Costa Rica Vacation Journals

Dominical & The Costa Ballena


Today would be the last hurrah of my two-week adventure through Cerro de la Muerte and the Dominical area. I headed south to explore the scenic beaches of Dominicalito, Playa Hermosa, Uvita and Ballena.


In Dominicalito, a young couple caught their first waves with the help of a local instructor. Whether beginner or advanced, surfers have plenty of options along the South Pacific Coast, where beach breaks, rocky points and the whim of the tides offer gentle swells or challenging rides.


Beginning with Playa Uvita, the Costa Ballena encompasses a stretch of beautiful and rugged shoreline, where lush mountains form the backdrop to a chain of laid-back seaside communities. Many visitors have fallen in love with the region and later relocated permanently.


Canadians, Germans, French and Americans make up the bulk of the ex-pat population. One benefit of such an international community is a selection of fabulous bakeries and restaurants nestled along the coastal highway.


In Uvita, I shifted into low and drove up a winding mountain road, following signs to Whales and Dolphins Ecolodge, my final destination for the day. Located 17 kilometers south of Dominical on a bluff overlooking the sea, Whales and Dolphins has the best panoramic view of the Costa Ballena.


From every angle I could see the famous rock formation of Punta Uvita, which perfectly resembles a whale’s tail. Even through a slight tropical haze, the cerulean sea gleamed against the serpentine coast. I absorbed the vista from the terrace, which featured an infinity pool alongside an al fresco bar and restaurant.

Hotel staff will gladly arrange tours to local attractions, but I was tour-weary and chose to relax and enjoy the comforts of my plush suite. Each of the lodge’s 20 rooms comes equipped with wireless internet, satellite TV, minibar, safe and private balcony. However, the panorama is the real highlight.

Following an afternoon swim, I treated myself to room service and a bottle of wine in celebration of my adventures in this beautiful part of the country.


With pretty beaches, rugged mountains and amazing biodiversity, the lightly-tread Dominical and Costa Ballena are soon to become a favorite vacation destination among travelers.



Contact Info:
Whales and Dolphins Ecolodge
Tel: 506-2-743-8150
Email: sales@whalesanddolphins.net
www.whalesanddolphins.net

Dominical

After a blissful night’s rest at Cuna del Angel, I wanted nothing more than a day of pampering at their European spa. Turkish baths, chocolate body wraps and foot reflexology were just a few of the wellness treatments available.


My indulgence would have to wait, as I had a date with Quetzal and Monica, owners of Parque Reptilandia. Housing more than 65 species of reptiles and amphibians, Parque Reptilandia is a bonanza of forked tongues and scales.


Located on the outskirts of Dominical, the park features a myriad of creatures from petite poison dart frogs to enormous lizards and snakes. Every Friday is feeding day, and I had arrived just in time to watch a Mexican beaded lizard devour a mouse.


On my self-guided tour, I saw species native to Costa Rica as well as to faraway parts of the world. Venomous snakes such as the eyelash pit viper and terciopelo were coiled alongside giant boa constrictors.Vibrant basilisk lizards and water monitors basked in large open enclosures.


The star attraction at Parque Reptilandia had to be its fearsome looking Komodo dragon, the world’s largest lizard. With a body spanning nearly eight feet in length, the Komodo gives the impression of a modern-day dinosaur.


While each exhibit is well-signed in both Spanish and English, guided tours are available for those who want more detailed information. Monica and Quetzal also give presentations to school groups about local reptile species to help promote environmental awareness.


On my return to Puertocito, I stopped for a light ceviche lunch at La Parcela, a cliff-top restaurant with fabulous coastal views. I was saving my appetite for later, as Cuna del Angel’s restaurant had received nothing but rave reviews. Over a glass of wine in the palapa, I watched the sunset and chatted with fellow guests.


Dinner was a feast for the senses – tender beef medallions in a wild mushroom sauce with a hint of Drambui, paired with a silky Syrah. A dish of homemade pistachio ice cream served by attending angels perfected the heavenly experience.


Contact Info:
Cuna del Angel
Tel 506-2-787-8012
Email: info@cunadelangel.com
www.cunadelangel.com



Parque Reptilandia
Tel: 506-2-787-8007
Email: Reptilandia_cr@racsa.co.cr
www.CRreptiles.com

Uvita

Each year from August - October and December - April, pods of massive humpback whales migrate through the warm waters off Marino Ballena National Park. Protecting more than 5300 hectares of ocean and nine miles of coastline, the park also serves as a nesting site for endangered Olive Ridley and hawksbill sea turtles.


