Manuel Antonio!

We have been recommended by Ticos and foreign tourists alike to visit Manuel Antonio National Park. Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio is a small National Park in the Centeral Pacific Conservation Area located on the Pacific, just south of the city of Quepos, and 132 km (82 m) from the national capital of San Jose. Established in 1972 with an area enumerating 4,014 acres (the smallest of all national parks in Costa Rica), it is the destination of as many as 150,000 visitors annually and well-known for its beautiful beaches and hiking trails.

So, off Giles and I went from San Jose to Manuel Antonio on the 12:15 bus, tickets costing about $4. We were lucky enough for one of the only times in CR to take a directo bus, which was more or less direct without stops on the highway to pick-up or drop off, anyone! We passed the cute beach town of Quepos and rode up the mountain to Manuel Antonio, the rain was now starting. We passed our hotel, so got dropped off about a mile away and decided to take a cab back to our hotel, Hotel Plinio. I would confess that the taxi driver ripped us off, charging us 2,000 colones for the ride, but we were able to haggle him down to 1,500 colones. The hotel and Manuel Antonio itself seemed pretty touristy which may have added to the inflation of our cab ride. It was after 3:00 when we got to the hotel, but decided that an early dinner was the first order of business. The restaurant in the hotel, like many restaurants in Manuel Antonio, had a Tex-Mex sort of menu. We ordered classic margaritas which were on special, split nachos with guacamole, and split a red bean enchilada with Mexican rice and what tasted like turkey gravy atop.

After dinner we checked into our room, which only had one bed. So, after a quick visit to the concierge we opened the door to our temporary lodging, a two story loft. It was definitely rustic, but far exceeded my expectations. We flipped a coin to see who got the king side bed in the private loft upstairs. Excitedly, I won. So, we unpacked some our things in our two night get-away bags. Then we sat on the deck outside that overlooked the street and foliage. I wanted a café con leche, so we decided to go back downstairs to the restaurant, where we were enticed by the helado frito (fried ice cream) on the menu and washed that down with our coffee. After too filling desserts we read, wrote, and talked for a bit… usually about Costa Rica. But, we need our next day was going to be early and could be a tiring hike so went to bed shortly after.

The next morning we woke up early and were out of our hotel room by 8:00-30. We walked down the hill to Quepos to have some breakfast before our adventure. At a restaurant close to the bus stop, we had breakfast at a little place that looked like a pizza shop, but, was also open for breakfast. We both ordered café con leches and gallo pint with scrambled eggs (huevos revueltos) and toast. There was a lot of gallo pinto which we like to label as a “sustainable” breakfast. We both cleaned our entire plates and headed to the bus with about ten minutes to spare. It was already hot and humid. I have noticed that the humidity is more rampant near the beaches than in the remainder of CR. The bus ride was only about 15 minutes and had many foreigners from the U.S., France, and Germany on it, so, you knew it was the right one!

We were left off in the center of Manuel Antonio which had many souvenir shops and restaurants aligned facing the beach. We followed some other tourists for a few streets to the park entrance. Like most of my park experiences here, I thought they would take credit card as payment for the entrance fee, but, this one did not allow this. The tour guide said it was because of the government. Whatever the case, it worked out in our favor. We only had 20,000 colones between us and with this we were able to get a guided tour, typically costing 20,000 colones per person, but since we had no other cash on us we were secretively allowed to join a group with a tour. Before our entering the park, a guide set-up a telescope with its lens facing above the lodge in a tree pointing to a sloth. It was a three-toed sloth hanging upside-down from the tree eating leaves. You could hardly tell that there was a sloth with the naked eye, even though he was only about 50 feet away! This was a promising sight, since I had been having trouble seeing sloths before this point.

We handed in our tickets to a guide at the entrance of the gate and joined a tour with about 8 more people. He immediately set-up his telescope and showed us howler monkeys in the treetops. He didn’t spend too much time emphasizing the monos (monkeys) because he said we would have a better chance to see them later. As we kept walking he stopped to the shrubbery on sides of the path. He got a large leaf and tore the leaves from the stem. He used the stick to poke a very large leaf that had curled and become home to a tarantula. He told us that they aren’t deadly as long as you get the anti-venom. Then he also showed us a rainbow caterpillar on a branch through his telescope. 

Not long after, he parted the some branches and there was a three-toed sloth behind them. She was actually moving (as fast as a sloth can) down the tree to defecate. I had never seen one so close before nor had I seen one move. She was certainly in a hurry. He grabbed hold of the branches as a better footing down.  Apparently, they live their entire lives in the canopy only heading down a tree once a week for a bowl movement. No one is exactly sure why. One theory is that they help fertilize the plants. Another is they are just considerate little lazy bears. 

