Havens and Hideaways in Costa Rica

San Jose, Turiaba, Jaco, and Quepos

 SAN JOSE, Costa Rica -- "The best thing about San Jose is that it is close to Costa Rica," he said.

 We were sitting in the garden of the Grano de Oro, the small but decorative hotel named for the "Grain of Gold," -- the poetic term for the coffee bean that for so long dominated Costa Rica's economy.

 My fellow guest, who didn't want to give his name, was an American expatriate, one of many who have settled here in Latin America's only true democracy.

 Except for this hotel, he doesn't think much of San Jose, Costa Rica's capital city, and he was eager to to return to his home in one of the villages on the Pacific Coast.

There he is surrounded by a green jungle filled with bright flowers, colorful birds, howler monkeys, and other natural features and creatures of the tropics.

He said today's grain of gold was really the tourist dollar, especially those of Americans and Canadians who come to experience the unspoiled tropical beauty of the country.

In 1948, about the time that Costa Rica disbanded its army and began to hold free elections, far-sighted national leaders began to set aside millions of acres of protected mountains, rain forests, and other natural wonders at the same time that other Third World countries began to deplete their forests and other resources. Today 25 percent of Costa Rica is included in these protected national parks and reserves.

In a short visit to this country, it seemed apparent that high-minded concepts of culture will never be the main draw for travelers. But for those who take a vigorous approach to an ecologically conscious vacation, Costa Rica offers a vast combination of attractions.

Seniors and others who shy away from jungles, swinging aerial bridges, and steep, mountainous conditions may find it difficult to appreciate the best the country has to offer. A half-day tour through the Rain Maker Nature Refuge, for example, is literally no walk in the park.

For this reason, many cruise ships en route to the Panama Canal make a one-day stop and bus their passengers to San Jose to enjoy a lunch, a museum or two, and perhaps some entertainment at a coffee plantation.

Other travelers overnight in San Jose, and then lose little time before renting a car or hopping a bus or even a small plane and heading out of town. The Grano de Oro, a small hotel refashioned from an old mansion and owned by expatriate Canadians, is perhaps the only really comfortable accommodation within walking distance of downtown San Jose. I found it an ideal staging area for forays into the countryside.

Costa Rica has two coastlines, about 150 miles apart and separated by various ranges of green mountains and volcanoes that reach as high as 12,500 feet. Costa Rica's Atlantic coast has a strong Caribbean influence. There Spanish is peppered with the lilting English heard in the West Indies. This area is often favored by young foreign backpackers.

My own recent experience, however, was to stay at one inland location, followed by short visits to popular areas on the Pacific Coast. We saw some of the best that the natural world has to offer, but also left plenty of other things to do on a return visit.

Turialba

Our headquarters for the interior experience was the 16-room Casa Turire, a large, landscaped hacienda on the banks of the Reventazon River, just outside the village of Turialba and a two-hour drive from the capital. We soon felt that we were friends with the owners, in whose family the surrounding sugar and coffee fields have been for a half-century. As conversant in English as in Spanish, Mario and Michele de Rojas seemed eager to help us experience all there is to see and do in the area.

The hotel arranged a thrilling rafting trip and provided opportunities for seeking out tropical birds, animals, and flowers in nearby trees and bushes. The prize viewing, of course, is one of those distinguished, big-billed toucans.

"There goes one!" shouted a fellow traveler. "I knew it immediately; it looks like a bird with a banana in its mouth!"

We also managed to discover a sleeping two-toed sloth suspended on a high branch outside the hotel. It took me so long to find it, though, even with binoculars, that other guests cheered when I finally spotted the hairy lump.

"I think we will name him 'Bob,' in your honor!" laughed Jorge Fernandez, the resident wildlife expert. Quite an honor ... I think.

Some guests also drive up to the crater of the nearby Iracu volcano. Jorge pronounced it the most beautiful drive in the country.

Lucky Pierre, resident of Villa Caletas

Jaco

On a high, rugged portion of the Pacific coastline near the town of Jaco, a cheerful expatriate Frenchman named Denis Roy has carved an unusual, antique-filled resort seemingly right out of the side of a mountain. His Villa Caletas shuttles its guests down the hill to a small beach about 1,000 feet below.

Attractions include two gourmet restaurants, a deep-blue, free-form swimming pool, and an unusual Greek amphitheater for watching ocean sunsets or enjoying occasional musical recitals.

The performance we enjoyed most came at lunch on the terrace when a frequent visitor, an iguana some guests named "Lucky Pierre," came begging for flowers. Pierre makes a bright red hibiscus blossom into a two-bite meal and then comes back for more. We gradually gave him a huge meal him by destroying the table decorations.

When the iguana isn't around, guests sometimes are favored by a visit from a coatimundi, a friendly, fuzzy-haired mammal that looks something like a cross between Winnie the Pooh and a large rat.

More daunting reptiles than Pierre were encountered on an excursion from Villa Caletas to see large estuarine crocodiles on the delta north of the resort. There, where the Tarcoles River enters the sea, a boat tour revealed pelicans, storks, kingfishers, roseate spoonbills, and other tropical birds.

Quepos

Farther down the coast on the edge of the bustling vacation village of Quepos, a displaced Californian has established an ecologically conscious hotel named Si Como No. Its name echoes a common phrase loosely translated as "Sure, why not?"

Views and facilities at Si Como No were equally excellent. But I was especially taken with nearby excursions. We took the half-day Rain Maker Nature Refuge tour through the Fila Chonta Mountains. It involved steep climbing past waterfalls, blue morpho butterflies, poison dart frogs, and a cyanide caterpillar, along with the fiery-billed aracari and other multicolored birds. It culminated in a dramatic jungle tree-top crossing on a series of high, swinging bridges.

Another excursion, through a portion of Manuel Antonio National Park, was an easy walking tour through a beachside jungle. It featured more exotic birds and families of white-faced monkeys, a species not found elsewhere in the world.

Roy Orozco, our guide, also managed to find a rather shy boa constrictor hiding in decaying wood off the main path. But the more interesting animal was an iguana-like creature that manages to walk on water.

"We call him the Jesus Christ lizard," Roy explained.

The natural scene in Costa Rica in general was miraculous enough for me, and one I would like to revisit some day. I haven't climbed a volcano yet, and I would like to swim in a warm-water river I've heard about there, too.

And of course I want to see if two-toed "Bob" might now be awake in his comfortable tree at Casa Turire.

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IF YOU GO

Costa Rica Tourist Board, (800) 343-6332; Web site: http://www.tourism-costarica.com.

Hotel Grano de Oro, (506) 255-3322; e-mail: granoro@sol.racsa.co.cr; Web site, http://www.hotelgranodeoro.com.

Casa Turire, (506) 531-1111; e-mail: turire@ticonet.co.cr; Web site: http://www.hotelcasaturire.com.

Villa Caletas, (506) 257-3653; e-mail: calets@sol.rasca.co.cr; Web site: http://www.hotelvillacaletas.com.  

Hotel Si Como No, (506) 257-3653; e-mail: sicomono@sol.racsa.co.cr; Web site: http://www.sicomono.com.

Rain Maker Nature Refuge, (506) 777-0777, Ext. 201; e-mail: reservations@rainmaker.co.cr; Web site: http://www.rainmaker.co.cr.