Permasmile

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Geo: 9.38945, -84.1347

We learned a key lesson about Costa Rican wildlife today - that the three-toed sloth is cute, while the two-toed version is rather ugly, almost alien-like in appearance. Exactly what is the difference? I don't know exactly ... you'll just have to google the images and make the judgment for yourself. Perhaps it's the fact that the three-toed sloth has a permasmile, or at least it appears that way - it could be that it truly is happy all the time and always smiling, or that the fur around its mouth is shaped such that it has a permasmile!

Sloths really are intriguing animals, spending nearly their entire lives up in the trees, usually coming down only to take a dump. Being so slow and having almost no defensive features to speak of, it needs to carefully maneuver amongst the trees, painstakingly testing out other trees and branches before moving across them. Apparently, even the smallest of movements expend large quantities of its energy, so every move must be carefully contemplated prior to executing.

But that smile ... the three-toed sloth is truly a funny-looking creature, resembling Gandalf the Grey in his over-sized Wizard's robe, in the way that the sloth's skin sags and hangs from its bony frame. Its face is reminiscent of a clown with a bad makeup job, yet it's oddly so cute, in a very fugly kind of way. Everything it does is somehow captivating, because it's always moving in slow motion, even when it eats - I know of no other creature on earth that can eat as slowly as a sloth, taking seemingly forever to munch on a simple leaf.

So despite some pretty brutal crowds today at Manuel Antonio National Park, it still wound up being another stellar wildlife experience. A big part of that was yet another excellent guide, who are seemingly found everywhere in Costa Rica, definitely making for another fun and entertaining day. Somewhat strangely, our guide Pablo actually hails from Toronto and has a North American accent, but moved back to Costa Rica a number of years ago.

But whether he's from Costa Rica or Canada was irrelevant, the only thing that mattered was how funny, knowledgeable, and engaging he was. Unlike many other destinations around the world, it seems that passion is a prerequisite for any guide work in Costa Rica, and Pablo had it in droves. Many times today, it actually seemed like he was more excited than we were about the wildlife we spotted.

In the end, Manuel Antonio acquitted itself quite well today, despite the negative first impressions we had of the area yesterday. Sure, the place is completely overrun with tourists, but it still managed to deliver a wildly entertaining experience, albeit different from what we had shared down at Drake Bay. Spotting that sloth today certainly was the highlight, and left us with some very sloth-like permasmiles!

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Photos

Painfully Slow ...
... everything the sloth does is painful to watch - even while eating a leaf, she seems to expend more energy eating than she would actually gain from the leaf.

Jesus Christ Lizard ...
... this is the actual name of the little guy, because he can actually run across water. Look carefully - he's at the base of the leaf near the top of the stem, almost in the centre of the picture.

The Bad of Manuel Antonio ...
... this is what we feared as we headed north from Drake Bay to here - being far easier to get to, Manuel Antonio is usually swarmed with tourists, and the national park offered a far different experience from what we had at Corcovado National Park. Even though Manuel Antonio limits the number of visitors per day, most trails were still like this, making it impossible for people to pass, or even to avoid blocking someone's view through a telescope. Positively frustrating, even though there was still some excellent wildlife watching to be had.

Spot the Moths ...
... just above and to the left of the centre, you'll find three of them. Things like this are almost impossible to see without a guide.

Red-Eyed Tree Frog ...
... very hard to see from afar, it's the blob clinging to the underside of the leaf, just below the centre of the picture.

Overrated ...
... considering how much Costa Rican coffee is hyped, we've found it sorely lacking so far. Sure, Cafe Milagro managed to whip up a decent cappuccino and iced latte, but the coffee beans themselves ... just not overly flavourful, and many times it has been bitter. Hopefully, the situation improves as we travel through Costa Rica.

Picnic On the Beach ...
... tasted better than it looked, with some locally-made Italian gouda, crappy ham, dry bread, and avocado, which made everything much better.

Picnic Indoors ...
... finding the food overpriced and somewhat-lacking in the Manuel Antonio area, dinner was another picnic affair, with more of the dry bread, the surprisingly-good gouda, prosciutto, and more of the tasty avocado. If the avocado didn't elevate the dinner, the bottle of wine surely did!