The park’s rarely visited beaches are protected by a network of crescent-shaped reefs and a scattering of rocky islands called Las Tres Hermanas (The Three Sisters). Sea currents have swept aside portions of sand, forming shoals that shelter swimmers from large swells and
dangerous surf.


Located south of Dominical on the Costa Ballena, the marine park has four entrances manned by park rangers. I chose to explore the Uvita sector where visitors can observe Punta Uvita, the famous rock and reef formation that fittingly resembles a whale’s tail. I had just missed the peak whale watching season, though a few 40-foot giants were still being spotted on occasion.


However, I wasn’t to be disappointed with the wildlife. While following a path along mangrove estuaries, I stumbled upon a Tico couple taking racy photos of one another in the shallows. I chuckled to myself and, not wanting to disturb their courtship ritual, moved along as they quickly covered themselves with sarongs.


Wandering the deserted beach, it was easy to see why they chose such a place – we were the only people amid miles of spectacular shoreline. A current of red crabs rippled across the beach, their translucent bodies bobbing in and out of holes in the ivory sand.


The calm waters off Punta Uvita are ideal for swimming and snorkeling, with mild currents and decent visibility. After cooling off in the ocean, I poked around tide pools that had formed at low tide before seeking shade from the scorching sun. I backtracked on the Costanera Sur and headed north to Cuna del Angel, my luxury hotel for the next two evenings.


Located nine kilometers south of Dominical, between the mountains and coast, Cuna del Angel (Cradle of Angels) was an experience to be savored. As the hotel staff checked me in, I sipped a fresh mango smoothie under a dome of painted stars in the hotel’s open-air palapa. The building’s unique design was one of many romantic touches in this enchanting boutique hotel.


Cherubs adorned nearly every door, and staff fluttered about with angel wings emblazoned on their shirts. The hotel’s sixteen rooms, each named after a different angel, feature a blend of Asian and colonial décor. Overlooking the swimming pool, my room came equipped with all the amenities you’d expect in a four-star hotel –coffee service, satellite TV, wireless internet and a fully-stocked mini-bar.


On the recommendation of another guest, I hiked down to the scenic bay of Puerto Nuevo, a private beach just ten minutes from Cuna del Angel.

Howler monkeys sounded off as I scrambled down the steep trail to a gently curving shore. I spent the remainder of the afternoon where the mountains melded with the sea in a striking union of surf and jagged cliffs veiled in lanky palms.





Contact Info:
Cuna del Angel
Tel 506-2-787-8012
Email: info@cunadelangel.com
www.cunadelangel.com

Dominical

Our sturdy criollo horses carried us on surefooted legs, splashing across small streams as we descended into the valley. The rocky path twisted down steep hillsides, leading us to the home of Don Lulo. With our horses tied up in the shade, we sat down for a giant home-cooked breakfast in the family rancho.


Situated ten kilometers outside of Dominical, Don Lulo’s Horseback Tours is a family-run affair with over 80 horses which are rotated regularly. A combination of horseback riding, beautiful waterfalls and local hospitality had attracted our group of twelve on this luminous day. After filling our bellies with Tico fare, we explored the family’s mini-zoo (sponsored by MINAE, the local ministry of environment), which housed a toucan and several scarlet macaws.



One of Don Lulo’s grandsons knelt down and opened a wooden door in the floor of one of the cages. Out trotted four agouti pacas, big-eyed nocturnal creatures with a peculiar musky scent. “So… what lives in that hole?” someone in our group jokingly asked, pointing at another door in the floor. Our guide just laughed and shook his head, leaving us to wonder at its contents.


We continued on horseback another 25 minutes, our horses occasionally galloping as they jockeyed for position. We dismounted and changed into our bathing suits before walking the remaining stretch to the waterfalls. The 65-foot cascade crashed into a sparkling pool, an inviting sight on such a hot day.


Our guides expertly scrambled up the slippery rock face and took turns doing back flips and swan dives into the clear pool below. A few brave and considerably less-graceful members from our group cannon-balled off the ledge, screaming the whole way down.


