La Leona Story

The idea of La Leona Eco Lodge was born in the heart of the Costa Rican family Morales Polanco. The couple Salma Polanco and Walter Morales invested their life and motivation in this beautiful project; they also forwarded the respect and the love for this piece of rainforest to their children that in their opinion deserved to become La Leona Eco Lodge.

It was first in 1969 when Walter flew over this huge area of dense forests which merged into the turquoise-blue colour of the Pacific Ocean; he instantly fell in love with this beautiful scenery. At that time the Osa Peninsula was the most remote area of the country with no public road access.

As a commercial pilot Walter transported locally produced goods like meat, cheese, rice and beans from Rio Oro, Carate and Sirena to Golfito and on his way back brought gasoline, beer, coco cola and other daily goods for the local store of Félix Abellán who also owned huge parts of land in the area. The years passed by until he came back to Puerto Jimenez in 1976 where shortly after he got to know Salma Polanco.

He again met several families of the about 200 people who had lived in the area of today’s Sirena Ranger station before. In the meantime they had been resettled by a government decree to a village close to Puerto Jimenez which was necessary for the foundation of the Corcovado National Park. And it were these people who told Walter about the incredible rich biodiversity of the Corcovado area which then became national park.

The idea came to Walters’s mind of developing an ecotourism project in this marvelous nature he had seen years ago by himself. Tourism was new in this area; nobody had developed anything similar before. In the following Salma and Walter calculated possible risks and legal procedures for the realization of their dream: an eco lodge in Carate where they had bought a piece of land neighbouring Corcovado. They dedicated this land of almost 40 hectares as a family property. Later they started constructing the eco lodge and named it ‘La Leona’ after a creek combining their property with the Corcovado National Park.
The couple was a pioneer by turning the ecotourism project into practice in this still incredible remote area; and by protecting the nature of this property they also conserved part of one of the most biological intense places in the world: the Osa Peninsula.

The beginning was a row of challenges like the bumpy unpaved little road to Carate; from there to the lodge all construction materials were transported with the horse kart on the beach with the only access at low tide. And, moreover, there was no means of communication between the lodge and the private house of the family in Puerto Jimenez!

On January 4th 2000 the first guests were welcomed at La Leona Eco Lodge with an open-air kitchen and twelve small tents; four of these tents had been in use until recently. Walter constructed the lodge while Salma was in charge of the financial management and the overall organisation of the initial phase. Two of their sons, Adrián and Felipe, helped wherever they could. They work together day by day for constantly improving the facilities of the lodge.

Today our guests can enjoy a stay at this wonderful place in comfortable tents with mostly private garden bath and a restaurant quality which is without comparison in the area. Regularly our guests prolong their stay at La Leona and call it a paradise place. In 2009 we celebrated the first wedding at La Leona Eco Lodge of a couple who had first met here shortly before.

Since years now Adrian manages the lodge in Carate; the other family members in Puerto Jimenez are involved in marketing and reservations or the daily challenge of organising logistics for food supplies, maintenance materials and others – still every single article is transported by the horse kart on the beach at low tide!

In 2010 we celebrate 10 years La Leona Eco Lodge! We want to point out that all we have obtained today would not have been possible without the help of every single employee of La Leona Eco Lodge during these years. They are an important and essential part of the success of our family project!

Now we want to share La Leona Eco Lodge with you, our guests. We want to protect and conserve it as our most valuable treasure in the rainforest of the Corcovado area!

The team and family of La Leona wish you an enjoyable stay!