Post 6: Weekend with the Monkeys

After eating another delicious breakfast with fresh-squeezed orange juice, Dad and I decided to head for the beach. We talked to several people about where to go... and it seemed like the further south you go, the whiter the sand gets!

I think we changed our plan on where to go and how to get there about 5 times or more, but we ended up at the bus station to experience public transportation in Costa Rica. We wanted to be wild and adventurous so we hopped on the bus not really knowing where we would end up. This all seemed like a wonderful idea until we got off the bus in Manual Antonio in the dark, with two very heavy suitcases and no where to go! We wondered around for about 5 or 10 minutes before we decided it was a good idea to get a taxi. He took us to a hotel (Costa Verde) which ended up being exactly what we were looking for!

In the morning Dad woke me up and said… “Emily, there are monkeys jumping on our roof!” We rushed back outside and sure enough… monkeys were jumping from tree to tree, onto our roof and then back into the trees! I know I’m easily entertained, but this was by far one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen. We also woke up to a beautiful view of the ocean, which always takes my breath away!

That afternoon we went on a guided tour to the Manuel Antonio National Park. We had an awesome tour guide (Arlet) who had the eyes of a hawk! Dad and I would be walking along and she would stop, get her telescope out and show us all sorts of animals, insects, trees, etc. I actually took notes and pictures of everything she showed us. We saw a lot of monkeys throughout the park and got to swim in the ocean for a while! The monkeys were so cute… it was almost like they were celebrities and were posing for pictures!


We ended up being in the park a majority of the day, but Dad, Arlet and I were having a lot of fun! I think Dad got some pretty good pictures there too. We headed back to the hotel and went to the pool to watch the sunset over the ocean. Then we went to a restaurant called “Agua Azul” that Arlet suggested which had really tasty food! Following dinner we walked back down the hill and stopped at the B52 (plane) restaurant to have dessert. We couldn’t go to Manuel Anotonio and not eat in the airplane!!!

The next day (Sunday, Jan. 17th) we went and had breakfast along the beach before we had to check out of the hotel. We were changing up the mode of transportation and were taking a shuttle to the Arenal Volcano instead of the bus. The shuttle picked up a couple from Israel and a couple of guys from Toronto. So the six of us sat back and enjoyed the ride across the country.