Manuel Antonio, The beach & El Avion

One of the quintessential reasons to come to this region, is to see Manuel Antonio. So, this morning we got ready and tried to get out of the house fast. Unfortunately, Miranda was feeling terrible. She was a trooper and made it all the way to the park where, after waiting and hoping it would clear, it didn’t. Kevin had to drive her home which was sad because you only get so many days on vacation.

Kevin took Miranda home, leaving mum, Brooke, Logan and I to see the park with our guide, Juan Carlos. Juan had many years of university and could taxonomically name all the genus and species names, all of which are as follows: I can’t remember any. Well, the real value of having the guide was his keen eye, fun personality, and even better, his spotting scope. Juan set up his tripod scope so we could see everything– much better than even with good binoculars.

The monkeys were most entertaining. They move fast and the three types are, distinctive with their own individual character. The howlers didn’t howl for us but we got to see their large gorilla faces and watch them leap through the tops of the trees – what a fascinating adaption to hang and swing from branches, with all appendages. You see monkeys at zoos but they just aren’t as active as in the wild. The little monkeys were amazingly fast and moved from the lower parts to the higher parts of the trees and across the canopy. The final group we saw, the white faced monkeys, are the clear misfits in the monkey world. I watched and photographed a daring little white faced monkey dig through a woman’s beach bag and she wasn’t close enough to protect it. The monkey found her wallet or purse and took it. Logan was exasperated, yelling and chasing the monkey, pointing and demanding the monkey give it back. He wasn’t impressed. I found it a bit funny; not meaning to be inconsiderate but it’s a circumstance that is out of your control - once the monkey took it, there wasn’t much you could do. The story had a happy ending with the monkey dropping the purse, because it couldn’t eat it, and it was handed back to the woman to whom it belonged. I like stories with happy endings.

The one animal we saw that really surprised me was the land crabs. They are amazingly colourful – a mix of blues, greens and reds. They burrow, effectively living much like a gopher. They sit very still and you have to look carefully to see them in the dark areas of the forest floor. They live in the darkest parts of the forest and their translucent appearance is consistent with that modality.

As an observation of the nature here, it is so unique in its diversity that it is a naturalist’s and photographer’s paradise. If all you want to do is watch or shoot animals or scenics, you could spend every minute here doing just that. So far, in just 8 days, I’ve taken 2100 photos and 4hours of video – mostly of Kevin and I drinking beer (wink). The life here is wild – wildlife.

They have a saying here, Pura Vida, which isn’t just a touristy slogan but is widely spoken by people (and of course adopted by the marketers to sell merchandise) to describe not only the country’s mindset but also as a descriptive regarding how individuals are doing. Perhaps the closest analogue I can think of is “hang loose” mixed with “lovin’ life”.

We spent the rest of the day at the beach just outside the park and then finished the day at a well known restaurant in Mauel Antonio, El Avion, that has an interesting architecture – it’s built in and under a plane. They have an original 1954 Fairchild Bomber that was being used in the 1980’s by a retired US General to supply rebels in Nicaragua. It was shot down and was bought later and shipped to Manuel Antonio.

Logan with our guide, Juan Carlos





Curious critters


The frog you could barely see. I've enhanced the contrast to help see it.


Colourful crabs that line the low areas and also dig crab holes in the road sides.


Howler Monkey. "I'm not a gorilla but I kinda look like one".





How many toes do you count? It's a Three Toed Tree Sloth.


Wow bamboo grows tall, look at the small building for scale.


These are the little monkeys that fly.


This little monkey flew all the way to Costa Rica.


The beach at Manuel Antonio that everyone goes to.





The little white faced monkey that Logan was very upset with.
"I'm hungry, what did this tourist leave for me?"

"Can I eat this? It's shiny though; I think I'm going to take this!"





"Ah, they're coming....I better scram."


"Bye, bye."

















The bar in the belly of the plane.

The Beach - Playa Palma, and Quepos

Today was wonderful. Logan asked every 2 minutes to go to the beach so that’s what we did. Brooke and I navigated, not the most direct way mind you, to a completely isolated, broad beach called Playa Palma near the very rural town of Bandera. It was truly incredible to be able to drive the cars right onto the beach without a person in sight and set up for our day. We had such a good time it was hard to leave. The obvious result is that we are all burned somewhere on our bodies. Brooke & Mom were super careful but still got a bit too much in a spot or two. Logan got the worst of it - red all over. He won’t sleep well tonight. After we got out of there we still had time to check out Quepos. It is a busy little town, packed with Ticos and Tourists. Kevin and I sat and had beer and pizza while the girls shopped. A wonderful day.

