Welcome to Rancho Armadillo :: Playas del Coco, Costa Rica

Rancho Armadillo has been Chosen as One of the Top Honeymoons Destinations in the Most Popular Tourist Area of Costa Rica by Brides Magazine!!

We were featured in the Sweet Spots Section of the July/August 2007edition of Brides magazine as one of (if not the) best honeymoon destinations in Costa Rica. So whether it's your first, second or third honeymoon - stay at Rancho Armadillo and see why we are the #1 choice of all the major Guide Books, Trip Advisor and now Brides Magazine (We also do great destination weddings).

"Low key couples who want a more authentic atmosphere choose centrally located inns like Rancho Armadillo, a Spanish-style estate, where the owner welcomes guests like family by dictating down to the mile marker directions to secret waterfalls, Places like this remind you that, despite the buzz, Costa Rica will never be a high-rise mecca. You can still find a hammock where the only sound will be a breeze rustling the trees. And if you listen closely, a howler monkey's screech. "
Lexi Dwyer - Brides

"SLEEPING WITH THE TOUCANS: 100 GREAT PLACES TO STAY IN COSTA RICA"
featuring Rancho Armadillo as one of the 100 great places to stay in Costa Rica . The guide book is available from internet booksellers (Amazon.com, etc) and from major bookstores in the U.S. For information and for ordering the book please contact the publishers at: www.sleepingwiththetoucans.com

Last November Playas del Coco finally received high speed internet service so we installed wireless internet connection so that our guests can check their flight status, hotel reservations and mom's & dad's can keep tabs on the kids while they enjoy their second honeymoon. Some guests might even be tempted to check their work emails, but mixing up a batch of pina coladas usually quashes that temptation. No need to bring your lap top, we purchased a new HP lap top for our guests to use not only for the internet but also to down load pictures onto CD's or send pictures of the great time they are having in Paradise to all their friends. We are now hooked up with SKYPE, the internet VIOP phone service, so now our guests can make & receive international phone calls for free.

We have a membership to the Papagayo Gulf and Country Club just outside of Sardinal, about 10 minutes from here. The newly completed 18 hole course is set among rolling hills with views of 3 volcanoes. Hazards include howler monkeys loudly commenting on your swing and the occasional iguana sunning himself on the green.

For guests at Rancho Armadillo 18 holes with cart & club rental will cost $50 per person. Considering 18 holes at the Four Seasons runs $250, Pinilla $175 and at Conchal $225, this is a great deal. Tennis courts are to be added in the near future.

In conjunction with Projecto de Luz, Rancho Armadillo with a generous donation from a guest who wishes to remain anonymous, has purchased complete uniforms and equipment for the first Coco Elementary School girls soccer team. There is no Title IX in Costa Rica and the girls are often left on the sidelines when it comes to extracurricular activities. Having raised 2 daughters who participated in sports as children and one receiving a full scholarship to college under Title IX for soccer. I realize the importance of learning team work at an early age. The girls first game came at a 2 day tournament sponsored by Projecto de Luz in conjunction with the annual Sandfest / beach clean-up festivities. The participants at the tournament were local area schools from Filadelfia, Guardia and Paso Tempisque. The 1st round had the girls playing Paso Tempisque and not only did they look good but they shut out Paso Tempisque 5-0. The following day they played Filadelfia for the championship of the Canton. The girls were the underdogs against the much larger school but once again dominated the filed and shut out the favorite 4 -0. Not only were they the best looking team but they are now champions of the Canton Filadelfia in the Province of Guanacaste. Not bad for their first team effort.

Donated soccer balls
Thanks to 2 of our guests, Aida & Johnny Shirley, The Coco School now has 3 brand new NIKE soccer game balls

A Special Thanks to
Brams United Girls Soccer Club of
Brampton, Ontario

First time guest Christina MacLean coordinated through a local Ontario girls soccer club to donate 22 complete soccer uniforms and soccer balls.

The rainy season started with the first named Pacific Tropical Storm to ever hit Costa Rica in recorded history. Since then it has rained every day. Our dry river beds that usually don't flow until the September/October rains were flowing after just 3 days of rain. The central and southern parts of Costa Rica took the brunt of the storm with Samara and Carrillo getting flooded. Our front lawn went from brown to green in 4 days and required cutting, something that I don't usually have to do until the end of June. What this means for the rest of the rainy season is anybody's guess. I gave up trying to predict the weather a long time ago. Last October brought devastating rains to our area, the rising waters of the Tempisque River flooded over the bridge. The Tempisque River is normally a good 100 feet below the bridge. The picture was taken about an hour before the bridge was submerged. Note the huge concrete slabs being lifted to almost a 45 degree angle.

