Holiday review by Bridget B
Name: Bridget B
Date of trip: 01/03/2019
Number of people: 2
Seeing a female scorpion being courted by 2 males - even though her back was covered in babies. A coati foraging among a pile of discarded fruit on the roadside. The trip to the National Archeological Monument, the layout of which was so easy to interpret - is was all about power politics. We could almost see what went on, with the volcano Mount Turrialba as the backdrop. A hummingbird defending his feeders in the forest.
Tribes Overall:
We loved Costa Rica. People are very friendly, the birds are (mostly) stunning and the food is great, and different! We had hoped to see more animals, and orchids in the cloud forest, but maybe the windy weather didn't help. Our private guide was excellent and prepared to adjust the schedule as he found out more about us. We saw only a fraction of this lovely country, maybe have to go back . . .
Tribes Service:
As ever, we got excellent service from Tribes.
Guides:
Our private guide Estaban was superb. Birds are his passion, but he told us about history, took us to historical sites and read up about anything he was uncertain about. He also made sure we sampled as much Costa Rican food as possible, stopping at roadside stalls and once persuading a lady to give us a cacao fruit from the tree in her garden!
Social & Environmental Responsibility:
Costa Rica is a very environmentally-aware country and the places we stayed at followed this. Tourism is big business so just by being there we benefitted the country, and provided employment! The visitor numbers at big attractions were managed well (good paths, some closed after rain etc)
The places you stayed
Hotel Fonda Vela
Costa Rica
Pros: helpfulness of reception staff. Pretty grounds.
Cons: room tired and rather gloomy - windows at one end only. Pool under polytunnel, with few loungers! Breakfast staff bit lackadaisical, didn't keep trays, jugs etc topped up after early rush
General: we concluded that the hotel is geared for those who are going to be leaving early/out for most of the day. There's nowhere much to "chill out" especially if the weather is inclement - we had a strong gale for the whole time.
Hotel Bosque del Mar
Costa Rica
Pros: very comfortable rooms, every lotion and potion you can think of provided.Friendly staff. Good supply of loungers under trees at the back of the beach. Food good, especially tapas in the bar upstairs. We ate there every night, airier and quieter than downstairs restaurant, just tying on after Happy Hour! Very reasonable prices for cocktails . . .
Cons: troop of howler monkeys who woke us up with dawn chorus! Also balconies were small and looked over adjacent rooms. Recommend Ocean Suites, own daybeds and had ocean view
