This weekend, some friends and I decided to take a small trip to Manuel Antonio, where a famous national park resides. We took a public bus from San Jose to Quepos (the city next to Manuel Antonio) at 1pm. It took about 3 and a half hours, not too bad! When we got dropped off at our hostel, it was pouring rain. We checked in and decided to go get food because we were starving. Our hostel had a beachfront so we walked on the beach to get to a restaurant, and it was high tide. The water was so warm and beautiful!

We finally made it to the center, and stopped by a supermarket where there were monkeys hanging around! One monkey found food in the garbage, so another one started to fight with it. They were rustling around and it was a site to see. We ate at a restaurant where I ate Casado, the typical Costa Rican dish. I chose chicken with plantains, rice and beans, and salad.

We headed back to the hostel and went straight to sleep because we had to get up early to visit the Manuel Antonio National Park. We woke up and got a complimentary breakfast of pancakes, bananas, and coffee- it was delicious. We walked to the park which only took about 10 minutes, and on the way saw many venders selling jewelry, handmade crafts, and some with Coco Frio (cold coconut juice). A lot of residents offer to be tour guides through the park, but they aren’t official. We decided not to hire a tour guide at all.

The park was beautiful. We saw so many monkeys and some sloths who were in their natural habitat and got pretty close to us. We took a long trail to get to a point lookout. It took a while and was all uphill but was worth it- the view was beautiful! After the long hike, we went to the beach which was more towards the entrance. At the beach, wildlife was all over as well. Monkeys and raccoon-looking animals! At one point, I was eating pomegranates on a log, and out of nowhere one of the raccoons tried snatching the bag..it was pretty startling!

Though it was a short trip, it was worthwhile. We had a beachfront hostel, got to see monkeys and sloths and the beautiful beach. I would love to return since it’s not too far from San Jose.

Today I might as well spend time studying Spanish to get a head start on class tomorrow.

Until next time,

Laura