Travel journals

We decided to include in our website travel journals of our visits to different hotels in Costa Rica, These travel journals are the way to keep in touch with our passengers and to let them experience our nature travel at its best! First destination: The South Pacific zone of Costa Rica that runs from Playa Dominical to the Osa Peninsula, where you can see beautiful forests with colorful and strange insects, large numbers of trees with flowers, tropical plants and shrubs. It's a paradise full of exotic wildlife and breathtaking landscapes, the region has national parks, private reserves, beaches and it is plenty of hectares of virgin rainforest. My name is Adriana, I am one of the team members of Green Creation Costa Rica and, this is the diary of the trip we made, Ricardo (my husband, the one who pulled out all the photos) and I to the South Pacific region: La Cusinga Lodge

We left Alajuela at 08.45 A.M.,crossed Atenas and Orotina,  two small charming towns with beautiful mountain landscapes, and about 11:00 A.M. we reached the Tárcoles River area where you can see huge crocodiles, rested a while,  took some pictures and continue to Quepos (Manuel Antonio), we did some shopping at the supermarket and left at 01.00 PM.
The road from Quepos - Manuel Antonio to Dominical is being repaired, and needs only a stretch of 9 km to be completed (it will be completed by December 2009).
We arrived at La Cusinga (km 166) in Costa Ballena at 02.15 PM, it's easy to see the sign and the entrance to the lodge, the hotel is located on a height from which the view of the bay is awesome,  Juan Carlos, one of reservations coordinators was waiting for us and gave us all the explanations about the lodge, trails and activities, and escorted us to our room.
La Cusinga Lodge (local word for the Fiery-billed Aracari) in Ballena Bay
borders the Ballena Marine National Park. It is a rainforest coastal eco-lodge dedicated to marine and terrestrial conservation and environmental education. La Cusinga Lodge is located at Finca Tres Hermanas, a farm involved in reforestation and sustainable agriculture for more than 30 years. La Cusinga Lodge maintains several miles of trails which enable guests of all ages to sometimes identify up to 100 species of birds in just a few hours, a variety of flora, and diverse fauna in the canopies and on the ground. Visitors have immediate and easy access to hundreds of acres of privately and publicly owned rainforest and secondary growth from sea level to 2,000 feet, including coastal marine habitats, ripirian and climax lowland tropical rainforest with gigantic trees over a thousand years old. The variety of habitats in a relatively small and easily accessible area creates huge biodiversity that is conveniently observable.

We can mention some of the hotel sustainability policies:

• Be able to guarantee the conservation and efficient use of the resources.

• Love nature and transmit that love and respect by means of convivence and experience to our guests, staff and community.

• To apply the 5 Rs in the use of the resources and handling of solid waste: recycle, re-use, repair, reject and reduce.

• Foster the conservation of water and energy.

• Give participation to local communities so that they can express themselves and improve the employment and development of the micro-
  enterprises at the local level.

• To be co-authors in the effort of rescuing values and traditions of our communities.

We stayed at the room Las Gemelas II  (a block of two rooms that are alike, hence the name of the twins), the room is very nice, built in a rustic style that combines wood and stone, with two double beds, bathroom with hot water (which is provided by solar panels), mosquito nets on all windows, ceiling fan (actually not needed air conditioning  because the lodge is near the ocean) ,and a terrace with two convenient wooden rocking chairs where you can see the sea.

The gardens are beautiful, and we  observed hummingbirds, butterflies, different species of birds, insects, the spider who weaves threads of gold (which impresses but not poisonous), small toucans called Cusingas and howler monkeys, (the best hours to see wildlife are early in the morning,or late in the afternoon before sunset), surrounded by tropical vegetation and plenty of color variety, and also the wing brought into our room the smell of the Ilan Ilan which is delicious.

That afternoon we visited The Roots trail which is not very difficult, but in the rainy season be careful because it's slippery, the distance is 3km until
Playa Arco, through a primary and secondary forest in the Marino Ballena National Park. It will take about 20 minutes to reach the beach and you can continue south along the coast. Important: The high tide covers the beach completely, therefore we suggest you to visit it during the low tide, the hotel has the tide table available for  all customers.

At night we went to the Uvita 's town  and took dinner at a little restaurant called La Fogata (the pizza is delicious) which has very good prices, (the hotel also serves lunch and dinner) .

Next day early morning we had breakfast which is served between 7 and 8 am:  fruit juice, coffee or tea with milk, cereal, eggs, toast, butter and jam, the restaurant has a spectacular view of the bay and we f.  After enjoying breakfast, we went to the beach, there are beautiful beaches: Playa Ventanas, Playa Tortuga, but it is important to mention that the driveways to these beaches are in poor condition and therefore requires a 4x4 vehicle, with a four wheel drive vehicle you can  access both beaches.
In the afternoon we visited  "The Garlic Trees 'Trail” which consists in about 4km through a primary forest located on the north of the lodge, filled with giant Garlic trees, receiving this name from the scent of flowers . This is a 1-hour walk crossing the Quebrada Grande several times. This creek offers many places for visitors to relax in the cool waters flowing from the mountains.

Then we did the trail Trail Punta Pargo ( "The Snapper Point Trail") - which takes about
30 minutes down the hill toward the Pacific Ocean, you can go left and see the Snapper Point lookout where there are chances of seeing hawksbill turtles, which are endangered, or if not take the right along the sea , then through forest side towards the mouth of the Quebrada Grande and back to the Lodge through the pastures.

From the hotel you can also hire several tours such as: Fly fishing, snorkeling, whale watching, kayaking, visit to the Caño Island, Corcovado National Park , diving and rafting.

Important to mention that the hotel has a special place for yoga, a wooden building, overlooking the sea and the sound of running water is ideal for meditation and reconnect with your inner self, also has special rooms for groups.

The third morning, after breakfast, we began our return trip that took about 4 hours,

In summary, the Cusinga is a special place for people who love nature, outdoor activities, the beach, and enjoy personalized sites, concerned about the environment and biodiversity. Very good service and an incredible landscape.

Of course if you have any questions or need additional information about this or other places, I will be more than glad to answer all your questions, you can write me an email: adriana@greencostarica.com

Meet the Manuel Antonio National Park

Meet the Dominical Beach

Leer más Marino Ballena National Park

Mapa Area