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Published: September 17th 2017
CASA BUENA VISTA Well what can I say it was indeed a bit of a shock to the system to arrive at Casa Buena Vista in
Manuel Antonio it was nothing like we were expecting. Sergio our driver dropped us off on the road and the B&B was on a steep hillside overlooking the ocean way below. He waited around until we managed to raise Anita - everything was securely locked and we could not get in until she open the metal gate directly fronting the road. However she soon arrived and what a pleasant lady she was making us feel very welcome right from the start. We said our goodbyes to Sergio who had been a brilliant driver and he headed off back up the road.
Anita told us that the ‘Cottage’ we had requested on our booking was now available and we could choose between this and the ‘Room’ that we had booked both being the same cost. She showed us around the B&B which was built into the hillside with thick vegetation and trees and steep steps (100!) and although the ‘Room’ had Air-con and WIFI we decided that the
‘Cottage’ was probably better as we had the whole place to ourselves, complete with kitchen, small shower room, living area and a tiny separate bedroom.
The cottage was actually built into the steep hillside and covered in foliage and with all the rain at this time of year it was very damp and mouldy. It looked like it had not been used for a long time and as there was no glass in the windows, just mesh to keep out the insects, it got quite damp as the rain would pour through when it rained heavily and of course it did a lot . … Even though it was damp it was still hot and humid inside and we had to keep the fan going all the time particularly at night. Outside we had a table and chairs and a hammock overlooking the rainforest and we could hear but not see a stream that ran nearby and disappeared in the valley far below.
The gardens surrounding the cottage were lovely filled with heliconias, cinnamon, allspice, papaya, bananas, pineapples and orchids before disappearing into the rainforest below. It was
Casa Buena Vista
Our Cottage in the hillsidegreat to have so much private space and you could get WIFI at the end of the Cottage grounds, near the communal rooms. We did not like all the horrid biting insects, mosquitoes, beetles, spiders etc, inside and outside the cottage but we managed to string up our portable mosquito net over the bed and were so glad that we had brought it with us as it was a life saver ……… The owner had also told us that Dengi fever was rife so one had to try and be as careful as possible.
With so much heat we had to keep changing clothes but it took forever to get any washing dry and reminded us of our time in Selva Verde, CR 2012 when all our clothes became mildewed because of the constant damp.
Nearly all the properties in the area are built on the hillside so it was a steep hike to get anywhere. We were soon to find this out as we headed off to find the local store and stock up on our supplies as we did not fancy having to hike up the hill each
evening to eat, particularly with the constant rain. This hike was so exhausting not just because it was a steep uphill trek but due to the constant high humidity.
We found a good local store along the main route into Manuel Antonio which also had a couple of hotels, souvenir shops and restaurants. We filled both our rucksacks with ‘goodies’ and headed ‘home’ - downhill which was just as well with heavy backpacks full of food but we had enough to keep us ‘alive’ for a few days and would not have to trek uphill to the restaurants if we did not want to. We have noticed that the prices in the shops have increased greatly since we were here in 2012 and supplies were not always readily available but we did find fresh fruit and vegetables, no fresh meat though - so we became ‘vegetarians' for a while … …
Arriving back at the gate of our B&B getting back into our accommodation was another test, as the key was really problematic and it took us a while to get it to work. In the meantime it had started
View from Anita's
Overlooking Manuel Antonio National Park to rain heavily - oh dear - luckily Paul and I get on really well when we are travelling - well most of the time that is … … anyway a few strong words later and we managed to get the key to open the metal gate.
At last back in our Cottage home we were going to cook our first meal in Costa Rica - Pasta with a ‘sort of’ Olive Sauce and we were so looking forward to it - but guess what the propane gas had run out and we knew that we were not going to get a replacement that night … … However we remembered that the room that we were going to have had a communal kitchen area so we walked across and cooked some boiled eggs and had a ‘sort of’ egg salad instead.
There were no other guests at the B&B so we had the whole kitchen to ourselves. In fact we were the only guests all the time we were there, so we had the whole place to ourselves apart from Anita, the owner that is and Nuria her
helper. We used the communal areas quite a lot as even though we had our own outside space it was quite dark and never received any sunlight. The communal
Teak Deck however was a little brighter and overlooked the rainforest and you could just about get a glimpse of the sea. WIFI was really good from the deck as well which was useful.
