Costa Rica is a mountainous country at the tail end of the Rockies, so travel is seldom in a straight line, yet we covered a lot of ground in a short time. I walked around the grounds before breakfast, and it is truly a wondrous spot.
At 8:30 we had a Manuel Antonio National Park nature walk with a guide named Rooster, and he was very good with his spotting scope that we took pictures through. I could not see many of these things with the naked eye. Guides talked amongst themselves up and down the trail when they spotted something interesting.
We came to a caged snack area where Rooster brought us some fresh fruits and tea. It is caged because the monkeys love to snatch food when they can. Then we walked down to a lovely beach where we swam and walked for an hour or so. Heading back up the other side of this peninsula was another beach that was much less crowded.
Three Toed Sloth
White-Faced Monkey
A bat sleeping
Orb Weaver Spider
I could not see this Vine Snake even when he pointed right at it.
Toucan
In a rare opportunity, we had the afternoon off. We all went to the pool where we could order lunch, beer or coffee and relax. There was a hot pool, a warm pool and a cold pool with a waterfall. What luxury! Ed’s son, Joey, got a beer and talked with the bartender for a while. He had two aged rums made in Costa Rica, one 25-year and one 30-year. He said they are similar to a Brandy, meant to be sipped. At dinner we tried the 25-year, and it was excellent. I think it was Ron Centenario, made from sugar cane and aged in oak barrels.
Kellye and Nick had to head back today. Poor Nick had a intestinal bug that really kept him down for 2-3 days. They would go back, work for two days and then go to Chicago for a wedding. Oh to be young again!.
Before breakfast I walked around the lovely grounds of Tabacon Thermal Resort and took some pictures.
The lodge had a fabulous buffet breakfast, spoiling us further with too many good things to resist.
We would now travel south to the west coast of Costa Rica, down the coast to La Mariposa Hotel in Manuel Antonio. No one knows who Manuel Antonio was, but he must have been something to have the town named after him. Along the way on this 5-hr. drive, we would stop at Mistico Park for a Hanging Bridges tour. Our guide was David, a nice and informative fellow.
Broccoli tree
Toad
Tiny Mariola bees that don’t sting, and make a wonderful honey!
Leaf-cutter ants carry their bits back to their nest to make a garden that grows a fungus that they eat.
The trip involves 6 suspension and 10 stationary bridges winding through the jungle. It is quite pretty on secure, steel wire bridges with high sides….for those of us who are afraid of heights. Back into the van to continue our journey, we stopped for lunch at MiRancho Restaurante. Other vans stopped with their tours. Horizontes Nature Tours never made a bad choice. After lunch we had time to wonder around the grounds and a small shop next door. Across the street was beautiful mountain farmland.
Back on the road for a while until we stopped at a bridge to look at crocodiles in the Tarcoles River. It’s a little weird to walk out on a busy road to look down into a river with crocs in it, however there was a good walkway with a railing, and it was a popular place for people to stop.
By the time we got to La Mariposa Hotel, we were whupped. We dragged our bags to our beautiful room with a wonderful view of the west coast beach of Manuel Antonio. Another great choice by Eddie and Horizontes. Martha and I headed to the open air bar with a swim-up pool on the other side. I ordered a Manhattan, which was a stupid choice. We were a long way from Manhattan in a country that makes rum. He had to ask another man how to make it. Lime doesn’t work well in bourbon, but the medicine worked.
He noted that we looked tired, so we told him we had been driving all day on some VERY rough roads. He agreed the roads aren’t good in Costa Rica, noting that there is only one good road in San Jose and that was built by a private company as a gift! Now I had sipped half my Lime Manhattan, so I asked, “Why is that? With so many national parks, beaches and tourists from around the world, there should be plenty of money. Where does it go?”
“Well somewhere, but not in the hands of the people. One man was elected and was caught sending money to Switzerland, but he fled the country. After 10 years he returned and was elected again!” Had everyone forgotten what he had done? After a moment’s thought and another sip of my lime drink, I conceded, “We have the same thing in the United States. So much money goes in, but who knows where it goes after that?” He nodded as he went to serve another customer. He said it is a popular spot to watch the sun set on top of this hill.
By now our dinner table was ready in a beautiful open air restaurant with views of the ocean and jungle all around. As we toasted our before dinner drinks, we noted how very lucky we were.
As we were eating, someone spotted a sloth climbing under a balcony, then the roof of the restaurant. We all rushed to see such an unusual sight.
I walked around Mawamba before breakfast taking pictures of the lodge and grounds. It’s a great place with so much to see and do, but after breakfast and a picture of Martha and her new boyfriend, we packed up and went down to the docks. A 30-40 minute boat ride back up the river and then transferred to a van to go 40 minutes up a gravel road through thousands of Chiquita banana trees. The story is they don’t pave it because the loaded trucks would beat up a paved road.
1.5 year old Greyson put a smile on everyone’s face
Turn up the sound!
We had a 2.5-hr. drive north and then west above San Jose to Tabacon Thermal Resort and Spa. We stopped at a nice restaurant for lunch, Rio Danta Restaurant, Guapiles. The hotel is an expensive place on the side of the Arenal Volcano – an active volcano, but it is again, a very nice hotel with an incredible hot spring, that has a beautiful stream coming down the mountain. Lots of pools are built all along it, so you can have your own pool with a cabana. The further up the stream you go, the warmer it gets. Ed had been here before and wanted to stay longer. OK, I’m a big chicken, but why push your luck on the side of an active volcano? No worries though, and a great resort.
