“Family, like branches in a tree we all grow in different directions, yet our roots remain as one.” – unknown

After a delightful vegetarian lunch with our hosts Eric and Francesca at the Cascada Naguala Ecolodge, it was time to pack our bags once again and be off to our final destination of my week long adventure in the Osa Peninsula. We were staying at a tiny family-run ecolodge on the outskirts of Drake Bay where I’d be flying back home in two days.

If I had imagined that the fun and adventure were over, I was thankfully wrong. I had spent the past six days inside the thick of the jungle and now I would get my time of sun and fun at the beach. Finally, I’d get to dip my Minnesota toes in the warm, soft waters of the ocean and watch the sunset over the ocean’s horizon.

By this point in the trip, nothing about the road conditions phased me anymore. River crossings and bumpy, mountainous unpaved roads were all part of the experience. Not seeing a single road sign was also common nor any place to stop to use the bathroom or grab something to eat. Even seeing other cars was uncommon and there were definitely no tour buses on the roads we traveled.

Drake Bay is much smaller than Puerto Jimenez, where I first landed by small plane into the Osa Peninsula. Besides a few high-end ecolodges and a handful of middle of the range accommodations and restaurants, there isn’t much else there. The one thing I did see however for the first time since leaving Puerto Jimenez were tourists which felt like a little bit of a shock.

The rural tourism part of my trip was near the end and now I’d be lumped back together with the tourists. Thankfully, our lodging was locally and family-owned with not a single non-Costa Rican tourist except for us. I was getting spoiled by the complete immersion into Costa Rican life and culture. I didn’t want to let go of that feeling just quite yet.

Heading along the road to Drake Bay

Driving to Drake Bay

Drake Bay