Polar Opposite

---

Geo: 9.45, -84.15

Coming to Drake Bay may well have been a terrible mistake - it was the best possible start to the trip, far exceeding our expectations of Costa Rica. Of course, one of the reasons that Drake Bay and the Osa Peninsula have become recommended destinations, is that the difficulty of reaching them means that it is wonderfully uncrowded, in comparison to the country's more popular destinations. It's entirely possible that we have already seen the very best of Costa Rica, meaning that anything else from here on in would pale in comparison ...

So it was with a degree of sadness that we left the Tranquilo Lodge today, with Mary giving us a quick ride down to Drake Bay's beach, where we waded in the surf up to our knees and boarded our awaiting boat transfer to Sierpe. It's really not that big of a deal, but departing through the surf does somewhat encapsulate all that is good about the peninsula - even the simple fact that Drake Bay lacks even a basic boat dock keeps many people away!

We expected an epic journey to get to Manuel Antonio today, catching the 7 AM boat to Sierpe, arriving around 9 AM, and waited until our shuttle van picked us up. We had heard different numbers for the duration of the drive, anywhere from two to four hours - we seemed to have lucked out today, as the roads were in good condition and there was little traffic, and we made it to Manuel Antonio by late morning.

First impressions - driving through Quepos, the biggest little town closest to the national park, things weren't promising. We had read that the 7 km road from Quepos all the way down to the national park had become nothing more than a dusty stretch of traffic congestion, a blur of hotels, restaurants, and shacks peddling tourist junk - sadly, this was proven true this morning, as we crawled along in our van to our accommodation near the park ...

It's too early to make a final judgment on Manuel Antonio, since our activities today consisted of little more than eating lunch, having a nap, and then having dinner. However, it was painfully obvious that our experiences here would prove to be far different from those in Drake Bay, as both appear to be polar opposites. So in the end, will this be a good or a bad thing? We won't know until tomorrow ...

---

Photos

Happy Goodbye ...
... Tranquilo's resident dog Happy, seemed positively sad to see us go.

Free Short Mangrove Tour ...
... part of today's journey to Manuel Antonio involved a boat ride from Drake Bay to Sierpe, through brief stretches of mangroves to pick up other passengers staying at lodges in the area.

Maracuya and Guanabana ...
...the passion fruit smoothie was good, and the first guanabana (soursop) of the trip was less-than-stellar, chunky and tasting a slightly off and a bit sour which, despite the name, really shouldn't be the case.

Rafael's Terrazas ...
... highly-rated on TripAdvisor, but we found that it was most likely for its multiple terraces with beautiful views of the bay below. This seared tuna wasn't too bad, but wasn't much more than a glorified dish of average sushi, when served with soy sauce and wasabi like this was.

Fish Tacos ... with Tartar Sauce???!! ...
... perhaps we had overreached in our ordering, starting with a couple of Asian-themed dishes, but surely the fish tacos would be good, right? Wrong! Bland, and the cheese was hard, and the tartar sauce just seemed a bit bizarre. The best part was actually the fresh, warm corn tortillas.

Glorified Vietnamese Salad Roll ...
... expecting something completely different, this crab and avocado spring roll was nothing like it was billed. I think the menu even made mention of a tortilla, so we expected it to be fried, and we also suspect that the avocado had been left out. The dipping sauce was nothing more than the slightly-spicy Thai plum sauce you can find at most North American grocers, and the crab meat fake. Disappointing and severely over-priced at $12 USD ...

Saving Grace ...
... at least the fruit smoothies and juices were killer at Rafael's, including mango, passionfruit, and pineapple. In total, we had five tropical smoothies or juices up to this point - a definite highlight of eating in Costa Rica is the availability and variety of such top-notch fruit. The pineapple slices were also deliciously sweet, and were probably the best thing we ate at Rafael's! The sad thing was that we believed we had simply chosen poorly - a big tour group sat down right next to us, and their platters of grilled fish, burritos, and whole fried fish smelled and looked phenomenal.

Happy Hour ...
... prior to getting our drink on, we started with a couple of fruit smoothies - I think mango and refreshing watermelon.

2 for 1 Cocktails ...
... the way it worked at El Sol was that for every cocktail you ordered, you get a second identical one. Not realizing this, I ordered a guaro sour and Benita a mojito, expecting only one of each to show up - but magically, four drinks appeared! Good thing that Lil Buddha is a bit of an alcoholic, as he quickly demolished these strong doubles.

Guac and Pico de Gallo ...
... the fresh made chips were great, but we found the guacamole to be a bit bland here, lacking in both salt and acidity. But that still didn't stop us from gobbling it down! The pico de gallo was far superior, and quite tasty.

Sports Bar El Sol ...
... hoping for a better meal than we had at lunch, we tried out this place for dinner, on the strength of a recommendation from the hotel receptionist. The caprese salad wasn't quite like what we were used to, but we didn't have high expectations - the cheese was a bit rubbery, but the tomatoes and basil were good. The only thing missing was a spot of vinegar.

Plain, But Good ...
... we opted for an assorted fish platter, with some great garlicky grilled prawns, and grilled mahimahi and tuna. The tuna was deep red and robust, feeling more like beef than fish, but was served rather simply with just soy sauce and wasabi. The mahimahi was perfectly cooked, but again, a bit plain. As for the sides - the rosemary potatoes were pretty awesome, crispy on the outside but moist on the inside, but the veggies were lacking - Tranquilo set the bar high for vegetable preparation, and these ones just didn't quite stack up.