Back at Don Lulo’s, we enjoyed a typical lunch of chicken, rice and beans served family-style at communal tables. I sat next to a hilarious couple from New Jersey who swore they had spotted a kangaroo “in the woods outside their cabin”. The ensuing guessing game to determine what animal they had mistaken for a six-foot Australian marsupial entertained us all for quite some time.


A bit weary after our six-hour adventure, I decided to join a few other travelers for a pre-sunset cocktail at Tortilla Flats, a funky Tex-Mex cafe fronting Dominical beach. Between 5 and 6 p.m., every aesthete for miles gathered on the shore to watch surfers bob in the waves and the sun gradually settle as a backdrop below the horizon.


After the show, I returned to the comfort of Roca Verde which on occasion converts into a community playhouse, featuring local theater groups. Tonight, however, was a quiet evening. I had the swimming pool all to myself and, after a dip and a light dinner at the restaurant, turned in for a good night’s rest.






Contact Info:
Hotel Roca Verde
Tel: 506-2 -787-0036
Email: admin@rocaverde.net
www.rocaverde.net


Don Lulo’s Nauyaca Waterfalls
Tel: 506-2-787-8013
Email: info@cataratasnauyaca.com
www.cataratasnauyaca.com

Rainforest Hike

We heard a rustling in the leaves not too far from where we stood. In a raspy voice that reminded me of Animal from the Muppet Show, our guide suggested a pair of agoutis searching for a meal. We were 20 minutes into a four-hour hike through hot and muggy rainforest.


A Dutch couple on our tour had never heard of such an animal, so I tried my best to describe a large guinea pig-ish creature before our guide whipped out his handy lowland mammal brochure. “Ah, like the hamster?” they asked, but the agoutis had shuffled away, eluding our cameras for the moment.


Today was the day of the sloth. Both two and three-toed were spotted curled up in trees, tight balls of greenish fur and strange long claws. We even saw a couple of baby sloth – one actually moving (ever so slowly) from branch to tree trunk. To me, their faces were both sweet and alien, an odd combination of features that lent an unearthly presence.


Our animated guide was a birder at heart. Each twitter and cluck was matched to its respective species, as he identified various parrots, woodcreepers, mot mots and trogons. Although we didn’t come across any monkeys, colorful poison dart frogs announced their presence with a succession of chirps. Chestnut-mandibled toucans and their smaller relative, the fiery-billed aracari, were prolific in the trees.


Much of our hike was spent in silence, as we took in each rainforest sound. Our guide carried a spotting scope, enabling sharp views of scaly iguanas and tiny birds that would have otherwise gone unseen.


I bid farewell to Hacienda Baru and drove three kilometers south to Dominical where I found exactly what I was hoping for: a chilled-out, undeveloped surf town with great beaches and an eclectic crowd.

I grabbed a fish taco at the Backyard Cafe and lounged on one of their sofas while reading a pile of trashy gossip magazines. The cafe also doubles as a used-book store, and has a hefty selection of pulp fiction and travel books.


I was staying at Roca Verde, a beachfront hotel just a kilometer south of the main village. Run by friendly American brothers, the hotel features a large restaurant and bar that doubles as the happening party spot on Saturday nights.


Each room has A/C, a coffee maker and a patio that faces the ocean. I took a quick dip in the pool before heading back into town to scope out the people and places I’d be getting to know over the next couple of days.


Contact Info:
Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge
Tel: 506-2-787-0003
Email: info@haciendabaru.com
www.haciendabaru.com


Hotel Roca Verde
Tel: 506-2 -787-0036
Email: admin@rocaverde.net
www.rocaverde.net

Canopy Tour at Hacienda Baru, Dominical

I was tucking into my rice and beans when an excitable couple from D.C. darted into Hacienda Baru’s restaurant. “Monkeys, lots and lots of white-faced monkeys!” they shouted. Having just hiked one of the self-guided nature trails, they had spotted what was clearly their first wild primate. They’d managed to capture the entire experience on both camera and video, which they shared with me enthusiastically.


Their wildlife encounter was just one of many that regularly occurs on the assorted foot paths through the refuge’s primary and secondary rainforest. The night before, another couple had witnessed two inquisitive peccaries rooting through the leaf litter near their cabin, showing just how acclimated the wildlife at Hacienda Baru has become.



I had time to wander through the onsite orchid gallery and butterfly garden before my morning zip-line canopy tour. Velvety wings flitted about as morphos and monarchs danced from one fragrant flower to the next. At the tour center, I joined a group of seven other travelers who, like me, were ready for a shot of adrenaline.


