Manuel Antonio 1/22-1/25
The bus ride from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio started off on almost the right foot. We were at the bus stop at about 5:45am, about 15 minutes before the bus was supposed to leave for Puntarenas. We figured that should be enough time to secure seats. There were probably a dozen more backpackers waiting in line before us. By 6am there were at least 30 people waiting. By 6:30 there were probably 30 more, but as it turned out they were waiting for the bus to San Jose. At 7am a bus showed up, and started loading people, but first those who were going to San Jose. After some inquiries it turned out that our bus broke down somewhere on the way, and the San Jose-bound bus would take us to the bottom of the mountain, where another bus would meet us.
For the next hour the bus overflowing with 60-70 people descended the mountain. Roughly 3/4 of the way through the bus stopped, and everyone who was standing was unloaded to another "intermediate" bus. When we did get to the bottom of the mountain, there indeed was a bus waiting to take us to Puntarenas. By 10am we were sitting in front of a beach at a bus stop in Puntarenas waiting for our next bus to Manuel Antonio, observing locals fill coconuts with rum to make their beach experience more fun.
Around 3pm we were in Quepos, trying to negotiate a room that had something that looked like a window, but did not open, down to the price of a room that had no windows. We met half way, took a shower, and went for food and town exploration. Quepos turned out to be a small, and strange kind of town. It appears to serve a role of a shopping center for the locals. There are multiple hardware, clothing, and other "utility" stores. In addition to that it seems to be influenced by the nearby Manuel Antonio, predominantly touristy town: Quepos has a few cheaper options for accommodation (one of which we took), has a range of car rental places, and offers regular bus service to Manuel Antonio. We discovered all of that on the first day by walking around the whole town.
The next morning we had a plan to go to Manuel Antonio National park, which is the main attraction. But it turned out that it was closed on Mondays, so we went to the beach instead. By now I've visited probably 90% of Costa Rica's beaches, and can confidently say that Manuel Antonio one is the best.
During the bus ride to Manuel Antonio I saw a familiar face. Turned out to be Foux's student/friend Borya who I'd met when we hiked in Pinnacles. He was there with his sister.
So we swam, worked on our tan a little bit, and hunted pelicans for a good picture.
You can clearly see Borya and his sister in that picture too.
The following day we went to the park. As fate would have it that day the park switched to a new ticketing mechanism. Instead of collecting money right in front of the entrance to the park (which was fast, and convenient), they contracted a private agency to issue tickets about 200 yards away from the entrance; these tickets were then checked by the actual entrance. Since this was the first day, the agency appeared to have no idea what they were doing, and we spent about 40 minutes in the burning sun waiting to get our tickets. Then a bit more time waiting to get our tickets checked.
We breezed through the first part of the park quite quickly, but as soon as we got to the beach we slowed down to watch all the wild life that came out to greet us.
After watching these guys for a while we headed for the beach, where our snack (not a very good one) fell victim to a family of racoons who first strolled by checking out what was laying within easy reach, and then returned for a swift operation during which they stole ours, and other people's snacks.
After the beach we went up to the part of the trail that was closed for reconstruction. We figured that since we spent $20 each to get to the park, we were entitled to see it in its full glory. The trail went up the hill, and presented nice views.
The workers on the trail did not mind us being there, but looked at us with curiosity.
Before leaving the park we've stopped to watch monkeys some more (no matter how many monkeys we see, Julie is ready to watch them endlessly.) That's when I got peed on by one. That is it was no peeing on me directly, but it was a bit windy, so I got some. As I mentioned in a previous post, that same night I got pooped on by a small gecko in a cafe.
The following morning we got our European import from Hertz, and were on our way to Montezuma on Nikoya Peninsula.
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| 2012.01.22 Manuel Antonio |
