Los Campesinos Ecolodge — Attraction in San Lorenzo

A beautiful secluded property where life slows down and you can embrace the natural surroundings. Visitors need to understand what type of experience is offered before booking so you can avoid being one of the idiots leaving a bad review because of no internet access.

Do not expect cell service or reliable wifi. The staff speaks little-to-no English, but it’s not a problem. I would recommend asking lots of questions through WhatsApp before booking/arriving to better understand your experience. You can use a translation app to communicate over WApp if you don’t speak Spanish.

There is nothing to buy here. No bar, no drinks or food to purchase outside of included meals. They make a nice breakfast, lunch and dinner. It’s plenty of food with the rice and beans.

The drive to Los Campesinos is - bit challenging, especially now with the main route washed out and requiring an extra “transfer” step from Santo Domingo de Savegre. This costs $55 but I feel like it should be included since there is no other way to reach the lodge unless you want to walk a few miles up a steep dirt road with all your stuff. If you have a car, you leave it on a little farm and walk a few hundred meters to a small suspension bridge where you cross the Savegre River then get onto a truck for the rest of the way.

We stayed for a night and took the cooking class and horseback riding tour. Upon arrival we were greeted by Victor (the older of two Victors) who served as our primary host. His English is virtually non-existent but he finds ways to communicate and is a happy, funny, friendly, and welcoming gentleman.

Victor immediate started showing us around the property and we explored local flora and fauna. Without really knowing what the plan was, we were brought to a local home for the cooking class (and ate lunch) and right after began the horseback riding tour. We wished we knew this was all happening as we didn’t fully prepare ourselves and may have changed clothes as well as bringing a bottle of water and perhaps other preparations.

The tours were fun. The horseback riding was along the same road to the Savegre River we took during the transfer up. That was a little underwhelming since we’d already seen the whole road. I wish the tour went somewhere else. Unless you love riding horses, you may be better off doing the hiking tour.

The trails, suspension bridges and waterfalls are really easy to navigate and explore without a guide. That is the best aspect of this place by far. There lots of birds to see here. I highly recommend spending a few hours exploring on your own it’s a truly beautiful and...

Go go go! Amazing place if you appreciate beautiful nature, waterfalls and a ‘local’ experience. We stayed for two nights with our kids (4 and 2) and had a blast. Hanging bridge, spotting animals, horseback ride, our guide Victor was very friendly, the fact that my kids went with him in no-time was telling :-) Swimming in a fresh natural pool under a waterfall while a group of ‘Mono Tici’ monkeys was travelling through the trees next to it was simply amazing (and a much more ‘natural’ experience than for example the hordes at Manuel Antonio). The lodge is a ‘cooperativo’ run by the families from the village, some 60 families benefit from it. Various people work a shift in for example the restaurant and work as guide, so the (good value) price you pay actually ends up locally, something we appreciate! The cabin was great, clean, decent bedding, good hot shower. Food was great, and all the staff was very friendly. As an example, the hiking boot of my wife was broken and our driver had it fixed by somebody in the village for a few dollars, so we could hike again! Note: Contact and book via whatsapp, with Google translate goes a long way if you don’t speak Spanish. Once on site everybody is véry friendly and communication is no problem. Make sure you ask which road to take, the main road (via Londres) was wiped out by a storm/rain already three times this year (we found this out the hard way haha). Alternative access is via the walking bridge at Santo Domingo Pueblo. Across where you can be picked up by 4x4 (so handy to have a 2-day pack ready). Parking your own car at the drivers instruction on a farm close by (in our case). My advice would be to confirm and/or arrange this upfront by call or WhatsApp...

I didn't stay at the lodge but ate at the restaurant and spent a few hours resting and visiting there. Very nice location, with friendly staff and very decent typical restaurant. Thew waterfalls (there are several) are beautiful and you can have an unusual viewpoint on the main one thanks to a 40m high hanging bridge (about 120 feet, see my picture). The place is quite away from usual touristic attractions and usually very calm, although you can oftentimes find a group of tourists rappelling down the two main waterfalls. The place is accessible through a dirt road that can be challenging in the rainy season; I would advise 4x4 only if there is the slightest risk of rain. If you go there on motorcycle, do yourself a treat: don't turn around to come back but follow whatever road there is going on from there until you reach rio Savegre. If you go there by car first know that you'll need a 4x4 and then the road leads to a ford that is quite wide and quite deep as long as you are not in April. However if you have a very narrow vehicle (cue motorcycle) you can take the hanging...