Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Selva Verde Lodge LODGE
( 2761-1800, in USA & Canada 800-451-7111; www.selvaverde.com ; incl breakfast s/d US$116/134,
bungalow s/d US$133/163; )
In Chilamate, about 7km west of Puerto Viejo, this former finca is now an elegant lodge
protecting 200 hectares of rainforest. Choose to stay at the river lodge, elevated above the
forest floor, or in a private bungalow, tucked away in the nearby trees. Rooms have shiny
wooden floors, solar-heated showers, and wide verandas with views to the forest.
There are three walking trails through the grounds and into the premontane tropical wet
forest, as well as medicinal and butterfly gardens, various boat tours on the Río Sarapiquí,
and an onsite Italian kitchen.
Rancho Magallanes RESTAURANT
( 2766-5606; chicken US$5-12; 10am-10pm)
Rancho Magallanes is a sweet roadside restaurant with a wood-burning brick oven where
they roast whole chickens and serve them quite simply with tortillas and banana salsa. You
can dine with the truckers by the roadside or in the more upscale riverside dining area,
painted with colorful jungle scenes.
Puerto Viejo de Sarapiquí & Around
At the scenic confluence of Ríos Puerto Viejo and Sarapiquí, this was once the most im-
portant port in Costa Rica. Boats laden with fruit, coffee and other commercial exports
plied the Sarapiquí as far as the Nicaraguan border, then turned east on the Río San Juan to
the sea. Today, it is simply a gritty but pleasant palm-shaded market town. The town is ad-
justing to the new economy, as the local polytechnic high school offers students advanced
tourism, ecology and agriculture degrees. The school even has its own reserve, laced with
trails. Visitors, meanwhile, can choose from any number of activities in the surrounding
area such as bird-watching, rafting, kayaking, boating and hiking. The migración (immig-
ration office) is near the small wooden dock.
Activities & Tours
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