Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ments, including wooden-lattice ceilings, sheer walls of glass framing private gardens,
concrete-poured furniture done up with custom leatherwork and impossibly intricate mosa-
ic tiling. The onsite restaurant specializes in gourmet and organic cuisine.
If such a splurge will sink your budget, check out the laid-back
Hotel Pelicano
(
2778-8105;
www.pelicanbeachcostarica.com
; r US$96-153; )
a bit further south:
it's affordable, safe and homey, and on the same dreamy stretch of the Pacific. Fairly basic
rooms with wooden or tile floors surround a small pool, and the open-air
restaurant
is the
perfect refuge from the sun after a day at the beach - the
ceviche
paired with a cold Imper-
ial is the bomb.
In Esterillos Oeste, seek out the intimate
Hotel La Dolce Vita
(
2778-7015;
www.resortladolcevita.com
; s/d from US$58/85;
)
, where tidy rooms are steps from
the beach.
Parrita & Around
A bustling town on a river of the same name, Parrita is home to a tremendous palm-oil
processing plant. If the wind is blowing right, the fried-food odor of the plant can be
smelled from several kilometers away. Although palm oil doesn't perhaps have the imme-
diate recognition of olive oil, the product finds its way into just about everything, from
chocolate bars to french fries. If the smell whets your appetite, stop by
Café Café
(
2779-9851; mains US$3-5; 6am-7pm; )
in Parrita, in a yellow corner building about 100m
north of the river, for a surprisingly good selection of pastries, wraps, pizzas, sandwiches
and coffee drinks.
While you're rolling through the area, a glimpse of the day-to-day maintenance of the
palms is fascinating. To keep them free of insects, workers clear growth on the forest floor
and apply poison to the trunks. To encourage fruit growth and provide easy access to the
pod the fronds are regularly clipped. Pods are then transported to processing plants, where
the fruits are separated and pressed. Huge big-rigs full of fruit come flying down this relat-
ively poor stretch of the Costanera Sur - be careful on the road out there!
Parrita is about 40km south of Jacó, and can be reached on any bus heading south from
there. Just south of the Río Parrita is the signed turnoff for
Playa Palo Seco
. After Par-
rita, the coastal road dips inland through more palm-oil plantations on the way to Quepos.
