Everything
You Need To Know
GETTING TO OUR CASAS
Flying From San Jose:
If you’re flying from San Jose, please send us your arrival and departure times for in-country Costa Rican flights. (We do not need your international flight info). Please email your flight info to info@casabambu.com
Driving from San Jose:
We recommend National Car Rental. For a 5% discount use this link and promotional code Bamboo when you reserve with National.
You can rent a car in San Jose, once you arrive in Puerto Jimenez, or anywhere else in Costa Rica. They are reliable, have a quick and easy online booking process, good prices and a large selection of cars.
National has a Puerto Jimenez office. It is essential to rent a car after landing in Puerto Jimenez. It’s also very helpful if there is an issue with the car while in our area.
Free pick up/delivery: If you stay at any hotel within 10 km of the San Jose Airport or National’s regional office, National will deliver or pick up your car at your hotel at no charge. Simply select Heredia-San Antonio de Belen for the National office location on the online National reservation form, then lower down under comments write “Deliver to” (and/or “Return to”) Name of the hotel at _:__ am/pm.”
RECOMMENDED HOTELS IN SAN JOSE
We recommend the Buena Vista Hotel. You can reserve by credit card through their secure website. At the bottom of the reservation form, where it says Additional Comments and/or Information, put “Referred by Lyn, Casa Bambu.” They always go the extra mile for our guests.
Many of our guests also like the Adventure Inn. It is currently #2 out of 78 San Jose hotels in San Jose on TripAdvisor, is conveniently located near the airport and has a free airport shuttle. For a 10% discount, reserve with through our link.
ARRIVAL IN PUERTO JIMINEZ
Let us know by emailing info@casabambu.com if you want us to arrange a taxi to meet your arrival flight into Puerto Jimenez and back to the airstrip on the day of departure. The taxi rate out to Casa Bambu is about $ 55 (one-way). They take dollars or colones. Do not rely on their having change.
WHAT TO BRING
- Quick-drying clothes
- T-shirts, tank tops and shorts
- A long-sleeved shirt and lightweight pants for San Jose
- Flashlights (with spare bulbs and batteries) are a MUST. A large beam is recommended.
- Binoculars if desired
- Day pack and water bottle for hiking
- Beach sheet or mat if desired (beach chairs are provided)
- Footwear
- Comfortable walking shoes and/or sport sandals
- “Aqua sox” (mesh and rubber water shoes) for ocean and creeks
- Flip flops or crocs
- Sunscreen (at least 50 SPF – 50+ is better)
- Sun hat
- Sunglasses
- Insect repellent (with DEET, although natural often works)
- Antibiotic ointment
- Swimmer’s Ear prevention drops
- An umbrella or light rain jacket in the green season
- Camera (plus batteries)
- Books, cards and games
- Spanish/English dictionary
THINGS TO DO
All tour guides are independent businesses and are not affiliated with us or our houses. Of course, we are always interested in feedback, but cannot be responsible for your tour experience.
Arrival To Puerto Jimenez
Map of Puerto Jimenez
![Puerto Jimenez map Puerto Jimenez Map](https://casabambu.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Puerto-Jimenez-map.jpg)
![Map of Matapalo Area Map of Matapalo Area](https://casabambu.b-cdn.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/matapalo-map.jpeg)
COOKING SERVICES MENU
YOUR RAINFOREST HOME
The white faced Capuchin monkeys are very smart and will steal your food if they can. They will enter the kitchen through any open window and swipe your fruit, eggs, sugar, salt–any food that is not in a jar, can or box, except for onions, garlic, greens, potatoes, carrots, and other root crops. Put all other edibles in the big plastic boxes or the plastic trash cans marked for food storage and keep the lid on.
The monkeys learned to overcome their natural avoidance of humans over the past few years because guests fed them. Now they have become pests, which is not good for them or us. Please do not feed any monkeys or wildlife ever, or let anyone in your group feed them. Please note: doing so would be a breach of your contract.
Phone
There is now a 4G phone signal here, plus wireless Internet with unlimited bandwidth at the house. The password is: oceanside.
Lights and fans
110- volt solar electric system powers the house. No adaptors are needed. To keep everything running well, turn off lights and fans when you’re not using them. (Bed fans are especially easy to forget).