Proyecto de Luz (Project of Light), the local charity that Debbie works with, is always looking for donations of either money or school items. If you would like to contribute please contact us. We will be happy to let you know what is needed. Currently we are looking to fund another girls soccer team, this will be for the 4th & 5th grade boys. The cost to purchase the uniforms, shoes and balls is around $2,500. We will gladly accept donation on behalf of Proyecto de Luz. The average cost of sponsoring a child in the public school is $260, this covers books, supplies and uniforms. This cost is prohibitive for many family's, without uniforms the children cannot attend school. This past February, as the school children returned from their summer vacation, Proyecto de Luz, passed out 65 uniforms and over $4,000 worth of supplies for the children and for the teachers. The Coco Club is passing out piggy banks to business's and hotels around town for tourists to get rid of their loose change. Donations - large or small are needed and welcomed. There is so much we can do to improve the educational lives of these children, but funds are limited. Please help us out.

We are now in the 21st century when it comes to pool side entertainment. Our Apple iPOD and loaded it up with over 7,000 songs covering almost every musical taste (we still won't allow Rap or Hip-Hop) So if you have an iPOD feel free to bring it along with you.

The month of May saw Lee Novak became Mrs. Tim Green here at Rancho Armadillo. Their guests came from as far away as London. In addition to the wedding we had 5 couples start the new lives together by having their honeymoons here. The month of May saw our guests traveling from France, Switzerland, England, Norway, California, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York & Oregon and as close as San Jose, Costa Rica..

Every six months we have our pool water tested and the latest results were spectacular! Our pool water is cleaner than the Crystal brand bottled water sold here in Costa Rica. We use the ionizing method of cleaning our water and have cut the chlorine level to less than 1/8 of the chlorine that is generally used in a pool our size.

A must do favorite of all of our guests is The Congo Trail Canopy Tour, one of the original canopy tours in Costa Rica, about a 20 minute drive from here. You have to understand that canopy tours are intended as an amusement ride not a study in nature, but that does not mean that you won't be able to view nature in it's purist form. We recommend that our guests go in the late afternoon, leaving here around 3:30, that way you will have missed all of the tour busses and you stand a great chance of being in the trees with monkeys, as they travel though there on their way to bed down for the night. The tour has 11 platforms and has one line that is 800 yards long. After the tour stop by and visit the Congo Trail serpent display, containing a variety of snakes and frogs local to the area. After a visit with the snakes you can easily convince the guides to let you play with the resident white face and howler monkeys. The monkeys can get a bit inquisitive, searching pockets, purses and even climbing down your shirt. Guests of Rancho Armadillo pay only $25 for the tour instead of the normal $35, a bargain considering most other canopy tours run from $45 to $85. Having been on over 15 canopy tours around Costa Rica, this is definitely one of the best, the guides are the key that makes it one of the best.

We have a new water tour that our guests have given a big thumbs up to. The tour boat Almaco is a 27ft, 8 passenger custom designed skiff with a quiet 4 stroke engines that

will take you to secluded beaches quickly & comfortably. They will customize the tour to fit your needs. One of the owners is Miguel, who spent 3 years as the master diver for the Cocos Island tours (Cocos Island is about 150 miles off the coast of Costa Rica and is considered the best dive area in the world). Miguel and his partner Lawson offer complete diving packages, snorkeling, reef fishing, water skiing and tubing. They will even include a gourmet beach BBQ complete with linens, china and silverware. They will even provide you with an edited DVD of your day in the sun.The tours are private, meaning you and yours will be the only ones on the boat.

The next time you see the new Toyota commercial on TV, the one featuring a group of guys standing around a waterfall, take a closer look, it was filmed here in Costa Rica at the Bagaces waterfall, one of our favorite tours. The waterfall is 60 ft high and 40 ft wide and empties into a white sand pool around 5 ft deep. Diving from the top of the waterfall as seen in the commercial is not recommended.

