Standard bungalow

Every bungalow consists of one or two bedrooms with private bathroom and a terrace. The four-person bungalows have a living room with a fully equipped kitchen. All the rooms offer a spectacular view of the valley with its cloud forest covered mountains. A walking trail system provides access to the nearby nine hectare private cloud forest reserve; some bungalows are only 50 meters away, others are inside the forest.

Bedrooms All the bedrooms offer a beautiful view of the surrounding mountains. Large glass windows, some 6 meters wide, give you the impression of sleeping in the forest itself, under the brightest stars. All Standard rooms have queen-sized beds, goose-feather duvets, heating, mini bar, coffeemaker, Satellite TV, Jacuzzi, hairdryer and safe deposit box.

Living Room (four-person bungalows) There is a lounge with electric heating, a satellite television and an enormous window that enables you to view spectacular sunsets. Next to the dining table there is a fully equipped open kitchen, with stove, coffeemaker, fridge and warm water, for those who want to prepare something on their own.

Suite The Suite is larger and has additional to the standard rooms a fireplace, a sunken Jacuzzi with two large windows and a private forest garden with its own trail. Breakfast will be served in the Suite, on it’s terrace or in your little private forest garden.

Pick-nick

If you want to take the lunch with you on a walk or trip, just let us know, we prepare delicious lunches in an old-fashioned pick-nick basket to take with you.

Tours

We offer tours in the surroundings with our own English speaking guides. Don’t miss our quetzal and bird-watching tours, furthermore the are excursions to the surrounding National Parks (Los Quetzales and Tapanti), the Cerro de la Muerte (Costa Rica’s second highest peak with its unique Paramo vegetation and amazing views) or a ride on horseback to the waterfalls. If you want to make a reservation in advance (recommended) we can send you our rates. Otherwise just ask at the reception upon arrival.

Laundry service

Washing, Drying and Ironing
Delivered before 11 AM ready before 7 PM same day
Delivered after 11 AM ready next day before 10 AM
In your Lodge you can find a laundry bag to put your clothes in, and a check-list.
 

Trails

Our 20 hectare private cloud forest reserve has an ideal trail system for bird-watching and the lodges are directly connected to these trails. The trails are made in the most natural way to minimize the impact on the forest and its inhabitants. Our forest is under protection of the Minae and only visitors staying at our lodge have access to the forest.

Almost 5 km of trails guides you through different types of primary forest with a crystal clear mountain stream, as well as various stages of regenerating forest. Orchids are flowering in the rainy season (August-November) and the beginning of the dry season (December-January). Many green bromeliads thrive on the forest floor while the red ones crown the canopy some 40 meters above you in this realm of the Quetzals.

Bird watching

Over 130 bird species have been counted in this region, most of them you can encounter just walking on the trails or sitting comfortable on your terrace overseeing the nearby canopy and the adjacent mountains. Here you will find yourself in the clouds, with parakeets and hawks flying below you. The different primary forest types as well as the stages of regenerating forest alternated with clearings make this area ideal for bird watching. We provide Quetzal-tours into the valley.


The birds

The reason for many to visit the cloud forest or even Costa Rica is to see a glimpse of the Resplendent Quetzal. But the forest has a lot more to offer; red-tailed hawks, acorn woodpeckers and long-tailed silky flycatchers rest in the canopies of the old oaks, wood-quails walk in front of you on the trails, black guans and emerald toucanets move through the dense vegetation just above you and mixed flocks of treerunners, flycatchers and redstarts surround you. And this all accompanied by the beautiful metallic sound of the black-faced solitaire.

Have a look at the bird-checklist and mammal-checklist of this region.

Mammals

A variety of mammals can be found here, although it is not that easy to see them. The diversity of species, especial the larger ones, is possible thanks to the interconnection of the many national parks and reserves in the region.

In this way the Los Santos Forest Reserve is connected directly to the cloud forest corridor that reaches from Cartago in the Central Valley to the Barú Volcano in Panama. This allows you to encounter species like the tapir, cougar, peccary, ocelot and deer in this region. But you are more likely to see porcupines, squirrels, capuchin monkeys or tayras.

Dantica Lodge & Gallery 
Tour Rates  2010-2011          
With English/Spanish speaking guide             
Children untill 6 years free, 6-12 years half price             
Lunch or snack available to take with you; snack 4,50 US$, lunch 9,50 US$

* It can happen that you have to enter a private property with admission fee, depending the migration pattern of the Quetzal. This fee is NOT included in the rates and is 3US$ per person
**This tour is only possible with transportation of Dantica
***Depending where you will go in the valley

Tour description:

1. Quetzal Tour

Leave for an early morning walk to see the Resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), the sacred bird of the Aztec and Maya Cultures. San Gerardo de Dota is known to be the best place in Costa Rica to see this magnificent bird.

