Punta Leona Trip Gallery . . .

. . . is finished and ready for visits! Just click the gallery image or go to this web address: https://charliedoggett.smugmug.com/TRIPS/2025-12-23-27-Punta-Leona

End of Punta Leona Reports + Future Plans

If you were getting tired of photos from Punta Leona, you will be glad to know that tomorrow I go back to photo reports from my garden! 🙂

And my travel plans for 2026 have only 3 reservations confirmed and I might add a close-by new hotel in the March to May time period, we’ll see. The three scheduled are to my top 3 favorite lodges/hotels in Costa Rica, with Esquinas Rainforest Lodge a close 4th, but I went there last year for my birthday, so skipping this year.

July 2-7, 2026 –Maquenque Eco Lodge, Boca Tapada- Where I will celebrate my 86th birthday with the family that run this lodge, the place where I photograph more species of birds and other animals than anywhere, making it my #1 favorite lodge, though my #2 favorite is almost tied for first place for different reasons, Arenal Observatory, where I go in December this year.
September 14-18, 2026 – Hotel Banana Azul (hotel link with my room as feature photo) or see their video at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhBNpptSXMc&t=5s, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Limón. This is my most relaxing place in CR, and my source of more butterfly photos than any other in Costa Rica, other than my garden! 🙂 It is also my favorite beach that I can see from my room (their website feature photo) in the always requested Howler Suite or Room 1, where I am also put to sleep at night by the sounds of the surf and start my days early on the beach for the best sunrises I’ve found yet. And my wildlife & nature photography is fulfilled by morning trips to Cahuita National Park & Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge, plus this year I will try for Tidepool photos at Cahuita, probably a separate trip at low tide. I also see more Sloths here than anywhere else! And 3 of the best animal rescue places in Costa Rica! 🙂
December 23-28, 2026 – Arenal Observatory Lodge & Trails (lodge site link) is just excellent in every respect even if not as many species at Maquenque! 🙂 And possibly the best restaurant of the three this year and very popular with Ticos for Christmas time. I tried to get a reservation for last Christmas 12 months ahead and they were booked solid! So this year I made my reservation 13 months ahead! 🙂 Some of my better nature photos come from this lodge and I have a favorite room here also! #29, which has two vistas, one of the volcano up close and the other of Lake Arenal with sunset possibilities, though more indirect in December. 🙂

So with fewer travels per year than those early years here, I tend to choose favorites to repeat. But I may sneak in a couple of nights at a new hotel nearby around March, April or May: The old Villa Lapas (simple, locally owned/operated at Carara NP and Tarcoles) was bought by Marriott and I would like to try it out to see if it is worth what I’m sure will be higher prices. They now call it Santa Lucia Jungle Hacienda (a Marriott “Autograph Collection” hotel) and it doesn’t open until late January with neither phone nor reservation system working yet. 🙂 My 2 trips to Villa Lapas trip galleries linked:

And a 2nd Postscript:

Costa Rica . . . the best health and wellness destination

Healthcare and medical tourism has always been big here with many “medical tourists” coming here not only from the U.S. and Canada but from Spain where this award was given. See the Q Costa Rica article on this recognition: Costa Rica is awarded as the best health and wellness destination. People come here for surgeries and big dental projects for less than half the cost in the U.S. and they get a tropical vacation along with the treatment! 🙂

And I don’t know if Yoga Retreats count, but there are a lot of those here also! 🙂 And to me just being in this peaceful country without an army, especially out in one of the many nature preserves is very healthy! 🙂

¡Pura Vida!