Leaving La Fortuna and Arriving in Quepos

It’s been a wild couple of days. We have finally left La Fortuna. Driving the road between La Fortuna and San Ramon is a lesson in pace changes. We went from fast to slow every time we came up on trucks filled to the gills with palm hearts (or maybe sugar cane???) It took exactly 2 hours to cover 52 miles. There were times when the hills and bends were thrilling. Our SUV we rented was surprisingly nimble. So far we haven’t really needed the big SUV. We rented it for safety and just in case we hit some rough roads.

We got gas in San Ramon after the first 2 hours. And then, after a misguided attempt to make it to the highway, finding an underpass we didn’t want to go under, we retraced our steps and hit the correct off ramp. We zoomed off at over 90kph for all of 60 seconds. Then, trucks, trucks trucks. There were opportunities later on to pass, thanks to the extra lanes added at the hills. It became an entertaining drive when we had to navigate by guess. This is a technical form of navigation using the bends in the map and matching them to the bends in the road to determine where you are. The roads here are generally unmarked. You need to know where you are and what direction you want to go - the signs don’t tell you…..well there are no signs.

We only made one detour when we thought we would try an alternate route near Esparza. We went into the small city but never did find the way out to the south – we think it may have been before Esparza and with no signs. Further, at noon, the sun is high in the sky providing no help with the direction of south or north.

We got back on the main highway and continued around past Puntarenas – after which was a wonderful drive. You have to appreciate the feel of driving a 2 lane highway and the experience of it versus a double divided.

We finally got our first glimpse of the ocean just south of Puntarenas City. From there the road travels inland and only occasionally is close to the sea. Most often it passes through farmlands that are situated on the sediment-flooded areas between the mountains.

The drive was punctuated with a stop at what is known as the “crocodile bridge” at Rio Tarcoles. This very large bridge, covering a wide, muddy river, is flanked by farms. Ten to twenty crocodiles lined the banks of the river quietly enjoying the sun and mud. Why they stop there I’m not sure. Perhaps it is one of the only places on the river they can catch some shade - there were no trees close to the river.

After driving since 9am we finally had to stop and take some time to enjoy cervezas and food. We had seen many places to along the way but they just didn’t appeal. We finally pulled off the road and decided that the map showed a small road going down to what looked like a little cove, Playa Herradura. It is a beautiful beach and all the developers think so too. The site contains the new Marriot (though not visible from where we were) and new condos on the picturesque cliffs lining the bay. However, where we sat down to have a drink and food, it was so quiet and quaint. Eating at the restaurant/bar may have been one of the best of the trip, we’ll see. The girl who served us was a returnee to Costa Rica. Her family was from here and she was born in Jersey. She now runs the farm here and the restaurant on the beach. She had six dogs running around that we first thought were strays. She explained that she is the local dog and cat rescuer. She keeps them at the farm and takes care of them. At the end of our meal, she gave us over a dozen eggs from her farm and directed us to a small farmers market.

We were now on a food shopping mission. We purchased fantastic fruit and veg from the farmers market, a small little open air shop. In the back there was a butcher where we bought beautifully tender fillet mignon. This became the meat portion for our planned stir fry. Then we proceeded to the nearby Mega Mart or something like that where we could buy things like condiments and staples and BEER.

Now, it was starting to get late in the day and we needed to get to the Steve and Svetlana’s house. Steve wasn’t kidding when he warned us about the steep drive up to the place. It would have been nearly impassible without 4WD. We were constantly slipping our way up the hill and thankfully it wasn’t too wet. The ran had been here before however and there were massive 12” gully’s cut into the road by fast flowing rain water. The larger SUV’s we rented performed beautifully and we were rewarded by the extraordinary vistas from atop the hill that the house is situated on. We arrived in an absolutely picturesque dusk setting where low lying clouds lined the valleys just enough to add an extraordinary depth. Even the pictures don’t do it justice. This house is very high up, situated at the top of a rather tall hill creating stunning views.

Anyway, the only hiccup with not having any running water for the first night. It took till the next day to communicate to the right people that the main pump at the bottom of the hill was turned off. It all worked out well and by 8am we could hear the thankful gush of water filling the storage tank just down from the house.

Full Service fill up!


Crocodile Bridge














Dos Cerveza Porfavor











Steve's place














Steve and Sveta's place in the morning!