We were disappointed with Poor Man’s Paradise (PMP). We spent 3 nights and 4 days there in early July 2006, after a week in Sierpe. We arranged the reservation with Pincho, the owner, in Sierpe. We explained that we wish to end our trip at PMP, relaxing and enjoying the wildlife and marine life. We had already gone diving at Cano Island, horseback riding, and hiking in the Osa area from Sierpe before setting out to PMP. Perhaps we should have asked specifically about each individual cost, item by item, when we talked to Pincho. But we established a rate per night and understood that tours are extra.
The bill proved to be a problem on our last night. First, they wanted us to pay on the last night in cash because the office is not open during the day. If you go there, bring cash as they don’t accept credit cards. Our other travel colleagues did not bring enough cash ($400 just for sport fishing alone) for all the tours. The tour organizer (Pincho’s sister) suggested that they can send one of the guys to town with a guest’s debit card number and pin to get cash. They said that they did this all of the time and give guests the receipt. For me, that’s a BIG no-no (my debit card is linked to all of bank accounts and I would not have internet access to my accounts until I leave PMP to check withdraws). We had enough cash, the issue was the charges. Pincho’s sister alleged that we agreed to a rate “per person”, effectively doubling the per night rate that we agreed with Pincho. She said that she confirmed it with Pincho just then. When we asked to talk to him on the radio, they could not raise him (hmm). After 30 minutes of lecturing them on scams, false advertising, breach of agreement, and a few more mildly heated words (we were trying to keep some form of relaxation for our vacation), the sisters decided to just charge us ‘just for the meals’. Bottom line – we ended up paying almost $100 more in transportation and meal charges than what we agreed with Pincho in Sierpe. The dishonesty was most troubling and disappointing (the money was nominal).
The ‘resort’ is not a resort, but a rustic bunch of cabins. We stayed in an upper cabin with private bath. The rooms were very basic. No a/c or fan. It gets very hot at night as there was no breeze due to the poor siting of the cabins. Frankly, it is not worth the $60 per person/night. It’s worth about $45/night with meals included. And the packages are outrageously overpriced, pay a little more and stay at the Paloma. They charge you for every little thing, include towels for the beach.
The food was the worst we had during the trip, sauces and noodles were obviously from cans. The pork was the worst, tough and drowned in canned gravy. The only fish (best meal) served was Tilapia from the pond. Every night, after diner, the tour coordinator asks you for your next day’s tour. Guests who prefer to do things on their own (not buying a tour) are given a little attitude and warnings. We wanted to walk around and go snorkeling. As we set out on the first morning, we were called back by the tour coordinator and told not to wander far from PMP’s beach because of a dangerous man with a gun in the area. She gave us some story about another gun-totting man who jumped into the river to get away from the police and got eaten by a croc. After spending a week in Sierpe and learning about how there were no incidents with crocs and humans, we were a little skeptical. We did wander off for the next two days and met nice women, children, and locals. They did not try to kill us with guns.
Although, we would never go back to PMP, everything else around the place was beautiful and wonderful. We saw many rare scarlet macaws (some while swimming in a nearly beach). We hiked up (allegedly dangerous paths) on the south side of the beach and saw at least two different kinds of monkeys. It’s a gorgeous spot with diverse wildlife. If only the people who run PMP were more honest and upfront and less worry about milking every dollar from every visitor, it would have been great. We don’t mind paying for services and spending money. It’s the dishonest nickel-and-dime attitude that is unnecessary and cheap.
