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Casa Corcovado Reveals Osa's Hidden Wonders

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It was a normal day at the Casa Corcovado Jungle Lodge in the southwestern Osa Peninsula: on the walk from our Spanish-style bungalow to the dining room we spotted two brightly-colored toucans. On our return trip, we noticed several tiny tent-making bats, as the bizarre mouse-like agouti rodent scurried ahead of us on the path. Later, as we splashed around in the small spring-fed pool, a family of capuchin monkeys leaped above us.

Casa Corcovado holds the extraordinarily privileged position as the hotel closest to the innumerable delights of the Corcovado National Park, often cited as the place the National Geographic called "the most biologically intense place on earth."

The hotel offers a resort feel in the midst of the jungle, catering mostly to nature-loving couples, with 14 private bungalows, a communal dining room, "el bosque" bar, and the margarita sunset point, where guests gather every night for snacks, margaritas and amazing sunsets.

Owner and conservationist Steven Lill came to the area 25 years ago from Chicago, later purchasing the current 170-acre plot after the national park was founded in 1975. He is also president of the non-profit Corcovado Foundation, which provides funding to the park and assists with other conservation initiatives in the area. Lill first arrived in the Osa Peninsula on a wooden launch, navigating the area by dugout canoe and carrying everything he needed on his back.

Things have changed in the 10 years since he began the hotel, but not that much. Casa Corcovado is still reachable only by boat, and the area does not have electricity or phone lines.
The lodge is in a wonderfully isolated spot. Guests should not expect nightlife or entertainment, beyond a few after-dinner drinks at the lovely outdoor bar or board games in a communal game room.

Casa Corcovado offers good food, combining gourmet cuisine with local ingredients, such as pejibaye, the nutty palm fruit, and manzana de agua, crunchy and mild water apples. They were also very accommodating in offering vegetarian options, such as grilled vegetables and tomatoes filled with cheese and hearts of palm.

Breakfast choices included American-style bacon and eggs, French toast, gallo pinto (rice and beans), huevos rancheros, fruit and granola.

Bungalows at the lodge range from suites for five to doubles, but all have princess-style beds and stained-glass windows on the doors. Bathrooms are separate and all showers have hot water with good pressure. The lighting is limited, generated completely by hydroelectric and solar power. Hammocks outside beckon after a full day of hiking, where guests can relax amid the loud chatter of some of the 350 bird species found in Corcovado.

"The response to the lodge has been very positive," says Lill. "It may be the contrast between being out in the middle of the rainforest, with the 'creature comforts' of the hotel."

Despite most guests' overall satisfaction with the lodge experience, one couple approached by The Tico Times felt dissatisfied with the less personal resort feel, although very attentive waiters and guides more than make up for this.

Casa Corcovado offers several guided tours of the area, including walks in the national park, nearby Caño Island, home to excellent snorkeling and indigenous burial grounds, guided diving, horseback riding, sea kayaking and sportfishing.

Packages include all meals, a choice of different tours, extras including luxury beach lunches or special gifts and stays of two to six nights. The price per person for four days and three nights in the high season is $915; for seven days and six nights, $1,275.

On our national-park tour with informative guide Monica Leal, we wound our way through the trails of the lodge to those in the national park, spotting sloths, anteaters, scarlet macaws and other birds. When we arrived at the San Pedrillo ranger station, we were met with a wonderful lunch, including homemade bread, sandwich fixings, hummus, fresh fruit and vegetables, coffee and homemade muffins and cookies. We ate at a picnic bench overlooking the beach, with scarlet macaws screeching overhead.

The water is beautiful, calm and exceedingly warm, although we only had a few minutes to enjoy the waves before setting off again to a nearby waterfall. Before reaching the waterfall, we swam in a crystalline water hole and then took a shorter beach trail back to the lodge. The trip is fairly strenuous, although we stopped often for explanations and in search of animals.

"Monica was teaching us to see. At first it was just a big green blur, but with her help we were slowly able to see the things around us," says Janet Nemlich, from Chicago.

Both Leal and Carlos González, of Corcovado Expeditions, were superb. They were knowledgeable about all varieties of plants and animals, friendly and English-speaking. Leal, who also does tours of Tortuguero and the Aerial Tram, says she loves doing tours of the Osa more than any other area of the country, and it shows in her enthusiasm for the area.

"I could walk all day in the national park; it is the real jungle," says Leal.

González, who took us on an afternoon tour of Casa Corcovado's trails, told us about the "milk tree," which leaks a milk-like sap indigenous people used for stomach ailments. He also pointed out the "walking palms," which actually move by discarding and growing new roots in the typical rainforest search for light. González says he takes a new naturalist course every year, but constantly learns from the incredible jungle.

"This is my university," he says, extending his arms to include the rainforest around him.

ARENAL NATIONAL PARK	BRAULIO CARRILLO NATIONAL PARK
CAHUITA NATIONAL PARK	CHIRRIPÓ NATIONAL PARK
CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK	GUANACASTE NATIONAL PARK
IRAZÚ VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK	JUAN CASTRO BLANCO NATIONAL PARK
PALO VERDE NATIONAL PARK	MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK
POÁS VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK	PLAYA GRANDE NATIONAL PARK
SANTA ROSA NATIONAL PARK	RINCÓN DE LA VIEJA NATIONAL PARK
WHALE MARINE NATIONAL PARK	TENORIO VOLCANO NATIONAL PARK