Location: Costa Rica
http://www.laparios.comBook Now
Set in a private nature reserve spread over 900 acres of Central America's last remaining lowland tropical rainforest in Costa Rica, Lapa Rios Rainforest Ecolodge overlooks the pristine point where the Golfo Dulce meets the wild Pacific Ocean.
Lapa Rios is more than just a beautiful rainforest hotel or an eco resort near the beach. Lapa Rios is a model ecotourism project, demonstrating owners John and Karen Lewis’ belief that no matter how you cut it, a rain forest left standing is worth more. Lapa Rios has won worldwide awards for social and environmental excellence, and is a featured sustainable tourism pioneer in many international publications and research projects. It has been recognised and recommended by the Rainforest Alliance, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Forbes, National Geographic Traveler and Trip Advisor.
By staying at Lapa Rios, guests support the conservation of the rainforest and provide direct employment and income to more than 45 families in the area. The ecolodge employs only community members, is committed to environmentally sound practices and has been awarded Costa Rica’s highest sustainable tourism certification (CST).
Sixteen spacious suiita-thatch bungalows hidden within the rain forest were hand built to provide eco-luxury accommodations that celebrate relaxation, nature and the local culture. Private, large decks have outdoor showers, and huge hammocks allow guests to enjoy the astounding views and rainforest activity that surrounds them. Newly remodelled bathrooms invite guests on a sensory journey, featuring a dual showering experience. On one side, a stone-laid floor massages your feet as you shower under soft, rain-like cool water, providing the unique sensation of showering in your own private waterfall.
The main lodge and the Brisa Azul restaurant soar 350 feet above the sea and, like the private bungalows, are built of locally harvested materials and have an intricately woven palm thatched roof. Lapa Rios also offers a variety of multi-faceted explorations and activities so that guests experience the sense of place, hands on. Guided tours offer opportunities to hike up and down through virgin rain forest to pristine waterfalls, splash back along the Carbonera River, share the cool early morning air with the 319 bird species that inhabit the reserve, and surf and kayak among a rainbow of tropical fish. The team at Lapa Rios provides personalised service and expert advice on activities and local culture. Guests are also encouraged to relax by the large outdoor pool and allow the magic and beauty of this tropical rainforest to embrace them.
Lapa Rios is 12 miles South of Puerto Jimenez at Playa Carbonera and the best way to reach it is via domestic airline into Puerto Jimenez.
The Lapa Rios Wildlife Reserve was initially established to conserve and restore a significant area of lowland tropical rainforest in the Osa Peninsula, the most bio-diverse region of Costa Rica, as well as to provide livelihood opportunities to the local communities and to improve awareness about conservation and sustainable environmental management, through support to basic education in local schools and by the provision of job training opportunities. This important conservation initiative happened at a time when the Osa Peninsula’s forests were being gradually degraded as a result of human population pressure and unsustainable land use practices, which was resulting in loss of forest connectivity, especially with the nearby Corcovado National Park. The preservation of the Lapa Rios Wildlife Reserve therefore not only protected a significant area of primary rainforest (approximately 80% of the reserve is primary forest) but also began the process of restoration of degraded areas which had previously been converted to cattle pastures. Today, there has been a dramatic recovery of the forest, and vigorous secondary forest growth now covers most previously degraded areas.
Alongside and complementary to its role in rainforest conservation, Lapa Rios has also been a leader in demonstrating best environmental management practices for its ecotourism operation, for which it has received the highest grading (five leaves) in the Costa Rican national sustainable tourism programme “Certification for Sustainable Tourism” (CST), putting Lapa Rios in the forefront of environmentally responsible tourism in the country.
Lapa Rios recognises the importance of promoting local culture and traditions not only to its guests but more importantly to its surrounding communities. Guests come in contact with the rich Cost Rican culture in many ways ranging from the artists and craftsmen that visit the lodge to traditional cooking workshops and a variety of local dishes which are included in its daily menu. Continuously seeking to create an even greater platform for intercultural exchange, Lapa Rios plans to host various cultural events that showcase local culture through art and music.
The economic success of Lapa Rios’s ecotourism operation is a key aspect of the long-term sustainability of the entire project. To this end Lapa Rios is working on several initiatives to further strengthen the foundation for the future development of the Reserve and the Eco-lodge. These include the development of new ecotourism activities designed to increase the attractiveness of the destination to visitors.
Lapa Rios has recently developed a Sustainability Master Plan which aims to provide a framework on which any future development of the Lapa Rios’s ecotourism product will be based. The master planning process was led by ecotourism and architectural specialists and involved a wide range of Lapa Rios’s stakeholders including the owners, the managers, Lapa Rios staff, and other experts. The master plan sets out a comprehensive vision for the future development of Lapa Rios’s ecotourism product, including ambitious proposals for additions to the existing eco-lodge, as well as new ecotourism products.
