Blogs from Manuel Antonio, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 10

This February I decided to volunteer in Monteverde, Costa Rica but before I made my way there my brother and father came on down with me for a five day road trip. We headed out bright and early grabbing a flight from A.C. to Georgia and then continuing on down to San Jose, Costa Rica. Once there we picked up our car and headed off. Driving in Costa Rica is an experience. There are basically no road signs, cars go flying by you, and some of the roads aren't paved. We grabbed our map and tried to make our way across to Manuel Antonio. Now it really isn't that easy to do and we got ourselves nice and turned around. But after a few hours of driving around and around we finally made our way to ... read more

Last night was wonderful. Walt and I totally enjoyed the awesomeness that is this hostel (Wide Mouth Frog in Quepos) after our debacle of trying to find accommodations for 2 hours. We enjoyed the pool, made dinner in the shared kitchen, and ate at one of the long picnic tables in the common eating area. This morning we enjoyed the free breakfast of rice and beans, toast, and porridge too! This morning we were off to the bus station fairly early to catch the 50 cent bus the 20 minutes to Manuel Antonio. Once there, we walked to the entrance of the park and waited in a line to enter. Word to other travelers: get there early! Park opens at 7am and only lets 800 people in at a time, so then it's one in-one out. ... read more

Up bright and early for our free breakfast of coffee and pineapple! very local! and to catch the 8am bus to Manuel Antonio. Once arrived, we wandered up to the entrance, passing a racoon in a bin (hahaaa) and pushing aside the guide offers. We were going to do this ourselves!!!! The beginning of the trail was a bit dissappointing as it was more of a road than a path, and there were telephone wires alongside the road - not very natural! Lots of tour guides were ahead, whipping out their binoculars and working up the tourists into a frenzy by pointing at the trees, so we tried lurking behind some of the groups...walking verrrry slowly to see if we could spot anything. We could not. Maybe a guide would have been a good idea?!?! Eventually ... read more

I arrived at San Jose airport typically tired and bedraggled, with no local currency and only the name of a hostel to stay at in Alajuela. So there I was pondering if taking 50000 Colones out of the ATM was too much or too little. When a guy (Cristian) came up and asked me if I was a certain Mr Smit, whilst declining he obviously saw the slightly lost look in my eye and asked where I staying. Producing the scrap of paper from my pocket with the hostel name on it I handed it to him. Turns out that he grew up in Alajuela and knew the hostel, so he gave them a call and then offered to drop me off as his shift was just about to finish. A hostel drop off and ... read more

We enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at Club Fred. Fresh fruits and cereal and great coffee. We hang oout for the longest time not wanting to leave and hoping to see a macaw or 2. I was talking with Ely when I heard them! I have a macaw and can recognize that scream no matter what country they are in. They flew in over the river, yelling like only macaws can and looking like they were having a blast. Mary shot a bunch of pictures,, but they look like little red dots. And then they were gone, but wow they were beautiful. To see them flying wild is something I will never forget. We opted to drive the Costanera up to Manuel Antonio. I was nervous (of course) to go over the rickety bridges, but again Mary's ... read more