Called “The Flight of the Toucan”, the canopy tour imitates the zigzagging motion of the chestnut-mandibled toucan as it swoops through the rainforest. A series of eight cables carried us from one platform to another, providing a momentary sensation of flying as we zoomed through dense jungle. What really set this canopy tour apart from the rest was the amount of wildlife we discovered with the help of our naturalist guides.


Never touted as the fastest or longest canopy tour, the Flight of the Toucan focused more on wildlife encounters. There was a fair amount of hiking between platforms, allowing our guides ample time to point out flora and fauna. In the span of three hours we saw the fiery-billed aracari, three sloth (both the two and three-toed variety), a great potoo and a fuzzy kinkajou sleeping in a tree.



Locally-raised, our guides knew the forest well and kept our interest piqued with their extensive knowledge. We followed a stream of leaf-cutter ants as they carried foliage back to their massive nests, where tenacious soldiers guarded the perimeter with piercing pincers. We walked beneath towering fig stranglers and spiny-cypress, its thorns an obvious adaptation against predators.


A few people in our group were also joining a tree-climbing tour later that day. Zip-lines I can handle, but scaling 117-foot trees with nothing more than a rope and harness demanded a certain level of aerial bravado I’ve yet to achieve. I instead chose to hike a few of the nature trails before returning to Baru beach in time for a stellar sunset.


Contact Info:
Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge
Tel: 506-2-787-0003
Email: info@haciendabaru.com
www.haciendabaru.com

Dominical

I departed the cool highlands of Cerro de la Muerte and continued on to the balmy beaches of the South Pacific Coast. Never having ventured south of Manuel Antonio, I anticipated a laid-back surfer scene, where mountains jutted up from the coastline and framed long stretches of palm-fringed beach.


I was headed to Dominical, a tranquil beach town 45 kilometers south of Quepos. A place of breath-taking scenery and killer waves, Dominical has surprisingly escaped the mass development so prevalent on other Pacific beaches.


Popular with surfers over the years, Dominical has only recently seen a rise in tourism. The bone-jarring road leading in from Quepos remains a major deterrent for many travelers (not to mention developers). Luckily for me, I was driving the newly paved highway from San Isidro – a 40-minute journey through picturesque villages and farming communities.


As I approached the coastal lowlands, a familiar heat and dampness set in – suggestive of the sultry weather so typical in the South Pacific.


My destination was Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge, an 815 acre sanctuary situated three kilometers north of Dominical on the road towards Quepos. Declared a national wildlife refuge in 1985, Hacienda Baru serves as a crucial link between Corcovado National Park, Manuel Antonio National Park and Los Santos Reserve.


Known as “The Path of the Tapir Biological Corridor”, this tract of protected land aims to create a passage of forest joining these parks and reserves so that tapirs and jaguars (which no longer inhabit Hacienda Baru) may someday pass through the region again.


Jack Ewing, general manager of Hacienda Baru (and author of “Monkeys are Made of Chocolate”, a wonderful book), put it in very simple terms when he showed me an aerial photo of Hacienda Baru dating back to the early 70’s. Heavily farmed for decades, the photo showed broad swathes of barren land, whereas today’s image reveals a promising re-growth of secondary forest.


The private and state-owned land has been protected from farming and hunting for more than 30 years. It is now rich in biodiversity, hosting an impressive variety of tropical flora and fauna. Ecotourism is the primary source of income for Hacienda Baru, which attracts travelers with a variety of nature and adventure tours.


I chose to lodge at the refuge, in one of their six spacious cabins, built with wood grown on their sustainable teak farm. There was no pretense of luxury – these were rustic but comfortable accommodations with a kitchen, living area, safe box and two large bedrooms that could sleep a family of five. I was super-pleased to discover fans in every room and a stocked coffee maker for my early morning caffeine ritual.


From my cabin, the distant hum of crashing breakers called me to explore. A path led to Baru beach, where I walked a few kilometers to the Baru rivermouth. The deserted shore had a wild and raw feel about it – a lonely stretch of cocoa sand with scattered driftwood and powerful surf.



Contact:
Hacienda Baru National Wildlife Refuge
Tel: 506-2-787-0003
Email: info@haciendabaru.com
www.haciendabaru.com