Manuel Antonio

Manuel Antonio is a national park on the Pacific side of the country.  It has the best of both worlds, combining amazing beaches with rainforest.  Every time I go there, I want to stay longer and I always see a different type of animal than I did on the previous visits.  I went the third week of March to meet up with my friend, Paola, and her family.  I had seen her the weekend before in San José, but it was a brief visit, as they were heading to Arenal the next day.  Luckily, I found the time to head to Manuel Antonio for a night to see her, and I'm so glad I did...we had a great time!

I met her, her husband Yuri, and their boys, Diego and Marco at the park.  I left San José later than originally planned, and she didn't have a phone, so they were left with nothing to do but wait for me at the park entrance.  Once I showed up, we paid for a guide (which I had never had before) and started into the park.  I'm so glad we had the guide, because he knew exactly where all the animals were hiding out. 

After the guide, we hung out on the beach for a couple hours just enjoying the beautiful weather that weekend.  The water was the perfect temperature, and it was great getting to catch up on the last three months since I was home in Flagstaff for Christmas with Paola.

After the park, we ate at a restaurant close to the park entrance, then hopped in their rental car for the short but windy drive back down the road to Quepos, which is the closest town to Manuel Antonio, and where I would stay for the night. On our way, we stopped at a really cool restaurant that utilized an airplane...it was appropriately named "El Avion".

The next morning, I met Paola and her family at their hotel for some breakfast and more beach hang out time at Playa Espadilla...this beach is the main public beach at Manuel Antonio, but their hotel was all the way on the north end, so it was nice and quiet.  There is also another smaller, more private beach called Playa Playitas (funny, I know). I had a great, relaxing weekend!