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Published: July 23rd 2009
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Manuel Antonio Beach
Carolyn and I spent a day at the beach with Krista, and then we went to get drinks at happy hour! This is Kate.
As many of you know, my good friend Carolyn came down for a visit. She stayed July 14 - 22.
The morning of July 14, I got up early because I had to get ready for the bus... Carolyn was coming. I decided I would ride up to San Jose to meet her and help her get back down to Quepos. The bus was off at 9:45am. It is such a nice ride going from Quepos to San Jose. Although it does take 4 hours, there are some beautiful views of the valleys and hills along the way. A little over 4 hours later, I waited for Carolyn at the airport for about another hour or so. I tried to allow a little leeway in case something happened with my bus and also her plane was a little late. Finally she was there and we were off in a taxi to the Coca-Cola bus station, where we would get our bus to Quepos!
Once we arrived at the bus station, it was around 2:55pm. I tried to rush to get a ticket for the 3pm bus, but they weren't selling any more. So, we settled
At the beach.
There were some horse riders checking out the beach while we were there. for the 4pm bus and decided to get a bite to eat. That was fun because Carolyn was going to eat her first casado! We looked around for about 10 min. and decided on a small soda that looked nice. After taking up 2 tables (they were small and Carolyn had a HUGE duffle bag) we ordered. Carolyn got a chicken casado and I got beef. They were great and a lot of food! It was good for us because neither one of us had eaten all day.
4pm came around and we were on our way to Quepos. We started watching Ace Ventura on my ipod, but then I suggested we wait to watch it when it got dark so Carolyn could look at the pretty views in the light. I think she mostly fell asleep in the light, but that's ok. :^) We got to Quepos safe and sound, picked up a box of wine, and called a cab. Once getting to the villas, we were greeted warmly (of course!) and split our box of wine. There were some older men staying there and they were out on the terrace when we arrived. They were on a
mission to travel up and down the west coast in search for a good deal on property. We chatted with them for awhile about their travels. They both had been living in Costa Rica for around 30+ years and congratulated us on being pioneers. Us! They were fun to talk with and after the box of wine, we were both really tired and needed sleep.
The next day, we got up nice and early because we were going to spin class together! The class starts at 7:45am, so I was up by 6:45 and I think Carolyn was up at like 5am! It was a good class and we were tired afterward, we came home and then decided to head to the beach later that day. We caught the 12pm bus and met Krista on there and we all went to the beach. Such a nice day and the water felt good. We were all tired though and just snoozing away. Around 2:30pm, we decided to go in search for a happy hour. We found one about 10 min later and sat down for some drinks. Carolyn got guaro sours, I got mojitos, and Krista got a fruity margarita.
All the drinks were delicious and a bit strong. Didn't take much for us to feel pretty good, so we decided it was a good time to head home and make some dinner. Krista was going to come over and we were going to make Thai food. Carolyn and I picked up some ingredients at the store, then taxied back to the villas.
Once back, Carolyn needed some rest and went to lie down, while I was busy getting the Thai food ready. Krista eventually came over and helped finish it up. It was DELICIOUS. Unfortunately, Carolyn wasn't feeling well and wanted to keep sleeping, so we saved her a bowl and ate without her. Afterwards, we were all really tired and decided to call it a night.
The next morning, Carolyn had a scuba trip! Her first dive that wasn't in a pool or a quarry! Eric was going surfing, so he walked her to the dive company office. It was a 4-hour trip and she said she saw a lot of fish and that it was really fun. Yay! Afterward, we decided we needed to plan what we were going to do. Either we were going
Scuba
A view from the boat Carolyn was on during her scuba dive. to go rafting the next day or head to La Fortuna. After I talked to the rafting guy, I found out the only thing available for the next day was a full-day trip. We had wanted a half-day, so we decided to toss that and head to La Fortuna. Carolyn and I were taking a girls trip! Yay!
We headed into town to the interbus office. Interbus is an alternative to the public bus that costs a bit more, but cuts off a lot of time because it is direct and is much more comfortable. Also, it is safer to transport luggage on interbus than the public bus. So, we booked our interbus tickets and then walked around town for a bit before heading back to the villas. We were leaving at 8am the next day and heading to La Fortuna! We were both very excited. La Fortuna is to the north of San Jose and is in a cloud forest. It is near Arenal where there is a volcano and a lake. It is a much different climate from Quepos, as it is much cooler and more rainy. I was excited for the change in climate, even though
Box of terror.
Carolyn saw this in the back of a grocery store. I guess they are trying to terrorize the germs out of the toilet? it was only for a few days. I am sure what I experienced there will be similar to the Cloudbridge Reserve where I am doing my research for graduate school.
The next morning we were picked up around 8am and we were on our way to La Fortuna. There was a couple riding with us who were heading out to Monteverde (another cloud forest town). They were really friendly and we had a fun ride up with them! Check out the La Fortuna blog coming soon!
Pics to come soon.
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