Our stay at Casa Aba Matapalo
Location
On our second day and first visit to Costa Rica, we drove from Alajuela, near the San Jose airport towards the Pacific coast (West Coast). We passed through Jaco, taking a brief tour. We then continued further South through Parrita seeing glimpses of the Pacific ocean at times throughout the drive. Along the route, we passed roadside Sodas (small open-air family-owned restaurants). Between them, were roads that lead to small towns away from the ocean.
We arrived a few hours later in Matapalo. Matapalo is a tiny village with a soda. The soda is called A Kachete, which had a connected grocery store. Across the street is a park for skateboarding, and a beach called Playa Matapalo. Driving down the main road in Matapalo, we saw Capuchin monkeys crossing the road through the trees above. As well as an iguana sunning itself on the warmth of the road. Casa Aba Matapalo, is not directly beachside, but across the main road and a short distance to the beach.
Casa Aba Matapalo is a little bed & breakfast situated among beautiful palms and gardens. As we entered the property, we passed a lovely pool and were greeted by Philipe, a Belgian man. Philipe owns the property. He checked us in and showed us our room, which was a studio with a kitchen, two queen beds, and a bathroom. This would be our home for three days. The room had windows with screens around three sides and no air conditioning. We didn’t miss it with the nice cross breeze.
Nearby Sights
Every day we would depart to explore other areas nearby, such as Quepos, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, Uvita and Ojochal. Casa Aba was perfectly positioned to be out of the busy tourist areas, making it a little less expensive, but close enough to visit multiple destinations in one day.
The Breakfast and Dinners
Spending most of our time touring other areas, we would often eat at a roadside soda. In the evenings we would head back to eat at A Kachete, the Matapalo neighborhood soda. When we would arrive back at Casa Aba, Philipe would have jazz and classic Frank Sinatra playing over the pool area. We spent our late afternoons and evenings laying by the pool, swimming, and watching Capuchin monkeys travel by. There was said to be a resident sloth at the B&B for many months, but Philipe said he was on vacation.
Philipe had asked if we wanted breakfast the next morning and said he would cook us a traditional Belgian breakfast. His English was okay, but he spoke French and Spanish well. We agreed to breakfast. When we awoke the next day, Philipe had our table set by the pool. He had an American flag passing by on a monkey tram that crossed the property. (See video). The breakfast was fresh fruit (common for every Costa Rican breakfast), Belgian pancakes, and eggs. It was wonderful.
Day 3
That day, additional tourists had checked in to all four open studios. All rooms were unique in their own way, clean, and reasonably priced. We left again to drive to Dominical and up the twisty roads through Platanillo. Then to San Isidoro de el General and then traveled South to Uvita and Jojochal. The entire drive was beautiful with several sodas along the way. Then it was back to Casa Aba. My husband and son enjoyed swimming at the beach, while my daughter and I chose the pool.
We got to know Philipe and promised to keep in touch. I would recommend Casa Aba as a perfect basecamp situated between Jaco and Jojochal. Visiting Philipe again is in our future.
The Weather
By the way, the weather in August was humid and hot and it rained every afternoon. Once, it rained all night long, but it was wonderful. It came straight down, so we could keep all windows open in our studio. On our drive up the mountain, the air was a bit cooler. The view was amazing and we watched a thunderstorm roll in from the ocean, as we ate by a roadside soda.