Starts at 6.15 am from one of our parkings
Duration: 2 Hours
Location: Valley of San Gerardo de Dota
Don´t forget to bring: binoculars, walking shoes, warm clothing, poncho

2 & 3. Bird Watching Tour

Explore the valley of San Gerardo de Dota and see the birds that are typical for the upper montane cloud forest, such as the emerald toucanet (Aulacorhynchus prasinus), black guan (Chamaepetes unicolor), spotted wood-quail (Odontophorus guttatus) and volcano hummingbird (Selasphorus flammula)

Starts at 6.15 am, 9.00 AM and 3.00 pm from one of our parkings
Duration: 2 or 4 Hours
Location: Valley of San Gerardo de Dota
Don´t forget to bring: binoculars, walking shoes, warm clothing, poncho

4. Excursion Cerro de la Muerte Tour*

Visit the second highest peak in Costa Rica (3480 meters asl) with its unique Páramo vegetation and with a beautiful view of the Pacific coast and the volcanoes

Starts at 6.15 am and 9.00 am from one of our parkings
Duration: 3 Hours
Location: Cerro de la Muerte, which is part of the National Park Los Quetzales
Don´t forget to bring: binoculars, walking shoes, warm clothing, poncho, sunglasses

* Entrance fee is NOT included in the rates. At the moment there is no entrance fee for the National park, when an entrance fee is introduced we will charge it extra.

5. Cerro de la Muerte Walk*

Walk down the second highest peak in Costa Rica (3480 meters asl) into the forest of the San Gerardo de Dota valley.

Starts between 9.00 am and 11.00 am from one of our parkings
Duration: 6 Hours
Location: Cerro de la Muerte, which is part of the National Park Los Quetzales, and valley of San Gerardo de Dota.
Don´t forget to bring: binoculars, walking shoes, poncho

* Entrance fee is NOT included in the rates. At the moment there is no entrance fee for the National park, when an entrance fee is introduced we will charge it extra.
This walk goes partly through private property 5--US$ per person is included in the rate.

6. Los Quetzales National Park Plant Tour*

Visit the newest National Park in Costa Rica and enjoy a plant tour to know the local -mainly endimic- flora.

Starts at 9.00 am and 1.00 pm from one of our parkings
Duration: 3 Hours
Location: National Park Los Quetzales
Don´t forget to bring: binoculars, walking shoes, warm clothing, poncho

* Entrance fee is NOT included in the rates. At the moment there is no entrance fee for the National park, when an entrance fee is introduced we will charge it extra.

7. Los Quetzales National Park Walk*

Walk down from the National Park Los Quetzales into the forest of the San Gerardo de Dota valley

Starts between 9.00 am and 11.00 am from one of our parkings
Duration: 4-5 Hours
Location: National Park Los Quetzales and valley of San Gerardo de Dota
Don´t forget to bring: binoculars, walking shoes, poncho

* Entrance fee is NOT included in the rates. At the moment there is no entrance fee for the National park, when an entrance fee is introduced we will charge it extra.
This walk goes partly through private property 5,-- US$ per person is included in the rate.

8. Horse Back Tour to the waterfalls

Make an adventurous ride through rivers and lush forest to the waterfalls at the end of the San Gerardo de Dota valley

Starts between 9.00 am and 2.00 pm 3,5 km down the road
Duration: 2,5 Hours
Location: Valley of San Gerardo de Dota
Don´t forget to bring: binoculars, poncho

San Gerardo de Dota

General information

The valley of San Gerardo, Copey County, Dota District, San José Province, is located on the Pacific slopes of the Talamancan mountain range. Nowadays it is situated inside the Los Santos Forest Reserve and the Los Quetzales National Park, between 3.025 and 2.000 meters above sea level. There is a 9 kilometer long road that enters the valley at the top end, at 3.025 meters. There are two small rivers, the Ojo de Agua and the Savegre, they come together near the bridge and continue as a larger river called the Savegre, reaching the sea near Quepos. The forest is categorized as Upper Montane Cloud Forest, dominated by oak trees (Quercus spp.) that grow up to 50 meters and can live over 500 years. The average annual temperature in these oak forests may range from about 8° Celsius at 3.300 meters elevation to about 17° Celsius at 2.000 meters. The greatest daily temperature fluctuations and the highest temperatures occur in the dry season, which lasts from December through April in Costa Rica. These forests often experience a diurnal presence of clouds, which is why they are often called ´´cloud forests´´. The specific atmospheric humidity regime of these forests represents one of the main factors that cause the large array of differences in forest structure and functioning when compared to other tropical forests. In general annual rainfall ranges from 2.000 to 3.500 millimeters.

