Relaxing at El Remanso Lodge!

El Remanso Lodge Hotel Inspection July 12th - 15th, 2010

My brother and I had the opportunity to spend three nights at El Remanso Lodge last week. This was my first visit to this part of the Osa peninsula in nearly ten years and it was a perfect reminder of what a special place this area really is. We drove down from Manuel Antonio, passing Palmar Sur and Norte, and found this incredible lodge just an hour south of the paved road in Puerto Jimenez.

The lodge is on an amazing property, with beach access and tons of hiking trails. The friendly owners live there on site and really do everything possible to make sure that their guests feel at home. The staff and guides here we’re equally as accommodating and went out of there way to make sure that we enjoyed our time there.

That first afternoon we took a hike down the trail to the beach and we’re amazed by what we saw! This pristine beach looks like something you might see off of survivor – no development, no people, just pure rain forest bordering the sand. This place was absolute heaven! My brother and I joked that we had been shipwrecked on some uninhabited island and wondered if we would be able to survive on this natural paradise so far removed from civilization. We watched the sunset and hiked back up the trail to our cabins at twilight. The sounds of the rain forest surrounded us as night closed in. Upon arrival at the lodge we were met by the owners and staff who had prepared us an incredible meal. This place is far removed from restaurants and town, so all meals are included as part of the package price.

The next morning we explored the 7 kilometers of hiking trails located on the hotel property. We saw countless waterfalls, giant trees, toucans, monkeys – a truly wild experience. What a hike too! We did most of the trails found on the property such as the “Ridge Trail”, “Forest Loop” and “River Trail”. I was impressed by how the lodge was able to maintain such an extensive network of trails.

After hiking and an amazing lunch, we spent some time in the hammock taking in the scenery. We then met up with our guide for waterfall rappelling at El Remanso’s on-site canyoning tour. Our guide was amazing! He was very knowledgeable and you could tell he was very passionate about his job and the conservation of this beautiful area. We rappelled down 4 waterfalls through a forest canyon. The last water fall was over 80 feet high and was a little scary – but we felt absolutely safe with our two guides both on top of the waterfall and waiting for us below. What an experience!

The next day we drove down south to Carate and hiked into the Corcovado National Park at La Leona. We were just going to spend a day in the park, although I would have loved to spend a night at La Sirena station. We were on the search of the elusive Tapir and were greeted by flocks of squawking scarlet macaws flying above us. We hiked along the beach for the first 3.5 kilometers to reach the ranger station and then along a trail running parallel with the beach. We were told we might have a chance to see tapirs by the Rio Madrigal in the park and this was our destination. While unfortunately we did not have a chance to see Costa Rica’s largest land animal, the tapir, we did see a Tayra – a raccoon like animal that was jet black. We hiked to a shipwreck on the beach and took lots of photos. A great day in Corovado!

After our hike we were going to go surfing at nearby Matapalo beach, there are a number of famous surf breaks in the area, such as Pan Dulce, Backwash, etc. But we were kind of exhausted after trekking over 18 kilometers, so it was definitely time for a “hammock tour”. We spent the afternoon taking in the rain forest, playing a game or two of scrabble and relaxing. It was my birthday that last night and I was surprised by a birthday cake and the entire staff singing “Feliz Cumpleaños” – it was quite a surprise. Thank you El Remanso!