In the beginning of the trip on the way down the west coast, we were pressed for time. We knew we would be back, this time at a little slower pace. Though there were plenty of places where you could easily spend years, on the way back we had to narrow it down to two stops along the coast where we would spend the night.
We thought Manuel Antonio and its world-famous little national park by the same name merited one of those stops. We chose a little B&B called My Casa’s near the park. The hosts were great and the room was perfect. They recommended a local restaurant called Ronny’s Place, which was known for its fresh seafood and terrific sunsets. We met some nice people and probably had a little too much fun there, but still managed to wake up early enough the next day for a wonderful breakfast and a briefing on the park by our wonderful host at the B&B. Manuel Antonio National Park is heavily visited, especially in February, so the briefing was useful. I still had yet to see and photograph one of the four species of monkeys found in Costa Rica—the white-faced capuchin. It was supposed to be the easiest species to see, but so far it had not shown its face. As you can see from the photo above, we were not disappointed. We spent most of the day visiting the park; hiking the trails and looking for the best of what it had to offer. We did not hire a guide, but definitely recommend it if you are there to see wildlife other than humans. Speaking of humans a bit on the wild-side, while hiking we inadvertently wound up following a small group of people that said they were taking video for what is to become a music video. I am sure we will not see the end product, but it was interesting to watch the creative process.
After the park, we continued up the coast to the town of Jaco. In the town we chose to stay at a place called Villa Creole. We checked in and asked for a dinner recommendation where we could watch some surfing and the sunset. Though it was not the right season for the best surfing, we still had a great meal and a good time watching from a place called Bowie’s Point on Playa Hermosa. (It turns out there are many beaches in Costa Rica called Playa Hermosa, which translates to “beautiful beach.” I would say in our experience, it is hard to find a beach that doesn’t fit that description.) We made it back to the hotel where we had the pool to ourselves.
For photos from this part of the trip click here.