Bosque del Río Tigre Lodge

Fodorite Reviews

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  Bosque del Río Tigre Lodge Review

  Several years ago I fell in love with this little lodge on the banks of the Rio Tigre and have returned as a paying guest every year since. The owners, Liz Jones and Abraham Gallo, understand environmental issues and are dedicated to preserving the river and rainforest - as well as providing a world class experience for their guests. From time to time I take small groups to the Rio Tigre, and without fail their comments to me indicate that this was the absolute highlight of their trip. I am shocked by the negative reviews of this lodge and can only conclude that the individuals posting were either very ill prepared for life in the rainforest or had a personal axe to grind. The review posted by the individual hiking across the Osa actually refers to a group I hosted - far from being investors, they were enjoying a family reunion, which is the reason that Liz asked the hiker not to disturb them. She is very protective of guests and the family had filled every room in the lodge, leaving none for the hiker, who had signed on only for the guide service across the peninsula. I think he was annoyed to find that his needs did not have priority.

  by Carol_Cespedes, 10/19/11
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  Bosque del Río Tigre Lodge Review

  We had a terrible experience at this place. We went there for birding and for a guided tour across the Corcovado. The owners, Liz and Abraham, were cordial at first and the bird guide we had, Stephan, was very professional. However the after the second day, when we totalled up our bill the charges were almost twice what was expected and did not even seem to fit the printed list of charges that they have at the lodge. Furthermore on the night before our guided hike across the park (they had arranged for a Nephew of Abraham, a local, to guide us across) some guests who were apparently investors in the place showed up. Liz informed us to not speak to these guests in the morning before we set off on our hike so as not to disturb them. At 6am, when we we met our guide to set off, Liz told us to move away from the lodge so as not to "disturb this family gathering." The owner made a number of further disturbing and rude commens to us. It was no surprise that this rude and disgusting behavior bgan right after we had paid our bill.
  
  This is a terrble place to stay. Although the birding is very nice the bird guides are not paid a living wage and are housed in disgusting degrading conditions by the owners. The final bill was almost twice what was expected, I would not recommend anyone go to this lodge before first confirming all the costs fully in ADVANCE.
  
  There are NO monkeys, that we saw, anywhere in the vicinity of this place. The river it is on is very close to the town which is full of former gold miners and the area is therefore not isolated at all.
  
  While the birding may be excellent the owners seem to have issues and do not treat the guests in a profesional or courteous manner. The value is terrible. There are better lodges with better birding and friendly authentic owners in Carate and elsewhere.
  
  Highly not recommended.

  by SJulianF, 1/23/10
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  Bosque del Río Tigre Lodge Review

  I spent four nights at the Bosque del Rio Tigre on a birding trip over the Thanksgiving Holiday and was quite pleased. Abraham the bird guide and chef at the lodge is quite awesome. I booked during the pre-high season, and lucked out as I was the only one at the lodge during this time period, so I had the run of the place. Abraham is an excellent guide who does not use tapes and has quite an ear for the birds of the area. I signed up for the unlimited guiding and used it to the most including a day trip to the Rincon area. Had excellent looks at several species of Endangered and Regional Endemic birds, and always a good dinner when relaxing in the evening. Elizabeth seems to pretty much run the day to day maintenance and upkeep of the lodge, and amazing job when you think about it.
  When I checked out this lodge I thought the price seemed a little high, but after the experince of my own private bird guide, excellent food and good company the price did not seem high at all. This lodge is not for everyone since it is quite small (4 upstairs bedrooms with a shared bath. The showers are outside (but they are great - excellent showers) for cooling off after a hot humid day. If you are traveling alone or with a small group and are into bird watching or seeking to be near (actually right on top of) the rainforest this is for you. There is no big fancy pool or beach setting, just pure tropical rainforest,,,ahhhhhhh the joy! Remember this lodge is open to the forest and is not enclosed. the rooms all have mosquito netting over the beds....
  Would I go back? - No question, of couse - even if only to feast on the excellent dinners that Abraham cooks and to lounge in the hammocks while listening to Elizabeth tell of the local goings ons..........A PURE TREAT!!!!

  by birdhunter, 12/5/09
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  Ignore the first review!

  I loved this place, it is remote and wonderful, an eco lodge that in fact is an eco lodge. Another member complained that the owners will not put in a generator or run electrical power cables from town, instead of being slated for this they should be commended, running a generator on diesel is not an environmentally friendly option. I found the staff incredibly helpful and my husband and I both enjoyed the birding, we saw a yellow billed cotinga on our first day! The food was delicious, I mean who could complain about getting fresh tuna steak?
  
  I can whole heartedly recommend this place, especially for the birding and service. The owners are great hosts.

  by sam2009, 8/17/09
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  --------A NIGHTMARE---------

  Absolutely the worst place, and one of the more expensive places, we have ever stayed in all our travels. 1.Food was terrible and we BOTH got FOOD POISONING. YES, REPEAT FOOD POISONING!!! 2. We expected no A/C but their were no 12 volt fans except one in the common area which did not work (or was disabled?) No place to cool off after a hot and humid hike. It was extremely hot and humid 3. This place is NOT in the wilds as it would seem from reading their website. It is 100 yards from a village and electricity. 4. Electricity and thus A/C available but not wanted due to "ecology reasons" (or maybe the extra $$$$) 5. Very few birds and no monkeys etc.-were told that monkeys had not been seen in area in months, yet 1st sentence on their website under overview mentions all the monkeys. 6. Locals in Puerto Jimenez warned us about the place, but we had already paid for three nights- We left after the 2nd night. 7. Got tired of listening to owner complain about no customers when it was very clear why there were no customers, but there were actually eight customers at the time of our stay, but none in the prior weeks and none expected for the next two weeks 8.They would not let one guest sent an important e-mail to her daughter so I drove her to a phone. 8. This guest was also not allowed to charge her camera battery. 9. Aparently their so called solar power was very inadequate. From what they charged each night, it would seem they could afford a small, quite Honda generator to charge their 12 volt batteries and supplement their "ecology correct" and inadequate solar system to give the guests a little more comfort and convience. Or hook up to electricity like all their other neighbors in this little village. 10. one of the guests was a devoted birder and had been told Abraham would be her guide. But when new guests came and the owners found out that one of them was a past official of the Audubon Society, they got the original guest a guide from the village and Abraham guided the party connected to the Audubon Society, catering to their ever need and ignoring the other guests.11. When one couple arrived, they found bats roosting in their room which had not been used in several weeks--Could go on and on about this place but I think I have made my point clear about this place. WE CERTAINLY DO NOT GIVE THIS PLACE OUR RECCOMMENDATION!!!!!

  by billyii, 6/28/09

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