http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Central America Caribbean , Costa Rica , Puntarenas , Manuel Antonio en-us Mon, 07 Dec 09 16:35:13 +0000 Mon, 07 Dec 09 16:35:13 +0000 Last Morning in SJ found a great typical restaurant with a gracious waiter. Prices weren't too bad I think 2 large coffee 2 and breakfast 5 was ok for a very nice place. If the photos arent too well 'placed I think I need time to learn the set up here better.Also for those of you who clicked the Subscribe Button you may get a notice that a new report is posted when it is only me editing and http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Vista-Serena-Hotel/blog-457506.html 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 http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-447135.html Manuel Antonio is a national park on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Our first day here the park was closed so we spent the day in our hammocks reading on the beach and swimming in the pool at our hostel. The next day we went to the park with our new Dutch friends hiked though the forest and saw tons of wildlife. A group of 20 squirrel monkeys followed us around for a bit every few minutes we'd http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-441110.html 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. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Costa-Rica/blog-431206.html 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. P http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-428197.html Wednesday Laura and I put a few days worth of clothes into our packs and were ready to head four hours south of Coco to Manuel Antonio. We got picked up by an air conditioned van that shuttles tourists and backpackers around the island for pretty cheap. On our way down I asked the driver if he would stop at Rio Tarcoles for a moment so we could check out the crocodiles. And I was glad he oblige http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Vista-Serena-Hotel/blog-427492.html TuesdayThere was a special request for a final blog...Tuesday brought another 5 A.M. wake up for Amy and I. One would think that with all the early mornings I would start to get use to them. However with each one I only got grumpier and grumpier As much as I try I don't think I'll ever be a morning person. Our next adventure led us south to the Central Pacific for the pristine villiage of M http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-423906.html 25th MAY 2009 TRAVEL TO MANUEL ANTONIOWe headed away from Fortuna in the taxi. The lady that spoke to us was in the front the driver was driving obviously and another guy was in the back with us. I was a little apprehensive about taxis after the story about the American girls getting robbed but my fears heightened when the taxi stopped en route to pick two more guys up. I had such bad feeli http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Costa-Rica/blog-403802.html Chugging along northward. Entered and arrived in Costa Rica with no problems. San Jose was my first visit. Lame lame city. This place was boring. Not much to do and see here. The city itself isn't nice either. I only stayed here for two days. Two days too longCruised it down to the Pacific coast. I visited Manuel Antonio National Park in the town of Manuel Antonio. You know I've heard http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-401820.html I made it to Manuel Antonio. What a long day yesterday was. The plane rides were fine and noneventful.I had checked in two large bags and only had to pay 40 for the fee so I was glad about that. I was glad that I didn't bring my third planned bag so the decision saved me some money.When I arrived to San Jose I was pleased to see that the airport was modern and very pretty. Touristy. Cu http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Costa-Rica/blog-396711.html Mi experiencia en el parque..... http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-394725.html Preparando comida Empanadas Cooking class Empanadas http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-393783.html Costa Rica is beautiful Our flight down on Jet Blue was at capacity what recession Because none of the streets have signs or numbers we thought it best to rent a GPS for our mini SUV. Unfortunately the GPS could not find our first destination. However it was able to get us to the right neighborhood but finding the hotel took some time and required us to ask for directions multiple times. Cos http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-392785.html La playa de Manuel Antonio http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-391693.html When planning the itinerary for the parents we had thought hard about whether to include Manuel Antonio Costa Ricarsquos most visited reserve. Reports were that although a stunning strip of sand on the Pacific coast the rush to capitalise on the tourist dollar had rendered it rather characterless and overtaken by a few too many hotels. However what we discovered on arrival after finally emerg http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-373311.html We left Monteverde by van headed to Manuel Antonio on Costa Rica's Pacific coast. On the way we stopped at the crocodile bridge to have a look at those bad boys. As we descended from the cool highlands it got very hot. We got there at 2pm headed straight for the beach where we bought a bbq lunch . After this we went for a swim hung out there for the rest of the day. The next morning I http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-366678.html After getting my bag late Monday morning I decided to go to Manuel Antonio the next morning. While waiting at the Coca Cola station I met some great Germans Miriam and Martin who were going to the same destination. The weather has been great the food has been great and the sights have been great. The first two days were spent at the beach and lounging around taking in the sights. Today we the http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/Vista-Serena-Hotel/blog-366191.html Alle t heeft de hele nacht doorgegeregend hennig vochtig dus klam en bezweet samen met de muggen onder de klamboe wakker geworden..Douchke en aangeschoven voor Ramires's Walking Dinner veel fruit en koffie met het verwachte effect.. rij bij de bano..Op eigen houtje het park ingetrokken de gids was veel te opgefokt en zat te stressen.. No gracias Chill .. Pura Vida.... Het was de moeite.. http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-362531.html Weer een lege dag moet ook eens kunnen.. Verkast naar Manuel Antonio jungle lodgesvan Ramirez de ganster.Voor n zeeer basic kamerke met weer zo'n toffe douchekop betalen we evenveel als in Quepos.. Maar nu hebben we wel een cabina right near the beach.. zucht .. en we hebben met 3 een kamer met 6 bedden ..Hebben vandaag afgesproken met Roberto n gast die we op onze vorige reis in Mexic http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-362530.html Hello EveryoneFirst off Happy New Year I know we are late but we have been moving around quite a bit. We hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve and that the New Year is starting off great. After we left Granada we took a very wavy ferry ride to Ometepe Island. An island formed by two volcanoes. We stayed there for 3 days. It was a pretty area with the volcanoes in the background. We did some http://www.travelblog.org/Central-America-Caribbean/Costa-Rica/Puntarenas/Manuel-Antonio/blog-362523.html