Back in our room we enjoyed our Egg Salad and felt quite relaxed, particularly after a few glasses of red wine … … just hoping that we slept well under our mossy net………… Alas we did not, firstly the bed was really hard and secondly the noises we heard outside with no glass only open mesh in the window panes was quite loud - we now know why they call some of the monkeys here ‘Howlers’ - this one in particular liked to hear his own voice. Finally just as we were dropping off to sleep the birds decided to wake us up - but, ‘hey’ we are enjoying ourselves … … and we do love the wildlife otherwise we would not have returned to Costa Rica.
Next morning we wandered up the 100 steps to have breakfast with Anita - what a view she had from her front window. We had breakfast and for once there was no rice and beans and Anita came and joined us for a chat - as she did every morning. Originally from the States she came to Costa Rica 42 years ago to do a research project in the National Park and adjoining beaches and fell in love with the area so remained. Don her husband was a local historian and gave educational talks for many groups including National Geographic. They were among the founders of the first Chamber of Tourism in the area. Our B&B and their home on the hilltop overlooking
Manuel Antonio National Park had such a beautiful view you could see why they stayed. When they arrived there was only one small building (the Teak House) and they had no electricity or running water so were true pioneers of the area. To qualify for an electricity supply you had to have ten residents and at that time Anita said there was only a couple of homes. They ‘wined and dined’ the local inspector and
took him around some outhouses and chicken pens and managed to somehow qualify - and so brought electricity to the hillside and also water! They were later to be one of the first to get a telephone installed as well. Sadly Anita’s husband died in 2000 and she has run the place on her own since then. Now with four buildings and an acre of grounds in the hillside it is up for Sale. With the constant rain and damp, the buildings are greatly in need of some ‘tender love and care’ but would be an ideal ‘project’ for a young couple to undertake but hard work keeping it all together with the constant rain and humidity to contend with.
Anita was quite a character and very well travelled and we had some interesting chats over breakfast each morning. She liked to read and said that she had recently read a book about ‘Apples’ and that it was really good (a whole book just about apples!) ‘no’ she did not persuade us to read it. She was always quick to sort out any issues we had, in fact when we told her about the propane
gas running out on our first morning within half an hour a young lad arrived with a replacement on the back of his motorbike. Nuria, her helper arrived with a thick foam liner to put on the hard mattress which helped us sleep better. One day we found Nuria hacking down a huge lime tree that blocked the view in front of the Cottage just with a machete - she was covered in scratches but seemed to enjoy the process nevertheless..… Anita said it was not part of her job but she obviously liked being outside.
On our first day we decided to hike down to
Playa Playitas beach down a steep track and straight away Paul spotted a
Three-toed Sloth hanging in the tree right in front of us - it was eating the fruit and did not seem to care that we were so close just carried on eating. We also heard more
Howler Monkeys and then spotted a small troop hanging in the tall trees near the beach and below them a pair of
Agouti scurrying around in the undergrowth - we also heard the distinct call of a
Toucan but could
not see it in the thick foliage.
The hike down to the beach was hard but coming back was a rigorous workout - we must have lost pounds in ‘sweat and tears’ it was all up hill and we had to keep constantly stopping and drinking water. We thought to ourselves that we would not do that again but of course we did! Chatting to Sally one of Anita’s neighbours later she said she had only walked up that track twice and she had been here 40 years……
MANUEL ANTONIO TOWN AND PLAYA ESPADRILLE BEACH One day Anita kindly gave us a tour of the area in her car pointing out things to do and places to see and then dropped us off at the bottom of the hill for our hike into the National Park. She recommended a couple of places to eat and drink, one was in an old Railway Carriage whilst the other was actually inside an Aeroplane overlooking Manuel Antonio park! An abandoned
Fairchild C-123 which had been left at San Jose airport in the 80s by the Americans involved in some scandal
and was later purchased and shipped in pieces to Quepos. The fuselage was shipped via ocean ferry because it was too wide for the antiquated Chiquita Banana railroad bridge - after hauling seven sections up the Manuel Antonio hill, the plane finally found its current cliff-side resting place and is now a restaurant, bar and an enduring Cold War relic. You can eat under its wings or drink in the fuselage pub or just climb into the cockpit if you wish … … …
At the bottom of the hill you arrive in downtown Manuel Antonio and it really was not our ‘cup of tea’. Popular with youngsters with many souvenir shops, bars, cafes and discos and quite a number of ‘touts’ on the beach itself not what we had come to CR for but obviously liked by others - each to their own. A little further on and you arrive at the national park itself.
MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK Manuel Antonio is the smallest park in Costa Rica, but abundant with wildlife. It also contains three beautiful beaches, casual forest trails, and a dense rainforest teaming
Racoon
Playa Manuel Antonio Beach with animal life. In 2011, it was named by Forbes as one of the world’s most beautiful parks.
We decided against having a guide for the park, the cost was $80 plus $32 entrance fee which we thought was a bit steep. We were glad in the end that we did not pay the fee as we saw,
Howler Monkeys, Racoons, Coati, White-faced Capuchins and lots of
Lizards all by ourselves, many up close - too close …. We did not get to see many birds though but were happy with what we had seen. We hiked most of the trails and particularly like the slightly more challenging trail,
Punta Catedral, a beautiful loop trail of moderate difficulty but with some steep inclines - and more blood, sweat and tears! We stopped at several lookouts for a rest and to admire the views out over the ocean.
Punta Catedral used to be an island but over time, it has united with the continental landmass by way of sediment and sand build up. This strip connects
Playa Manuel Antonio and
Playa Espadilla Sur and gives varying views of different parts of
the park and islands. From Playa Espadilla Sur, we could see Playa Espadilla Norte and all the hotels on the hill on the other side as well as the ‘dot’ of our small B&B.
It was great descending out of the hike on to such a scenic beach and as we were so hot we changed into our bathers and headed into the surf. One of us keeping an eye on our backpacks looking for any nearby monkeys. In the end it was not monkeys we had to be wary off but small
Racoons, one in particular with a red collar ‘homed in’ on our backpacks hanging in a fallen tree. We chased him off but he really did not want to go and just moved on to the next unlucky ‘tourist’ on the beach. We shouted to them as they were sunbathing and did not see him approach - we think he was probably the problem ‘Racoon’ - in the area hence his ‘red’ collar!
There have been huge concerns at this park with tourist feeding the wildlife and as it is such a small National Park the animals
Manuel Antonio NP
A few more hikes to go soon came to realise that it was easy pickings and forgot how to forage for their food in the jungle until it became a big problem. Now the rangers are trying to rectify the problem but it will be a while before the animals realise that a tourist does not mean easy food and of course you will still get those that flout the rules.
When you enter the park your bags are searched and you can only take in a prepared sandwich, cut fruit and water or squash. Although probably it would be better to stop people taking food of any description in at all.
A young lad in front of us got quite aggressive with the Park Ranger when he said he could not take cigarettes into the park. He replied, ‘do the monkeys smoke then’ … The Ranger went on to say that with so many visitors a day, particularly in the high season, if half of them smoked and threw their butts on to the beach it would not be a pretty place for anyone to visit …. …
Another trail
we enjoyed in the park was the
Sendero el Perezoso (Sloth trail) which runs parallel to the main one through the park but takes you a bit deeper inside the forest, so you can see Sloths hiding in the trees, but we did not get to see any that day.
Sendero Playa Gemelas was another hike with a short path leading to Playa Gemelas Beach which connected to the
Sendero Congo trail which is named after the
Howler Monkey that are often spotted here - and sure enough we spotted them having fun in the tree canopy.
After all this hiking we were just about exhausted but managed to make our way out of the park and luckily an opportune bus arrived and we jumped on - not sure where to get off we did manage to find somewhere that looked familiar and asked the driver to stop … …
BACK AT CASA BUENA VISTA AGAIN Back at Casa Buena Vista we chilled on the communal Teak Deck when a troop of about
30 Red-backed Squirrel Monkeys arrived dropping great distances to lower branches
Lots of choice ...
Coconut or Coconut Drink - they seemed to dance across the treetops. Monkeys of all sizes having fun in the trees, what a glorious scene this was, nature at its best and another memory to store in our bank. They were so hard to photo though, not like the
Howlers as they just do not seen to stay still for one moment ... ...
