Friday, April 19, 2013

Day 2 Pura Vida in Costa Rica



Friday, April 19, 2013
We were both so tired last night after all of the travels and late arrival here in Costa Rica that we don’t remember our heads hitting our pillows. We had to wake up very early this morning, after such a long day yesterday, as our tour bus driver was picking us up at 6:50 am. We would have liked to sleep a little later but were eager to go on this tour that Kari, our travel agent daughter, had scheduled for us. We were going to the Manuel Antonio National Park.
The hotel restaurant did not open until 7am but they were nice enough to prepare a nice box with toast and fresh tropical fruit that we ate on the tour bus on our way to the national park. We enjoyed it very much.
The ride to the park took over an hour with stops to pick up some other tourists at other hotels. We toured with a nice group of young people, all in their 20-30’s so we were the oldsters in the group and were happy to be able to keep up on the 2 ½ hour nature walk. We had one young couple from Mexico, one from Chile, a young Danish girl and a young pharmacist who just started his first job in south Texas.
We had a very knowledgeable park guide and he was able to spot all of the animals in the talk trees of this tropical park. After spotting each, he gave us information on what we were seeing. He had a high power telescope on a tripod and he focused on each animal and gave each of us the opportunity to view. He pointed out both kinds of iguanas, two-toed and three-toed sloths, other reptiles, birds and insects and he knew all of the bird calls. The birds answered his calls throughout our tour.
At the end of the park tour, we were given time to enjoy some beach time and John and I walked the beach in the waves and then continued for another few hours to the local town. Along the way we were excited to see many coati mundi stealing things from beach-goers towels. They are considered the thieves of the beach and look very much like raccoons.  We also saw many white face monkeys right next to the trail as they jumped from tree to tree and ran by our feel.   
Donna made an interesting observation on our hike through the park.  One group we passed had, as members a family with a girl about 14 years of age.  She wore on her face that typically bored expression that many teens develop.  She kept looking at her empty hand, as if searching for the text message that would not appear on her absent smart phone...
We did a little shopping in town for some bottled water and drinks and then met up with the rest of the tour group for a lunch at a restaurant near the beach. It was a nice local dish called cosado. It is the traditional plate lunch including fresh fish, rice, black beans, plantain and vegetables. Very tasty!
We rode the tour van back in a huge thunderstorm and were happy that it waited until be got on board. The day was hot and sticky so we weren’t surprised to see the storm but it was nice to have this after our 6 hours of hiking and walking.
We went out for a snack at the hotel outdoor restaurant as we weren’t very hungry. I had a small bowl of sopa mariscos (soup with fresh fish) and John had quesadillas camarones  (shrimp). These two appetizers hit the spot.
Our first day in Costa Rica was muy bien and we look forward to another full day of tours tomorrow.


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