The community of Carate is located in a remote part of Costa Rica's Osa Peninsula, bordering on the incredible Corvocado National Park. It is a hard place to get to and when you get there it is largely undeveloped. This, for us, was part of the attraction. During our time in Carate we stayed at the lovely and spectacular Finca Exotica Eco Lodge, which is set in a glorious rainforest, full of wildlife.
Costa Rica: Tortuguero – Buddha Home
A review of Buddha Home & Cafe, comfortable accommodation & great food in Tortuguero, Costa Rica
Tortuguero is a small village on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast that is encompassed by a national park of the same name and lies on a rainforest-covered sandbar.
After checking into our accommodation and grabbing a bite to eat we thought we would explore what Tortuguero had to offer and to be honest it was not a lot! There is one main street which is where most of the shops and restaurants are located, and this is probably about a third of a mile from end to end. So, we were soon done with our little adventure and made a beeline for the largest store in town. Just we were approaching there was a power outage. It was still daylight so seeing our way around was not an issue, the problem is in this day and age, shops rely on electricity to power their tills – but importantly the credit card machines. One thing to be aware of is that there is no ATM in the village. There was one installed a few years back, but it got stolen. Having seen the village police force sitting around and just chatting among themselves it was no surprise that the culprits were never apprehended.
By all accounts, power outages are common in Tortuguero, so they are used to improvising. Luckily, we had cash and were happy to get a paper receipt.
BUDDHA HOME
There are not a lot of options of where to stay in Tortuguero, but after a bit of research we settled on the Buddha Home, which is located in the heart of the village on the main thoroughfare.
The house is securely located in a lush, tropical garden. That said this is a small village and the neighbouring properties are just the otherside of the fence so don’t expect solitude.
There are only a handful of rooms at the Buddha Home. We went for a small double room called the Madonna. It was quite tiny with little to no storage – but that was not a problem for us. There was a comfortable queen-sized bed and a chari and that was about it. Not much light gets in through the single, small window.
Beyond the bed area is a small room that has a counters with a coffee machine (plus free delicious Costa Rican coffee) and a toaster. There was also a small refrigerator belpw the counter. The rest of the space is made up of a sink and separate shower and toilet room. Altogether, compact and bijou.
THE BUDDHA CAFE
Directly across from the Buddha Home is the Buddha Cafe. This is where you check into your room at the Buddha Home. You’ll also get a complementary cocktail on arrival!
Not only was the Buddha Cafe convenient for where we were staying it also turned out to be our favourite restaurant in Tortuguero with some great vegan / vegetarian options.
The outdoor seating area was lovely, with tables right down on the river’s edge. There were also some comfy seats, but you might have to share them with the cafe’s cats!
We really enjoyed our stay at the Buddha Home. It’s location in the centre of Tortuguero Village was ideal. The room was small but perfectly comfortable, and worked for our 2-days stay. And it had effiecient air-conditioning which is essential in this part of the world!
The staff were extremely courteous and helpful.
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