Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [452]
Restaurante y Cabinas Tía Rosita (2761-1032/125; www.restaurantetiarosita.com; meals ₡900-3000; breakfast, lunch & dinner; ) Tía Rosita is the most highly recommended soda (lunch counter) in La Virgen, with excellent casados (set meals), Costa Rican–style chiles rellenos (stuffed fried peppers) and horchata (sweet rice shake), and service with a smile. The family also rents several cabinas (single/double/triple US$11/17/23) with private hot shower, TV, fan and plenty of breathing space. There’s an onsite internet cafe (₡300 per hour).
Restaurante Mar y Tierra (2761-1603; mains ₡2200-5250; 8am-10pm) La Virgen’s favorite fine-dining (but still very relaxed) option is this comfortable seafood and steak restaurant that’s popular with both locals and travelers. The specialty here is shrimp, and it’s damn good.
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Getting There & Away
La Virgen lies on Hwy 126, about 8km from San Miguel, to the south, and 17km from Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, to the northeast. Buses originating in either San José, San Miguel or Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí make regular stops in La Virgen. If you’re driving, the curvy road is paved between San José and Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí, though irregular maintenance can make for a bumpy ride.
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LA VIRGEN TO PUERTO VIEJO DE SARAPIQUí
This scenic stretch of Hwy 126 is home to a few lovely ecolodges that are extremely popular among well-heeled tourists. However, if you’re the kind of traveler that scraps together a few hundred colones every morning to buy a loaf of bread from Palí supermarket, fear not, as these places do allow nonguests to see their unusual attractions and private trails for a small fee. Any bus between La Virgen and Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí can drop you off at the entrances, while a taxi from La Virgen (or Puerto Viejo for Selva Verde) will cost from ₡2300 to ₡3500.
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Centro Neotrópico Sarapiquís
About 2km north of La Virgen is Centro Neotrópico Sarapiquís (2761-1004; www.sarapiquis.org; d/tr US$105/130; ), a unique ecolodge that aims to foster sustainable tourism by educating its guests about environmental conservation and pre-Columbian history and culture. The entire complex consists of palenque-style, thatched-roof buildings modeled after a 15th-century pre-Columbian village, and contains a clutch of luxuriously appointed hardwood rooms with huge, solar-heated bathroom and private terrace. However, the main reason guests rave about this ecolodge is the variety of exhibits and attractions located on the grounds.
Even if you’re not staying at the lodge, it’s worth stopping by just to visit its real claims to fame, namely the Alma Ata Archaeological Park, Rainforest Museum of Indigenous Cultures and Sarapiquís Gardens (adult/child under 8yr US$15/free; 9am-5pm). The admission price includes entry to all three places, though alternatively, you can purchase tickets for the individual attractions. The archaeological site is estimated to be around 600 years old, and is attributed to the Maleku (see boxed text). Currently, about 70 small stone sculptures marking a burial field are being excavated by Costa Rican archaeologists who have revealed a number of petroglyphs and pieces of pottery. Although the site is modest, and definitely not comparable in size or scope to other Central American archaeological sites, it’s one of the few places in Costa Rica where you can get a sense of its pre-Columbian history.