Costa Rica - First Stop

The first stop of our trip was an Eco-lodge called Rancho Naturalista. This is located in the Caribbean Lowlands. It has been owned since 1988 by a couple named the Erbs. Their daughter Lisa is now managing the day to day operations. They provide 3 fabulous meals a day with the best desserts. The flan one night was out of this world.

This is the main building. There are several guest rooms, the dining room and a living room located in here.

This is the view from the upper deck.

You can have hummingbirds like this sit on the railing. The backyard is full of bananas, cooked rice and watermelon for the birds to feed on. There are humming bird feeders everywhere. And most are on the level of the second level deck. You can sit in rocking chairs and watch the hummingbirds for hours.

This is the view from our room. It was at the top of the hill and the two rooms were in a building by themselves.

This is the view from the upper deck of the main house.

This is the steps to the hummingbird pools that are located by our rooms.

Another view of the surroundings.

Lisa's youngest son Cisco was the sweetest boy. He was around 12 and his aunt brought him a cupcake cookbook. He showed me all the cupcakes he liked. Lisa told me he loves to bake cakes.

Rancho was very peaceful. We were the only guests with our friends. It was the rainy season. We hiked up and down the mountain. Then the boys hiked a very treacherous mountain nearby. We could have stayed here longer.

.

The resident bird guide is Juan Carlos. He took us to many good birding spots in the area. He knows the birds, the bird calls and where the birds reside. We could not have found the number of birds that we did without his help.

.

The little town nearby had a mini supermarket. We did not find the food prices very cheap. Cokes were almost $2 a bottle anywhere. There is not any air conditioning so if you don't have a fan, you are very hot. The rooms are very spacious! And both of our rooms had 2 queen sized beds!

.

We highly recommend Rancho Naturalista to anyone that wants to sit and commune with nature.