Please conserve! Many of us are used to leaving everything on all the time. This does not work with solar power! If you are just a bit conscientious, you will have plenty of power. If not, the batteries can run down. If the battery voltage drops below 11.7 volts, please let us know so we can rectify the situation. The system accommodates just about all demands except hairdryers.
Keep us informed
Everything in the house should work perfectly. If something is not working, please let us know, so we can fix it promptly. We consider this a help, not a complaint, so don’t hesitate! It is challenging to keep things running in the jungle, and we can’t always know when something decides to malfunction.
Kitchen
There is a full kitchen, including a blender, plus an outdoor gas barbecue. There is no toaster, as the solar system can’t handle them. There is no coffee grinder. We have hot water in the shower, but not the kitchen. However the dish soap cuts grease effectively.
The refrigerator is solar powered and works very well. We do not have a freezer, but the fridge keeps food very cold, especially on the bottom, and keeps frozen items semi-frozen for a few days. Please put meat and fish in the plastic box provided in the fridge, as otherwise, it can leak into the fridge.
Empty bags of ice into the small cooler inside the fridge, along with any well-wrapped frozen food you don’t want to thaw immediately. The ice will stay solid for up to six days in the cooler if you keep the lid shut.
There is an extra sheet in each bedroom in case you get cool at night. If you need more linens or anything else, just ask.
Services
In the interest of conserving the ecosystem, the house is cleaned, sheets and towels replaced, and beds made every three days. If you want cleaning more often, let the staff know. If your sheets don’t need to be changed, tell us and we’ll skip the linen change of linens and just make the bed. (We are off grid and on a well, so frequent laundry loads impact the environment and the system. We appreciate your help in minimizing this impact).
Laundry services are available for $10/load (or 6000 colones). Because of the environmental impact of laundry, please consider requesting this only when absolutely necessary. Instead, consider washing by hand and traveling home with dirty clothes. We provide a clothesline in a sunny spot and laundry soap for handwashing and drying. Not the most convenient, but you’ll be helping the rainforest environment.
Toys
There are boogie boards, kayaks and beach chairs, shared among our houses. Please return them to the storage rack after use.
Surfboards are for rent locally at the following places:
casadosrios@yahoo.com; info@encantalavida.com; felipe@eltumbodelasolas.com; and at Surf Shop Lakos in Puerto Jimenez, down the street from the gas station, (keilor.campos@hotmail.com, phone 011-506-8917-1093). If you are driving from San Jose or Uvita, we’ve heard a good place to rent boards is at http://www.uvitasurfcamp.com/
When You Leave
– Be sure to leave your keys!
– Leave any food you are not taking in the kitchen. It will not go to waste!
– Check the house and safe thoroughly for all your belongings.
If you do leave something that you must have back, we will do our best to bring it to the US when we return and send it to you. In this case, we will need to charge you shipping costs.
See you in the rainforest!
Let us know if you have any questions by responding back to this email.
Casa Bambu
Reviews
Guest Reviews
“WIlliam, the manager (who lives next door) is wonderful. He was an excellent guide on our hike up to the nearby waterfall and is a master at fishing from the shore using the diving pelicans as fish finders.
Early morning swims on the empty beach, evening strolls accompanied by the ever present magnificent birds and monkeys. We are still relishing memories of these magical moments and will be back for more.”
“William took us on a hike to a nearby waterfall where he spotted wildlife for us that we never would have found otherwise. Our children loved the “set up” at Casa Bambu, where they were able to run around looking for wildlife and even playing with other kids staying in another house on the property. “
“Excellent stay. We woke up every day to monkeys and birds visiting us and went to bed listening to the ocean waves. The location was perfect, with great access to nearby trails and waterfalls, obviously the beach and a local restaurant bar with reasonably priced, good-tasting meals. The owners were very quick to respond to requests. Can’t recommend the place enough.”
“William, the property manager, took us on a really fun tour of the Rainforest near this property. The swim at the waterfall at the end of the hike was refreshing and fun, especially for the girls who safely jumped off the rocks beneath the falls several times.”
Your Adventure Awaits
Questions?
Reach out and we can help answer any questions you may have.