Faking It

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Geo: 9.38945, -84.1347

Costa Rica has proven to be far more expensive than we had anticipated, and the Manuel Antonio area might be one of the priciest areas - that's the main reason we chose to stay here at a more reasonable accommodation with basic facilities. Of course, that meant that we lacked a swimming pool to enjoy on a rare off day, where we had no activities planned. However, we heard that the Arenas del Mar resort allowed visitors to use one of their pools, all for the cost of an over-priced lunch at its beachfront café.

Apparently, our information was outdated, as upon arrival, we were informed that we could use the pool and hotel facilities ... for the bargain price of $70 USD per person! Now, that did include lunch at the café with one alcoholic drink, but that was still too rich for our blood; however, having already made the long walk down from the main road to Arenas del Mar, we decided to at least have lunch, allowing us to fake the good life at a five-star resort! It turned out to be an excellent choice, as our meals were fantastic and worth every over-priced penny.

Even better was the cafe's location on tiny and secluded Playa Playitas, under the shade of dozens of palm trees, which, combined with the delightfully-refreshing ocean breeze, rendered the need for a pool unnecessary. The resort ended up being a great place to hide from the heat and humidity ... eating, drinking, reading our books, and doing a bit of wildlife watching, with the overhead moneys and sloth providing some unexpected entertainment ... this was the first real relaxing that we've done on the trip.

That wasn't the extent of our fortune today, because Costa Rica has a wonderful law dictating that any land within 50 m of the coastline is public property, meaning that Playa Playitas is fair game for everyone, despite the fact that a five-star resort looms in the background. So even though we never got to enjoy the pool, we were still able to enjoy a little refreshing beach time after finally wrapping up our time at the café. Despite the rather expensive lunch, it still ended up being a decent value, overall.

This was our last day in the area, and allowed us to reach a final verdict on Manuel Antonio - while we still prefer Drake Bay, which was a completely different experience, our few days here were still pretty awesome. Despite being completely overrun with tourists, there were still some major highlights, like vegging out today and feeling like we were living out a real-life version of a Corona commercial. And who could forget the mesmerizing permasmiling sloth of yesterday? That's something we will never forget ...

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Photos

Our Perch For the Day ...
... we felt like we were living a Corona commercial, so we decided to stay at the Arenas Del Mar hotel for the majority of the day.

Crossing at High Tide ...
... these guys were hilarious, picking the worst time (high tide) to cross over to this beach from one just over the rocks. The one guy on the rocks was too terrified to hop into the water, while the guy in the water continually got blasted by waves, as he tried to cajole the other guy into making the leap.

Ugly Two-Toed Sloth Hanging Overhead ...
... good thing that we didn't notice him during lunch, or we would have instantly lost our appetites.

Lil Buddha's Drinking Problem ...
... continued today at Arenas del Mar, but he complained that the pineapple jalapeno margarita was a tad blah in taste. Surprisingly, an alcoholic like him actually rather enjoyed the non-alcoholic watermelon, ginger, and mint smoothie.

Tuna Poke ...
... their take on the classic Hawaiian tuna dish - pretty stellar and redolent of Asian flavours, even though there were many tropical influences. Anything with chunks of avocado seems to be great in Costa Rica, and the slightly-sticky short grain rice gave the whole dish a bit of a sushi feel. The highlight may have actually been the ring-like objects that look a bit like a slice of hard-boiled egg sans the yolk. Crunchy and tasty, we wish that we knew what it was, so that we could find some more of it.

Snook ...
... my first thought was to actually give in to my craving for a burger, but luckily I changed my mind and went for some fish. A beautiful crust on the outside, yet juicy on the inside, the snook could not have been cooked any better. Topped with a good handful of fried shredded coconut, and served with a pineapple and bean salsa, this dish was surprisingly light and tasty. It was definitely a pricey lunch, but it was worth every penny.

Giant Shrimp Pappardelle ...
... the pasta tasted like it was freshly made on the premises, and the combination of asparagus, basil, and tomato in a light cream sauce was mind-blowingly tasty.

Disappointment ...
... after such a stellar meal, there was a slight let down with dessert - a poorly made and poorly conceived panna cotta. There was almost more macadamia nuts than panna cotta, rendering the panna cotta a moot point. It also didn't seem terribly fresh, as the macadamia nuts had grown a bit soggy and rubbery. The coffee was actually quite well-prepared in the form of an americano, but unfortunately, those coffee beans here just don't seem all that good ...

Back to Cafe Milagro ...
... while we weren't overly-impressed with their coffee, the patacones (fried plantains) were pretty tasty, almost as good as those we had in Colombia. Crispy but a tad greasy, they were good with the guacamole, but the mango bean salsa was a bit too starchy to go very well with the already starchy patacones.

Calamari and Chorizo ...
... tasty and tender, but a tad salty. The spicy grilled flatbread helped with the saltiness.

Ceviche ...
... nicely spiced and made with coconut milk, it was different than the typical versions found in Costa Rica, which normally use only citrus juice. The fresh plantain chips were a great accompaniment - too bad there weren't more of them.

Chayote Salad ...
... the chayote tasted a bit like jicama, and the salad was top notch. Served with a nice subtle vinaigrette, the cubes of mango and candied macadamia nuts gave the salad a great depth of flavour.