We then walked to some trees that were alive with monkeys! There were howler monkeys and their babies socializing in their tops. The guide was kind enough to position the telescope on one of the monkey’s private areas, making for a good laugh for the viewer’s unexpentancy. The path had lead to one of 4 beaches in Manuel Antonio- Manuel Antonio, Espadilla Sur, Teldoro, and Playita. With their large light sand berms, it is easy to see why they attract beach goers of all ages. Both Manuel Antonio and Espadilla Sur contain tidal pools and offer the possibility of snorkeling. The guide showed us some more animals before it became a beach day. He showed us three tiny bats, obviously sleeping in a tree since it was daytime. Also, we saw a rainbow boa constrictor looking much like knots in the tree and a caiman.

The tour was only about 1 hour and a half so with plenty of time for the rest for the rest of the day we played at the beach. The water was crystal clean except for some vegetation and rocks. Manuel Antonio, I think, can best be described of as where Costa Rican rainforest meets a magnificent beach. Emily immediately when we put our stuff on the beach. I, however, as recently typical, climbed out on some rocks in search of souvenir rocks and shells. I had a very childhood moment when I slipped on the rocks and skinned my knee, which was worth it for the gorgeous rocks and shells that I acquired! I then joined Emily on a swim past the breaker. There were many people sitting on the beach enjoying the gorgeous views, but there were also some scattered swimmers, some out pretty far. We stayed on the beach for a few hours listening to the foreign conversations, some indecipherable, until we thought we had reached our sun limitation.

We followed the path leading to the exit. We had to cross a little stream where you were immediately greeted and stalked by vendors selling coconuts and carefully painted vases. Of course, we purchased freshly cracked coconuts sold by a pipa-man who paid very close attention to detail. He served us pipa frios with intentional cut cracks on either side for bright pink hibiscus flowers. The pipa man also placed two hibiscus flowers behind each of our ears. I felt like a Chinese dragon, but, overall I was enthusiastic about his presentation and felt like such a tourist. But, the pip was especially refreshing after a small hike and beach bathing.



We walked into tents filled with souvenirs, immediately accompanied the vendors. But, we had no money so that was short-lived (at least, cash, anyway).  We initially planned to walk up the hill and treat ourselves to some dinner overlooking the beach. Parched at this point and lacking stamina, we chose a restaurant in Manuel Antonio. We ordered drinks made with Cacique guaro, lime juice, and brown sugar. Cacique Guaro is brand of guaro produced by Fábrica Nacional de Licores or "FANAL". The Cacique Guaro is a sugar cane liquor of high purity and is the best selling distilled spirit in Costa Rica. It's known as "Costa Rica liquor".  It was delicious and filled with brown sugar. I can only compare it to Brazilian’s infamous Caipirinha cocktail. We also ordered ceviche, which is especially revigorating in the humid climate. For a heartier portion, we split a tuna sandwich with fries. We should have know (a common sediment) that the fish would be overcooked and/or just not good. Emily has lost her appetite for meat since trying a few meat products from Costa Rica (like ham and burgers). And I, an (infamous) “pescetarian” am looking faith in the fish, at least here. The tuna sandwich was dry (as compared to the raw way I prefer it prepared) and tasted fishy. But, at least the drinks were great.

We finished off the night with some nightclub life in Quepos. We walked around the centro of the city and found not many people on the streets, but, in this little upstairs bar/club in the center of the city there were many tourists having a good time. Most all of the people there were not from Quepos or Costa Rica for that matter. Overall, I felt old at the bar everyone was clearly in their young 20s. However, it was nice to meet people from Canada, France, Argentina, etc.

The next morning we slept in until 11:00 AM, a serious rarity in CR. So, we found the concierge and checked out. We ran to the bank and the bus station to find out that the 12:00PM bus to San Jose had left. So, we just bought our tickets for the 2:00 PM bus. We walked by the ocean in Quepos to kill time and talk about experiences in CR which we often refer to as “The land of broken promises”. Now hungry, we walked into Dos Locos Mexican restaurant and looked at the menu which looked delicious. But, then we looked at the prices and decided that it was just too expensive. Back to the place we ate breakfast at, we decided to give lunch a try, having a good experience with desayuno. We ordered a margarita pizza. I thought I had asked for jalapeños on half.  We also had some mora en agua refrescos. The pizza was not very good, but I also have high Scrantonian (pizza capital of the world!) standards.

The bus ride home was not directo, taking about 5 hours instead of the 2 and ½ it initially took to get there. As I didn’t have any obligations for that day, it didn’t matter too much. Even though the bus takes sometimes an incredible amount of time, I do prefer it. It is a prefect way to see the country, city, and amazing landscapes that Costa Rica is privileged to have.