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El Avion
A restaurant actually built around a real airplane!Costa Rica 2013: Day 12: Manuel Antonio Day 2:
This morning we were headed to Manuel Antonio National Park, hopefully to at least see monkeys and a sloth or two. After a cup of coffee made in our suite, we walked down the road to the park entrance. We had to stand in line a few minutes to buy our entry tickets, at $10 each, hoping it would be worth it. They gave us a map and explained the parts that were closed to the public, then off we went. At first, we sort of trailed along with one or another guided group, not to hear what they were saying, but to see what they found interesting. Many times we couldn't see what they saw because the guides had fancy telescopes set up, but we did spot a large, weird-looking grasshopper eating a leaf, a giant spider web with a good sized spider, and a neat little yellow (green?) snake. We also thought we saw monkeys in the trees, but couldn't see them clearly. Eventually, we outpaced the groups and headed down a side trail to Playa Gemelas and a "mirador" (lookout point). Along the way, I spotted a raccoon
Unusual "Slow" sign
Slow for people, dogs, sloths, and monkeys! in a tree, which we both took photos and got a video. It looked just like a raccoon in America, so I guess that wasn't so impressive, but I'd never seen a raccoon in a tree before. We turned down the path to Playa Gemelas (Twin Beach), and as soon as we got there, the fun began. First we saw a couple of large iguanas, then started spotting monkeys all over the place. At one point there we three of them close together. I believe they were capuchin monkeys. After we'd spent a good bit of time watching, filming, and photographing them, we returned to the fork and went up to the lookout point where you can get some great views of the shoreline and little islands. While we were there, we spotted several vultures flying around nearby.
We returned to the main trail and decided since it was already 10:30am, that we would finish the main trail and exit the park, rather than finish the main trail and then loop back to the entrance where we would be able to reenter later. Just a short distance from the fork, we reached the main beach, Playa Manuel Antonio. A
Beautiful Flower
Bird of Paradise? number of folks were swimming, and others were watching a couple of monkeys near the beach. We heard later that one had stolen a girl's lunch. Tricky little things! Before finishing the trail to the exit, we made a loop around the little rocky peninsula that jutted out into the ocean to Cathedral Point. It was quite a hike uphill, but I think the view was worth the climb, plus we saw another raccoon just walking along the trail in front of us. We started to head to the exit, a bit disappointed that we hadn't seen any sloths. Along the way, we met a local leaving the park with some gear he'd set up for a tour lunch, and just happened to mention we hadn't seen any sloths. Well, believe it or not, he said "No? There is a baby one in a tree just a ways back." He then offered to take us back there to see it, so we jumped at the opportunity. Sure enough, there was a cute little baby sloth sitting in a low tree right on the beach. We got lots of photos and I made a video of him too, then we returned
to the exit path, totally satisfied with our morning. As we exited, we met the local guy who had taken the time to show us the sloth, so we offered to buy him a drink. We all sat down at a hotel's cafe right near the exit, buying him a Coke (instead of a smoothie since he said he might have to run when his boss showed up), and we both had mango smoothies. Hmm, hmm, so refreshing after our long, hot morning!
Since it was lunch time, we grabbed the next bus up the hill (they run about every 20 minutes) to our apartment and bought a large wrap from Cafe Milagro next door. It was a bit expensive, but very tasty. After lunch and a bit of rest, we decided to ask the hostel folks about a spice farm I'd read about. Conrad at the hostel agreed the tour was very good, so even though we felt it was a bit expensive at $50 each, we ended up booking it for tomorrow morning. From there, we decided to grab the next bus to Quepos so Manoli could see about some cream she'd heard about that would help
clear up our grandson's eczema and to buy our tickets from Manuel Antonio to San Jose on Thursday. There are "direct" buses several times a day, so it "should" be a lot quicker than the normal buses that seem to stop every mile. It had been raining since before we left the room, and didn't let up. To top it all off, we had to stand at the bus stop for at least 30 minutes before a bus came. Manoli had her little umbrella, but I was wearing a flimsy little poncho that had short sleeves and didn't even cover my short pants. Oh well, my head stayed dry at least. We finally got the bus to Quepos, getting off at the terminal. Right across the street was a pharmacy where Manoli picked up some cream, without a prescription, and then we went next door for a cup of coffee at the little cafe in the front of the supermarket. Before getting back on the bus, we bought our tickets to San Jose, and did a bit more shopping, buying 3 neat t-shirts for our oldest grandsons.
By the time we returned to the room, it was almost 5pm,
Capuchin Monkey
Just one of many monkeys we saw so we chilled a bit, made some more coffee, then ate the leftovers from yesterday along with scrambled eggs and onions. Our silly coffee machine still didn't want to dispense the finished coffee without making a mess, so we had to use a measuring cup to scoop it out. After dinner, I walked down to the nearby supermarket to get some more Coke and water while Manoli took a shower. When I returned, we settled down in the living room and watched TV for a while. The TV has a lot of channels, so its either satelite or cable, and even had several channels with American shows, in English. We watched The Voice and a couple of episodes of Dinner Impossible before turning in.
Tomorrow we are booked for the spice farm tour. They'll pick us up here at the apartment at 8:30 and take us to the farm, returning us here later. We are looking forward to the tour, where they'll show us how they grow vanilla, coffee, and several spices, which they sell to a number of restaruants in the area. I heard that we also get to sample a number of things made with their products.
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