This tour is combined with a trip to the oldest wild cat rescue center in Costa Rica and an optional river float trip down the Corobice river to see crocs, monkeys and lots of birds.

We have recently added a new horseback riding tour to our list of "non touristy" tours.

and our guests love it. We used to send our guests to the Hacienda Innocentes for horseback riding, but they have doubled their rate to $65 per person, a price not justified by what they have to offer. This tour will take small groups to hidden waterfalls and natural springs, up mountain trails for some incredible vistas. At the end of the trail you will be invited into the home of the owners for some Costa Rican coffee & homemade tortilla's with homemade cheese, giving you a glimpse of Costa Rican ranch life.

We combine the new tour with stops at the indigenous village of Guatil to observe pottery making by the ancestors of the Chortega's, who still make pottery as they have for hundreds of years. After a stop at Guital you then head for a Tortilla Factory, run by the local women, for an incredible (and cheap) lunch.

First you head out for a 45 minute drive to just south of Santa Cruz, where you will embark on a 3 hour horseback ride up the mountains to waterfalls, natural springs and incredible views. Along the way you may encounter whiteface & howler monkeys, sloth's, birds, butterflies and incredible flora. After experiencing Costa Rican hospitality you head back to the village of Guatil, where you can observe the artisans making, shaping, painting and glazing the world famous Guatil pottery. They have co-ops where you can purchase the individually signed pieces.
Then it's of to the city of Santa Cruz, folklore capitol of Guanacaste, for lunch at a tortilla factory founded by the local women for a very typical Tico lunch. The cost of this tour is $25 per person for the horseback ride, $2 for the lunch and whatever you decide to spend at Guatil. Most of our tours are self guided tours, we supply a detailed map and directions, or we can arrange for a private guide to transport you.

Even though it has been here for thousands of years it's new to us. We recently visited the area near the Miravalles Volcano. More specifically the Hornillas Crater, about a 1 & 1/2 hour drive from here. This crater is unique in the world, it is an active crater on the side of the 5000 meter high volcano featuring boiling mud pits, emerald green springs and fumaroles that emit steam and other gases. Here you can follow a path that will allow you to get up close and personal with these natural wonders.

At one spot along the way you can stop and actually hear the "heartbeat" of the volcano.

After the short hike you sit in a natural sauna and get your pores open before you lather yourself up with the mud from the mud pits, once the mud has dried you shower it off in a hot shower with water taken directly from the boiling hot springs. Makes your skin feel 10 years younger. Then relax in any of the three hot spring pools.

Rancho Armadillo Estate is pleased to announce that we are members of Adventure Hotels of Costa Rica a group of small and medium sized hotels located throughout Costa Rica. Although we have not been to all of the hotels in the association we are confident that all meet the standards that were required. As you plan your vacation to Costa Rica please check out the web sites of the following hotels and consider staying with them. All of the hotels are required to offer an additional 10% discount if you mention that you were referred to them by a member of Adventure Hotels of Costa Rica.

Work on the water pipe line from Sardinal to Coco has been halted by the government after days of protest by the residents of Sardinal. Municipal officials decided to paralyze work on the new water line between Sardinal and Playas del Coco Tuesday after members of the community turned up at a meeting and refused to leave until a decision was made.
Less than 24 hours later, Casa Presidencial announced the investment of 525 million colons ($1.013 million) in the local infrastructure of Sardinal.
Tension is high after local people conducted a series of protests against the 9 kilometer (6 mile) aqueduct financed by 32 private businesses that aims to take water from Sardinal's aquifer to the beach towns of Playas del Coco and Ocotal.
Residents fear that the aqueduct will take water to tourist developments on the coast where it will be used to irrigate golf courses and supply hotels while the town will be left without sufficient water.
After giving their reasons for the opposition to the work in front of the council, they demanded that officials vote on the issue. The vote decided that construction on the water line should be paralyzed, and not resumed until all required studies are in place.
The municipality wants to see a study made by a third party into the capacity of the Sardinal aquifer. Apart from the suspension of work on the pipeline, the Sardinal community petition demands apologies to the village, the demolition of works that have already been built without appropriate permission and the investigation of the public officials who allowed the pipe to be installed.

The Staff at Rancho Armadillo Estate
Debbie, Rick, Marisol, Melissa, Teo, Minor, Arnoldo & Mongo