Balen had told me that Manuel Antonio was amazing, but I didn't totally understand until I got there. We arrived in Quepos after 2 long bus rides and, after a fair amount of searching, found ourselves in a cabin on the beach, just before the sunset. We passed howler and capuchin monkeys on our way out to the water, and went for a long walk. I was amazed at the combination of the beauty of the beach (a round cove surrounded by cliffs with little islands sprinkled around in the water) and how few people there were. Perhaps Manuel Antonio is blessed by not being a great surfing destination? It was decidedly sleepy the whole time we were there.
Our cabin turned out to be more buggy than it originally seemed, so after one night we moved down the road to Hotel Coco Beach, which is actually the same place Balen stayed on his first trip to M.A. This place had a lot going for it - air conditioning and a TV among many other assets. We watched an embarrassing amount of MTV and Cinemax movies (and Ally McBeal! woo), but mostly after the sun went down :) We felt bad about leaving the first place, especially because, the owner, Viviana, was so incredibly warm and friendly...so much so that when we saw her in town she invited us to come back over to her place just so she could help us plan activities.
I'm going to let the photos do most of the talking, but to outline the highlights, there was boogie boarding, coconut drinking, hanging out under an umbrella with book, walking on beach, and hanging out with monkeys. We also spent an evening watching a baseball game over a couple of beers, after which we found that the bar had a CASINO. Not only did they have a casino, but they had Blackjack and Caribbean Stud (Balen was in Heaven). We had some good luck, then some bad luck, and ended on a couple great hands to end the night only $6 down - so we were happy :) We also ate ice cream bars almost every day. I was as excited about this as Balen was about the Caribbean Stud.
Visiting Manuel Antonio National Park was a definite highlight of our whole trip - it was gorgeous, there were animals to look at all over the place - monkeys, sloths (so incredibly COOL and slow and weird), iguanas, quys, bright pink crabs, birds, lizards, and more. The beaches in the park were amazing, the best part being the monkey watching. We got to see about 15 Capuchin monkeys pestering people who had brought food - chips seemed to be a favorite. The best treat was seeing a female with a baby on her back. So much better than at the zoo!
I was sad to leave, but already looking forward to going back. There is a ton of development happening right now (signs for new resorts yet to be built are everywhere) along the road between Quepos and Manuel Antonio, so it will be interesting to see if it's as lazy and relaxing (and gorgeous!) as it was this time around.
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