Day Twenty Two – The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

After yesterday’s craziness, we were hoping that today would bring some better luck. Boy, were we wrong when we woke up. As my alarm sounded on my phone, we awoke to another sound – the rain pitter pattering on the roof. Yes, I understand we are in Costa Rica during the rainy season, and yes, I know that it is par for the course; however, can a guy catch a break every once in awhile? On a side note, yes I know I’m whinning about being in a wonderful country during a three month vacation, but with all due respect, Costa Rica needed to get its act together!

We ate breakfast at the hotel while we hoped and prayed that the rain would stop. There was a significant debate of whether or not to just cancel the tour of the park altogether and just relax at the hotel. Luckily enough, cooler heads prevailed and we grabbed our gear and headed back to the national park in Manuel Antonio. As we boarded the bus, the sun started to shine through, and we knew then, we would be in for a good day.

Turns out, it was a lot better than we expected. Once we got to the park, we had a little bit of a hike to get to beach we were going to. Along the path, we were able to appreciate, in the sunlight, the beauty of the park. We saw some of the tallest bamboo I have ever seen, numerous types of other plants and flowers, and  a few animals decided to grace us with their presence. The first animal we saw a three-toed sloth right at the entrance of the park. It was just hanging out in the tree, being a sloth. Then we saw some Morphos and heard some different calls of the birds of the forest. Next we saw some blue and red crabs that were skittering about near the path. Kelly and I were really enjoying the wildlife, but much of our group just wanted to get to the beach. They ran ahead whilst we stayed back with the guide. That was a good choice. We got to see this massive black iguana just hanging out in the tree. Good things do come to those that wait.

After we finally made it to the beach, Kel and I decided it was definitely worth the wait. There had to be no more than 10 other people at the beach when we first arrived. We snapped some photos, and Ted and I checked out the tide pools. There were tons of crabs walking about, and every time you hopped on a new rock, more would dash away. For my first experience with tide pools, it was pretty darn cool.

Then we decided to try out the waters of the Pacific Ocean. Reluctantly, I will share this bit of information with you…When we first got in the water, I started to wonder to myself why is everything so salty, and then I remembered, I’m in the ocean, not a lake in Minnesota! Definitely a light bulb moment for me there. We swam for a bit and then headed back to the beach to catch some rays. However, we were about to catch something else…

Another reason why the Manuel Antonio beach is so popular is the fact there is so much wildlife about – including very brave raccoons and monkeys. As we were walking back, we saw a raccoon grab a bag from some unsuspecting beach goer and scurry back into the forest. Our guide said that was not an uncommon sight¸ and to be prepared to see monkeys soon. And they did not disappoint. About a half hour later, a pack of white faced monkeys made their way to the beach. Amidst much hullabaloo, the monkeys sprang from tree to tried to snap photos of them. We didn’t rush over with the crowd however; we had seen a family of monkeys up close just a couple of Fridays ago. Nevertheless, these monkeys wanted to outdo those from Monteverde. They came right up to where we were stationed and hung out for awhile. I got some pretty good photos of a mama monkey with her baby on her back. As I was trying to get one last shot of the pair, another monkey nearly brushed my leg as it ran by. Yes I jumped, I’m not afraid to admit that.

After my near encounter with my primate cousin, we started to make our way back to the hotel. But as we were leaving, something caught Kelly’s eye. Right above us in the tree we were getting shade from was a pair of sloths – a mama and a baby! Kelly definitely could be a guide in the forest with eyes like those. The two of them were actually pretty cute because the mama was scratching as sloths love to do, and her baby was mimicking her every action. I love seeing teaching happen.

After the beach, we headed back to the hotel to check out and go on our separate paths. It was nice to catch up with old friends again. Our second trip definitely solidified our friendships and we will be seeing them soon. I mean, Ted lives in Orlando…Harry Potter World anyone? We set out for our next destination which would be Playa Flamingo. We had six hours in the bus ahead of, but with DJ Chinchilla on our sides, the time flew by. We made it to Playa Flamingo just in time to see our first sunset go down on the Brasilito Beach. It may not be Monteverde, but Kel and I are definitely going to take advantage of the week ahead of us.

Pura Vida,
Casey