Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [193]
El Sol Verde (2665-5357; www.elsolverde.com; campsites US$5, incl tents & bedding US$18, r US$40-60; ) The lovely Dutch couple here in Curubandé village offer three lovely stone-floored, wood-walled rooms and a camping area with shared outdoor kitchen.
Casa Rural Aroma de Campo (2665-0008; www.aromadecampo.com; s/d/tr/q incl breakfast US$57/68/94/113; ) This serene, epiphyte-hung, hammock-strung oasis has elegantly designed rooms with polished clay floors, open bathrooms, mosquito nets and classy rural sensibility.
SANTA MARIA SECTOR
Rinconcito Lodge (2200-0074; www.rinconcitolodge.com; camping per person US$3, standard s/d US$23/35, superior incl breakfast d/tr/q US$55/70/80; ) Just 3km from the Santa María sector of the park, this recommended budget option has attractive, rustic cabins with private hot-water showers, and is surrounded by some of the prettiest pastoral scenery imaginable. Meals are available for around US$5. Breakfast, complimentary with superior rooms, features eggs and milk straight from the lodge’s farm. Since it primarily caters to budget travelers, it also offers inexpensive local tours. It also shuttles travelers to and from Liberia (one way US$30).
Buena Vista Lodge (2690-1414; www.buenavistalodgecr.com; d incl breakfast US$78-92, extra person US$25; ) On the way to Borinquen, this friendly finca lodge is home to the new Tizate Wellness Garden hot springs and spa. There are also spring-fed pools, a 400m-high mountain waterslide, canopy trail, hanging bridges, four restaurants, a herpetarium, great views, live entertainment and loads more activities to keep kids (and grown-ups) busy. This is the best option for families.
Borinquen Mountain Resort & Spa (2690-1900; www.borinquenresort.com; s incl breakfast US$188-329, d US$210-365; ) If you want to splurge, wallow here. The most luxurious resort in the area features plush, fully air-conditioned bungalows with private deck, minibar and satellite TV. The onsite hot springs, mud baths and natural saunas are beautifully laid out and surrounded by greenery, but a treatment at the unbelievable Anáhuac Spa (treatments US$35 to US$100; open from 10am to 6pm), suspended over the river and jungle, is the icing on this decadent mud pie.
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Getting There & Away
The Las Pailas sector is accessible via a good, 20km gravel road that begins at a signed turnoff from the Interamericana 5km north of Liberia; a private road is needed to reach the park and costs ₡700 per person. The Santa María ranger station, to the east, is accessible via a rougher road beginning at Barrio La Victoria in Liberia. Both roads are passable to regular cars throughout the dry season, but a 4WD is required during the rainy season and is highly recommended at all other times (or it will take you twice as long). There’s no public transportation, but any of the lodges can arrange transport from Liberia for around US$20 per person each way (two or three people minimum). Alternately, you can hire a 4WD taxi from Liberia for about US$25 to Las Pailas, or US$45 to Santa María, each way.
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PARQUE NACIONAL SANTA ROSA
Among the oldest (established in 1971) and largest national parks in Costa Rica, Santa Rosa’s sprawling 386 sq km on the Península Santa Elena protects the largest remaining stand of tropical dry forest in Central America, and some of the most important nesting sites of several species of sea turtle. Santa Rosa is also famous among Ticos as a symbol of historical pride – Costa Rica has only been invaded by a foreign army three times, and each time the attackers were defeated in Santa Rosa.
The best known of these events was the Battle of Santa Rosa, which took place on March 20, 1856, when the soon-to-be-self-declared president of Nicaragua, an American named William Walker, invaded Costa Rica. Walker was the head of a group of foreign pirates and adventurers known as the ‘Filibusters’ that had already seized Baja and