Trip to Costa Rica

Day 8 - Thursday, January 13, 2022 - Manuel Antonio Park


It's nature day today. Manuel Antonio Park is full of interesting plants and animals and we were able to see a lot thanks to the sharp eyes of our guide Rafael. I'm not sure how he can spot some of the things that he pointed out to us today. We got an early start to the park trying to beat the crowd and the heat. We arrived at the park by 8 and were ready for a hike. We had to make sure that we had no food with us as the monkeys, capuchins etc. would take it from us. We were very fortunate to see some amazing things - white faced capuchins, casque lizards, bats, beautiful blue morpho butterflies, gaudy red eyed tree frogs, and howler monkeys. The most amazing sight though was we actually witnessed a sloth in the trees giving birth. The guide was so excited - he had only seen this once before in his 25 years of guiding. Part way through the hike we came to the beach and got some time to swim and walk the beach before heading out of the park. The bus dropped us in town, and we went to lunch at the Patio of Cafe Milagro. There we had smoothies and tacos and did a little souvenir shopping before returning to the hotel. Then we cleaned up and went to try some Guaro (a Costa Rican liquor) sours at happy hour. From there it was on to our farewell dinner at Lagarto, a BBQ/Steak place. It was so delicious.  We had an eclectic group of fellow travelers.  Including 3 Iranian couples from the Shahs time period living in the DC area.  A Vietnamese couple - the husband who escaped as a child after the US withdrew in 1975.  An Irish cop and his college history professor wife.  A 76-year-old accountant and her banker husband. A retired teacher couple from Oregon.  And a young oil company executive and his wife from Pittsburgh.  You learn a LOT traveling with your fellow Americans, as well as learning from the people of the country you're visiting.       

 


Our guide, Rafael, introducing us to Manuel Antonio Park


Explaining about the flora

Bats - yuck



Not a great picture of the sloth but we could see her very
 clearly through the scope Rafael had set up



The beach at Manuel Antonio


The beach at Manuel Antonio



The beach at Manuel Antonio



The beach at Manuel Antonio





One of the many white-faced capuchins that we saw


Iggy


El patio at Cafe Milagro - healthy smoothie


Fish and Shrimp tacos


Guaro sours at happy hour



Some visitors at the pool



Dinner at Lagarto


Dinner at Lagarto



Dinner at Lagarto



Dinner at Lagarto

















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