That night we had yet another thunder and lightening storm which seemed to be a regular evening occurrence here but was great to lull one off to sleep - Kerry you would love it here … …
Anita gave us a lift into town several times and we strolled along the beach which joins the National Park. Manuel Antonio is not to everyones tastes it is very touristy and as mentioned above there are lots of ‘touts’ on the beach trying to sell you surfing lessons, paragliding and other tacky souvenirs, mainly whistles for some reason we could not quite fathom and they would approach you blowing the whistle loudly. That being said the beach is lovely and of course it joins the National Park and the beaches in the park are even more
Fiery-billed Aracari
Taken on our last visit stunning.
One day we headed off in a different direction for another hike from our B&B to yet another beach,
Playa Biesanz, which of course was downhill going but oh so difficult on the trek back up again. However we were rewarded with seeing lots of birds and our first sighting of a
Fiery-billed Aracari - sadly we could not get a good photo as the two of them were on the top of the tallest tree they could find. Plus with poor light and of course I was still struggling with my secondhand Nikon camera and it was raining again I did not have a hope. This stunning looking bird is a Toucan and only breeds on the Pacific slopes of southern Costa Rica and western Panama - we had seen lots of them the last time we visited so will post a photo from then, they are truly a sight to see.
OVERVIEW OF THE AREA We enjoyed our time at
Casa Buena Vista but did not like the long uphill/downhill hike to get anywhere although we did use the local bus into the town
Green Lizard
Half Green Half Brown Lizard and beach which was really regular and cheap. We saw lots of wildlife just lazing in a hammock in the gardens and saw a
Hooded Antshrike that we had never seen before and the stunning looking
Fiery-
billed Aracari of course.
We also saw a pair of
Blue-crowned Mot Mots, right in front of our cottage resting in the shade on the branch of an ancient All-spice tree, which used to waft over its smell each evening and of course the delightful troop of
Red-backed Squirrel Monkeys. We were not so sure about the
Howlers as they kept us awake with their constant howling but they have such characterful faces … … .
It was great to have good WIFI and we were delighted to hear that
Sharon, Geoff and Maisie had at last managed to complete on their house purchase so when we return to the UK at the end of October we would be ‘home alone again’, the first time since 2010 when we headed off on our great retirement adventure………… GS&M will be living just 4 doors down from us and with our younger daughter,
Kerry living in the same village it is
going to be strange but pleasant to have all our small immediate family living in such close proximity which would be a first for us all! Maisie, our granddaughter had just started Year 9 at the local secondary school and had settled in well after their return from Dubai where she had spent the previous 5 years in school - so there were plenty of family around to enable us to keep travelling and look after our home whilst we were away … …
What still astounds us is the instant access to ‘communications’ all around the world it is so amazing, we first heard from our family back in the UK about the terrible Mexican Hurricane and the possibility of a Tsunami on the beach where we were staying, luckily for us we were not affected but we would have been pre-warned by them if we had been - we had planned a beach trip that day but cancelled it until after high tide and the risk had diminished … …
We had so much rain in the Manuel Antonio area, the constant echo of hours and hours of
Red-backed Squirrel Monkey
He choose the save route ... rain on the roof of our little cottage will remain with us - it was deafening and getting from our cottage to the communal area where we could get WIFI, just a few minutes walk away we would be soaked to the skin - but we knew when we came here that it was the raining season so ……
MOVING ON AGAIN ….. now it is time to move on but we are not going too far, just up the coast to Cerro Lodge,
Tárcoles which we had visited in 2012.
As we waited for our transport a troop of
Red-backed Squirrel Monkeys jumped across the roof of our Cottage and headed over the road balanced on a thick rope that had been strung across to enable them to get to the other side - although several were crossing on the electricity cables as well! One though decided he wanted to walk across the road which he did before darting into the undergrowth, obviously had a shock at some time off of the cables … …
As we were watching these delightful monkeys our
What a lovely day
Great hikes, great wildlife and great views transport arrived and we said farewell to Anita and headed off to our next destination. We hope it has not changed too much as we had so enjoyed it last time but sometimes it does not pay to go back, but hopefully it will be the same and we will see you there … …
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Very cute
But looks like he is up to no good