Manuel Antonio National Park

Well, we are filling our days more than we ever did in Mexico.  Every day we find ourselves taking long walks in hopes of finding something new to see, some new scene or vista, some new flower or bird or … it’s all about discovery for us.  Of course, we also enjoy the exercise and the sunshine.  We are changing from winter white to summer dark shades.

On Thursday, this past week, we decided to catch a bus to check out Manuel Antonio National Park, a place that is about 70 km from here.  The bus ride to the city of Quepos took almost two hours where we switched buses for the final 7 km into Manuel Antonio.  The ride was interesting and actually quite cheap.  Two buses for less than $3.00 each.  We left at 6:45 am and found ourselves in Manuel Antonio by 9:00 am.

After a quick breakfast of Gallo Pinto and coffee, we headed into the park which is mostly about nature trails.  One of the highlights for the park is trying to catch sightings of the Howler monkey.  Well, we got to see four different Howler monkeys as we wandered through the trails, one of them being this guy we caught hanging out trying to catch a breeze near the top of a tree.

We saw quite a few butterflies as you can see in the above photos, but we also got to see more such as iguanas and a few lizards such as this little guy.  At one point we actually saw a large iguana catch a lizard and make a meal of him.  Interesting to watch if not a bit gross.

We also got to see a strange-looking rodent that was called an Agouti.  The photos I took of him hiding in the brush didn’t turn out and the one taken as he crossed the path was blurry as he was moving quickly and the light was too weak.  Oh well, we did see him and have a somewhat blurry photo to prove it which is good enough.

Of course it wasn’t all about nature trails as there were a few great beaches as well as a fairly high hill on a peninsula jutting out into the sea.  It made for a good work out.  After several hours of walking, we decided to cool off in the sea.  Wow!  We learned just how strong a rip tide can be as both of us went tumbling first toward the shore, then being dragged back out.  So much for trying the beach just outside of the park.  We should have used the beach everyone else was using within the park.

It was time to head back home to Playa Jaco, so we took the bus back to Quepos where we then joined a host of other Costa Ricans all intent on travelling to other locations.

As you can see, I was successful in getting almost front row seats on the bus heading home.  It’s a good thing that I have learned enough Spanish to get by in our travels.  I should learn more, but somehow the hours and days are slipping by so fast that it is hard to find time for doing the work.

The wait at the terminal finally came to an end and we were able to board the bus that would take us back.  And, as usual, photo opportunities came up on the way back home as well.  But, this is enough for today’s post.

Oh, in case you are wondering why the posting has been infrequent, we have been having issues with Internet, issues which will be resolved quite soon as we will have a different dedicated Internet setup for our villa this coming week.  Until the next post, enjoy!