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It needs to be said first and foremost that a trip to Drake Bay isn't just a journey in miles, but a journey backward in time. Dozens of square miles of lush green tropical rain forest blanket the area. With only about 300 inhabitants, including children, horses and dogs there is plenty of room to stretch your legs. Because the one roads leading into the north of the Osa Peninsula is impassable most of the year, automobiles and trucks are splendidly scarce in Drake Bay. Similarly, there is no bus line, train station or regularly visited airports. The few places that have electric lights (ours being one) get their electricity from generators or from solar power. There is only one tiny store (called a "pulperia") that receives its merchandise the same way everyone in Drake Bay receives virtually everything -- by boat.
After arriving you will immediately notice the absence of 24 hour convenience stores, roads and people. However, this physical isolation is what has allowed Drake Bay to remain special. Some liken Drake Bay to what Hawaii must have looked like before hotel chains and strip malls invaded the beaches.
In many ways, life in Drake Bay is how life was lived for most of the "civilized" world in centuries past. The primary mode of transportation is the human foot or horseback. The day to day rhythms of life leave space for conversation with friends, walking on the beach, fishing, horseback riding, or eating a leisurely meal. A visit to Drake Bay is the perfect antidote to the fast paced life of a modern city.
Fresh baked bread, fresh fish from the local fishermen, and wonderfully ripe local fruits (you can't get fruit this fresh, ripe, or juicy in the States for love or money), supplement the Mexican and Italian dishes served in the dining room. It just may be the clean air, the exercise, or the fact that you just picked the juiciest mango on a hike around the bay, but food simply tastes better on the Osa Peninsula.
Compressed in the city, time begins to expand here. Days begin early, as the sun spectacularly rises at about 5:00am every morning. The photo to the left was taken
at 5:15am from the dining room. This is the tropics, near the equator, where the sun always rises at 5:00am and sets about 5:30pm, year round. The cool comfortable mornings are the time for activities, horse back riding, beach combing, fishing, hiking, swimming and scuba diving all begin early . The evenings come early for the local inhabitants who don't own generators, most of whom are generally asleep by 9pm.
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When visiting, remember that the most important thing to bring is a desire to get away from the hectic, crisis filled modern lifestyle. Don't expect all the convenience of a big city, just allow the sun, sea and scenery to relax your mind and purify your soul. As one local adage states, "Nature is the best doctor, if you'll just let her do her job".
For Reservations & information mail to: kayak@racsa.co.cr
telephone: (506)735 5195 / fax: (506)735 5692
Puerto Jimenez, Peninsula de Osa, Costa Rica
