting ready to leave it had started to rain and the wind had picked up. It was also pitch black by then. Tamar was calm but definitely instructing us with a sense of urgency. One by one we maneuvered our kayaks out into the gulf and made our way back to base. The water was pretty choppy and several times big waves crashed across our bow, completely soaking us. It all added to the adventure but we were glad when we made it back to shore.