If you're climbing Mount Chirripó, you'll want to spend the night as close to the trail head as possible. As mentioned above, several basic cabinas right in San Gerardo de Rivas charge between $5 and $15 (£2.50-£7.50) per person. The best of these are El Descanso (tel. 8369-0067 or 2742-5061) and Roca Dura (tel. 8363-7318; luisrocadura@hotmail.com).
Staying at the Summit Lodge -- Reservations for lodging on the summit of Mount Chirripó must be made with the National Parks office listed above. This is an increasingly popular destination, and you must reserve well in advance during the dry season. The lodge holds only 25 people and fills up quickly and frequently. Tip: Many of the local tour agencies prebook the lodge beds, making it often difficult to impossible to do so on your own. If you can't book a bed by yourself, ask at your hotel.
Once you get to the lodge, you'll find various rooms with bunk beds, several bathrooms and showers, and a common kitchen area. There is good drinking water at the lodge. However, blankets, lanterns, and cook stoves are no longer for rent up top, so you have to pack all your own gear, as well as food and water (for the hike up). Note: It gets cold up here at night, and the lodge seems to have been designed to be as cold, dark, and cavernous as possible. No consideration was made to take advantage of the ample passive solar potential. The showers are freezing. It costs $10 (£5) per person per night to stay here.
Warning: It can be dangerous for more inexperienced or out-of-shape hikers to climb Chirripó, especially by themselves. It's not very technical climbing, but it is a long, arduous hike. If you're not sure you're up for it, you can just take day hikes out of San Isidro and/or San Gerardo de Rivas, or ask at your hotel about guides.
En Route to San José -- Between San Isidro de El General and San José, the Interamerican Highway climbs to its highest point in Costa Rica and crosses over the Cerro de la Muerte. This area is one of the best places in Costa Rica to see quetzals. March, April, and May is nesting season for these birds, and this is usually the best time to see them. However, it's often possible to spot them year-round here. On my first visit here, a 2-hour hike without a guide, my small group spotted eight of these amazing birds. I was hooked.
Dantica Cloud Forest Lodge (tel. 2740-1067; www.dantica.com) is a small collection of private bungalows in a beautiful forested setting in this region, near the town of San Gerardo de Dota.