Not so long ago this valley was pristine, without inhabitants. In the 50´s the first family, Chacón, arrived here crossing the mountains from the west, from Copey and Santa María de Dota and were soon followed by other families like the Dada, Monge and Serrano. At the beginning they dedicated themselves to cattle ranching and later agriculture and carbon production, cutting down the forest on both sides of the river. There was no road and the valley was only accessible by foot or horse. The Cerro de la Muerte –summit of death- earned its name making many victims who tried to cross the mountain from the Central Valley to the South by foot, unable to withstand the torrential rains at the Paramó. At the end of the Second World War, 1944-1945, the United States built the Panamerican highway, connecting the United States with the Panama Canal. Because the Panamerican Highway only passed nine kilometers from the Chacón family they decided to connect the valley to the Highway, digging a road up the valley by hand. Of course this changed a lot. The Chacóns are the pioneers in tourism in this region and the first visitors started to arrive in the early 70´s.  A little later, in 1975, the valley was declared part of the Los Santos Forest Reserve. Both tourism and the protected status helped to stop the destruction of the forests. The growing community gave the valley the name of San Gerardo de Dota. In the 80´s several families started to cultivate rainbow trout, introduced in Costa Rica from Panamá (originally from the US and Canada), and nowadays it is one of the main sources of income after ecotourism.  After the formation of the Los Santos Forest Reserve the forests were protected, only in the formerly cleared parts were construction and cultivation allowed. Tourism was increasing  mainly because this valley is one of the best (if not the best) places in the world to see the resplendent Quetzal (Pharomachrus mocinno), sacred bird that was worshipped by the Aztecs and Mayas. In 2005 the Los Quetzales National Park was created, the newest National Park in Costa Rica and open to public since July 2008. The mountains on both sides of the valley of San Gerardo are now part of this National Park.

In the valley

For most people it is almost a must to see the Quetzal. We offer tours with the best guides in the valley to spot them, normally early in the morning. But with a bit of luck you can see them from the lodges or walking on the trails anytime of the day.

The road continues downhill for another 6 kilometers. At the end starts a trail that brings you to the most beautiful waterfall of the valley, through lush lower montane forest. The hike is not too easy and will take at least 3 hours. There are some nice trails in this lower region with beautiful fern-trees. The presence of some restaurants makes it ideal to combine this day-trip with a fresh apple or peach juice. The church is open on Tuesday every first and third week of each month, at 14.00 PM.

You can enjoy a steam bath with clay mask or have some fresh homemade pies at the cottage bakery (only open Saturdays and Sundays)

Around San Gerardo de Dota

Following the Pan-American Highway for nine kilometers towards
San Isidro, you can visit the Paramó vegetation of the Cerro the la Muerte. From here you can see spectacular sunrises and on a clear morning it is possible to see both the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean.

Less than an hour from here you reach San Isidro del General, a small and pleasant town, although it is the biggest in Southern Costa Rica. Nearby San Gerardo de Rivas is the starting point for walking up the Chiripó, highest peak in the country.

From San Isidro it is only 40 minutes more to reach to Pacific coast (from the lodges it is a 1.5 - 2 hours drive) at Dominical. Make sure to visit the nearby Parque Nacional de Ballenas.

From San Gerardo towards San Jose there are some private forest reserves worth visiting, like Madre Selva or Finca Eddy Serrano. At km 50 you can turn left to the Los Santos region. Around the coffee towns of Santa María de Dota and San Marcos de Tarrazú there are a number of tours to be made, like the coffee tour, fruit tour and canopy tour among others. We work together with Los Santos Tours to arrange daytrips for you.

Visiting protected areas and National Parks

There are a number of protected areas around Dantica that are
worth visiting. Here is the driving time from Dantica to the main entrance of each Park or Reserve in a radius of 2,5 hours with a short description:

Los Santos Forest Reserve- 0 minutes
You are here actually inside the reserve, because Dantica and San Gerardo belong to it. It consists of Lower and Upper Montane Cloud Forest between 1.500 and 3.000 meters altitude.

Los Quetzales National Park - 20 minutes
This is Costa Rica´s newest National Park. 13 Kilometers towards San Isidro and 9 towards San José you wil lfind the entrances of this park with Upper Montane Cloud Forest and Paramó vegetation. The park ranger station is on the San José side.

Click the picture to enlarge 
 

Tapantí National Park - 2,5 horas
On the other side of the Panamerican Highway you are already in the Tapantí National Park, though the entrance of the Park is in Orosí. The forest consists of Medium to Upper Montane cloud Forest, but much more humid than the los Quetzales National Park.

Lankester Botanical Gardens - 1,5 hours

These beautiful gardens give you an good idea of the flora in Costa Rica in
a nutshell. Lankester works on the protection and reproduction of many endangered endemic species, that is why we placed it in the protected area section. They are especially known for their orchid collection.

Volcán Irazú National Park - 2 hours

The highest volcano is definitely worth a visit. You can see both oceans from its highest view point. The vegetation consists of dwarf forest and bare land with two craters.





 

 

Guayabo National Monument- 2,5 hours
Here are Costa Rica´s largest and best known ruins, and especially its setting in lush forest makes it an interesting place to visit.

Chirripó National Park - 2 hours
From San Gerardo de Rivas you have to walk up the mountain and this walk will take you at least 2-3 days. You will pass through Montane Cloud Forest into the spectacular Paramó with many small lagoons and beautiful views

Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge- 2 hours
This is a private reserve that is well worth visiting, especially because of its conservational emphasis, good bird and mammal watching and a large variety of tours and canopies.

Marino Ballena National Park - 2,5 hours

The perfect place to see dolphins and whales, though the latter are rather seasonal. The Park consists of several beaches and lots of open sea.

While staying at our Lodge we are happy to provide you with more detailed information.