Villa Tucan a hidden Gem in the rainforest

Our arrival at Villa Tucan was not at all what I had expected. Instead of being excited to be here I was feeling completely on edge and questioning why we choose this place.

It didn't help that George had just voiced his opinion as we drove up 2 very steep hills which are the drive way to the house. But in all fairness to him he was the driver on the 4 hour ride from Santa Barbara to Puerto Viejo which is not an easy one.



Before we left the hotel in Santa Barbara we sat down with someone for directions to 32 which takes you into Limon.  The directions went something like this at britt coffee make a left, over a bridge to Y make a left, continue to fork right, pass police station on right, after red cross left, keep going until you get to the church make a left behind it and so on.

 Remember I am the GPS. We followed the directions as best we could but still  had to stop  5 times  to ask for directions & only one spoke English.  We finally found the church in some small town & a sign for Limon.  32 takes you through the cloud  forest of Braulio Carrillo. The road twists & turns as you go down the mountain. What makes it more challenging are truck drivers that are either going so slow you need to figure out when to pass them or the crazy ones who pass.  We keep remembering it is all part of the adventure. Finally we arrived Puerto Viejo now we just had to find the house.
  The directions  I got for the house we rented was look for the  restaurant "El Refugio" we are the road just after and then up two steep hills.  Of course I hadn't written down the name of the restaurant so was going by memory which wasn't a good thing.
 We had made it.

 We meet the owner, Emmanuelle & while showing the house tells us " there are lots of bugs & 95% don't bother you but if you see the bullet ant kill it." They are words you don't normally hear in Costa Rica. I had read about these ants they bite you and it feels like you were shot. The pain lasts 24 hours. At this point I am thinking what are we doing here. Now as she is talking all I hear is the teacher in Charlie Brown cartoon, whaw whaw whaw. The bathrooms are open air with ants that will kill you how can this be good. I am totally at this point outside my comfort zone.

The view from the deck

The bedroom

  Thankfully as I get settled in all these feeling of doubt disappear as I look around at all the beauty before me.  We can hear the waves of the ocean crashing in the distance, the birds in the trees, this was far from a mistake. This is exactly the place we want to be.