My husband and I traveled to Casa Corcovado for the first part of our 17-day Costa Rica honeymoon. We were there for 4 nights/5 days. Looking back on our honeymoon, we would stay the entire time at Casa Corcovado if we had it to do over again.
Our instructions to our travel agent (who lived in Costa Rica for years before moving to Colorado, US) were to find us places to view wildlife up close, especially parrots. Casa Corcovado was the one place that really delivered! We traveled afterward to Arenal volcano, Monteverde cloud forest, and Manuel Antonio, but those locations were very touristy and the wildlife stayed in hiding for the most part. At Casa Corcovado, they were everywhere! Agoutis wandering around the grounds, scarlet macaws, amazon parrots, toucans and other colorful birds in the nearby trees, and three kinds of monkeys just to name a few. One day, sitting outside of our bungalow, we were lucky to watch a tayra climb down a tree not 10 feet from where we were sitting.
The staff was gracious, helpful, funny, and always responsive and available. Our guide, Braynor, met us at our field airport and shepherded us all the way to Casa Corcovado, then ate meals with us, led our outings to Corcovado Park, Cano Island, and an early morning bird-watching trip, and even accompanied us on our horseback riding tour which we arranged separately. A year later he even emailed me some photos of parrots that he'd taken with his scope! One of the bartenders tried to teach me Spanish, and experimented with unusual blended drinks until he found one I loved - after which he would bring one to me on the grounds without my even asking! On the last night we were there, the staff put on a traditional Costa Rican buffet dinner, with a skit enacting some cultural legends. It was humorous and good natured.
The food was incredible. I was prepared not to like the food in Costa Rica, because I'm not really a fan of what passes for Mexican food in the states. But this food was fresh, grilled, not spicy (important for me, but sauce was available for those who like it), and healthy. Three or four different fresh fruit drinks were available at each meal, and all were great. I have never eaten as healthy as I did in Corcovado - before or since. The cocktail hour ritual was a fun one - all the guests (around 7-12 people usually) convene at an overlook area, which is surrounded on three sides by jungle canopy, and open to the ocean and the setting sun on the fourth side. The staff serves margaritas and salsa or tapas, while the guests sit on benches socializing or walk around, watching the sunset and the toucans and monkeys playing in the trees.
The outings were well-planned and orchestrated. The other couple who arrived at the same time we did accompanied us on the two Casa Corcovado-arranged trips. Our tour of Corcovado park was a little muddy, so boots were provided to wear over shoes. Brayner, our guide, was adept at finding every living creature in the jungle, and had his scope set up and focused on the creature before anyone could react! He was able to relate the scientific/Latin, English and Spanish names for everything he found, and guests who had small digital cameras could hold them up to the scope and take close-up pictures that way. Brayner was very attuned to the desires of the group, and took our requests to heart regarding pace of travel, level of interest, when to stop for lunch, and when to head back. The Cano Island trip involved a boat ride which made my stomach upset for the snorkling when we arrived, so guests might want to go light on breakfast that day. For each outing, Casa Corcovado packed a large cooler for our lunch, which Brayner toted to a picnic table and set out, complete with tablecloth and cloth napkins.
On our third day we chose to go horseback riding. A man from another part of the peninsula brought the horses he raised and trained, and he and Brayner accompanied us on an exciting gallop through the jungle out to a beach. Once to the beach, we tethered the horses for a rest, and the guide opened some coconuts for a snack, and showed us how to use a shaved stick to carve out the coconut meat. A flock of scarlet macaws flew in just then and landed in the palm trees, so we lay on our backs and watched them for over an hour. It was glorious.
The last day of our trip we decided to just hang around and rest, and were lucky that that was that day the rain came (as opposed to earlier in the trip - we were there during rainy season). We spent time in the game/reading room, which we had to ourselves. We played cards with the bartender and talked to him about life back in the "real world" when they have leave from work. Just wandering around the main area of Casa Corcovado there is much to see - from small bats sleeping in the palm fronds, to a pair of owls nesting in the bamboo. We walked down to the beach and found a beautiful conch shell on the sand.
It is a humid and damp place, so after five days all our clothes were in some stage of being wet. Since our next destination had air conditioning (Arenal), we hung everything out to dry there and were none the worse. If I were to return to Casa Corcovado, I would make that the last stop on my vacation, so that the clothes could go right into the wash upon arriving home. Our room/bungalow was neat and clean, with fresh jungle flowers arranged every day. On our last night, the flowers were arranged in a large heart on the bed, with towels folded into pleasing shapes to complement the design. Our one complaint was that the beds consist of a very thin mattress on a wooden frame, and were quite hard. But with howler monkeys coming by and macaws flying over around 6am, we didn't spend that much time in the bed!
Really great experience. The rest of our Costa Rica trip paled in comparison. Would highly recommend to anyone visiting Costa Rica.





