Is Iguana Lodge Right For Me?

Iguana Lodge is an eco-resort on the Osa Peninsula.  What does that mean?  Here it means that if you are looking for a spot to unplug and unwind, with no televisions, no air conditioning, no hair dryers in every room, with lots of beach time, toucans, macaws, tree frogs, and casual friendly occasionally-salsa dancing people, you’ve come to the right place. Here we enjoy life, participate in our community, and strive to be a sustainable enterprise.  This isn't the vacation everyone wants.  It is not Disneyland, nor are we the Marriott.  That's why a lot of people love this place!

When we (Toby and Lauren Cleaver) think of a tropical paradise, we don’t envision air conditioning.  We see screened in rooms with a great view of the outdoors, rooms with fans and screens and beautiful semi-outdoor showers.  Screens allow luscious tropical breezes and the often hypnotic sounds of crashing surf to waft through the rooms, not to mention the sound of howler monkeys at 4 AM.  Many rooms don’t even have locks on the doors.  It’s paradise to us.  We understand, however, that many people don’t think this sounds so great.  They want locks on their doors, TVs, phones, and definitely air conditioning:  warning, if you want air conditioning and TVs, this is not the spot for you.  We are not what you want.  Best to go elsewhere (and that probably means not coming to the Osa, as there are only a couple spots that offer air conditioning, and those aren’t the cool “eco-lodges,” those are the little places in town, and a couple fishing lodges).

Even if all the above sounds great, remember, we are in the rainforest – that means temperature in the upper 80s and lots of humidity.  We love humidity, but that doesn’t mean everybody does.  If you don’t like heat, humidity, jungle – again, this spot is not for you.

Not only are we an eco-resort, our eco-resort is located on the Osa Peninsula, one of the wildest, jungly, least trampled and tamed parts of Central America.  It figures then that one would expect lots of untamed animals, as well as insects, frogs, butterflies, etc.  As an eco-resort, our instant reaction is not to pull out the poison and gas all the little creatures – we like the little guys!  And many of our guests do too!  Some folks are literally delighted with a tree frog in their bathroom, others not so.  We understand that some people do not like this wildness, and we pleasantly suggest that you consider visiting somewhere else, where Life is more controllable.        

Meanwhile, the Osa means bad bridges and roads, which can interfere with supply lines.  That’s the way things go down here.  If we can’t make Walnut Vinaigrette or Mango Coulee one week, we just have to roll with it.  We can live through this, and be happy too.  Some people can’t.    

Also, most of our workers have been here for years.  They are not only our employees but our friends.  Our workers don’t wear name tags or uniforms.  They aim to please, but neither they nor we see them as servants.  They are encouraged to interact with guests – many of them are outgoing, fun-loving, happy people. They may invite you to their homes or tell you about their lives, they may occasionally bring their kids to the swimming pool.  We like that, but have seen over the years that some people don’t.  Some people want white gloved waiters, waiting quietly in the wings to be summoned, trained only to speak when spoken to - that’s not our deal. 

We have two restaurants and a public bar, known as The Pearl of the Osa.  You will often meet Costa Ricans at “The Pearl” - hanging out, sipping a cool beer, surfing, playing ping-pong, etc.  We like the fact that we are a local hang out -  Ticos are wonderful people, and this is a great spot to meet them.  Moreover, on Friday nights for a few hours we have a raucous dance party, that often involves dozens (sometimes hundreds) of Costa Ricans coming to enjoy dining and dancing from 6 to 9:30 PM.  This means loud music, wild women, and excellent salsa dancing.  If this sounds unpleasant to you, avoid visiting us on Friday nights – every other night is quiet, tranquilo, peaceful. If it sounds like an excellent adventure, fabulous, see you soon!

Toby and I have created for ourselves our own personal paradise, a casual, beautiful place, where life is easy, and joy, creativity, and health is emphasized. We raised our kids here, and we love our lives here.  As an eco-resort we believe in helping out in the community, so sometimes you won’t see us, or if you do we are running by to do something!  At present I am an English teacher at the local elementary and I have about 120 students (5th and 6th grade), and Toby maintains many of the roads (it is not his fault some of them are so bad!).  If we aren’t doing something good for the community, we are often doing something good for ourselves - we stay pretty busy having a good time.  I often swim some laps and do some yoga – take a run, have a lemonade, invent a new fancy pastry or paint a flower. 

What does that mean for you as a guest?  It means that we rely upon our staff to provide you with great service, but if you are not getting it, we sure want you to track us down and let us know, hopefully well before your vacation is over.  Bottom line:  you deserve a great vacation, and we want you to have one, even if you don’t see us personally serving you breakfast every morning. Note:  no matter how hard we try, we  can not change the humidity levels, control the tides, or stop the macaws from flying by squawking at one another.  (Seriously, people come here and are frustrated about the heat, the humidity, the loudness of the animals – it is a jungle out here folks.  That what you want, right?  That’s why you are coming here, right?)  Eco-resort, Osa Peninsula…
So if all this sounds good to you and yours, come on down!  If it doesn’t, I am sure there are other spots that would bring you joy and happiness.  Go for it.  Please Enjoy your Life – Wahoo.