We woke up at the beautiful beachfront hotel in a hurry at 7:15 am, one hour later than when we were supposed to wake up. We ran to breakfast, after hurriedly throwing on clothes. There, we packed breakfast from the previous day's purchases—2 avocado cheese sandwiches, pineapple, and a cheddar sandwich.
We drove to Manuel Antonio National Park, got tickets, put on sunscreen and bug spray, and started the forty minute hike to the beach. We saw an iguana lazily walking around, even before we started the hike! On the hike in the forest, we saw howler monkeys (and heard them howling) on the trees, saw a green vine snake in bushes, two coatis (like raccoons with snouts) walking around, a grey-green gecko that camouflaged with the grey branches of a plant. We also saw two streams gurgling down the forest floor. At the beach, we swam for about three hours! The water was green and clear, unlike the lake we had swum in while kayaking, and was not cold at all! At the time we arrived, high tide was prominent, so we rode the waves for fun. In the middle, we got out, shooed the spider monkeys and coatis (similar to raccoons, but with snouts) that tried to steal our food, and sat down for lunch. At the end, we waved goodbye to the serene lagoon, and walked back on the trail—this time walked on several wood bridges. On the way back, a coati tried to jump up and tear the bottom of my plastic bag (though it was filled with wet beach clothes)! I was startled, but noticed it was waiting around the corner and repeating the same calculated action to every visitor that walked around the corner! After exiting the Park, I stopped at two souvenir shops and bought a few souvenirs. We then returned to the bus, and went back to the hotel Terrazzo del Pacifico. There, we watched HBO, showered, went downstairs to the open-air beachfront restaurants and took pictures of the sunset, and ate dinner. We finally came back to our room for the night.
We drove to Manuel Antonio National Park, got tickets, put on sunscreen and bug spray, and started the forty minute hike to the beach. We saw an iguana lazily walking around, even before we started the hike! On the hike in the forest, we saw howler monkeys (and heard them howling) on the trees, saw a green vine snake in bushes, two coatis (like raccoons with snouts) walking around, a grey-green gecko that camouflaged with the grey branches of a plant. We also saw two streams gurgling down the forest floor. At the beach, we swam for about three hours! The water was green and clear, unlike the lake we had swum in while kayaking, and was not cold at all! At the time we arrived, high tide was prominent, so we rode the waves for fun. In the middle, we got out, shooed the spider monkeys and coatis (similar to raccoons, but with snouts) that tried to steal our food, and sat down for lunch. At the end, we waved goodbye to the serene lagoon, and walked back on the trail—this time walked on several wood bridges. On the way back, a coati tried to jump up and tear the bottom of my plastic bag (though it was filled with wet beach clothes)! I was startled, but noticed it was waiting around the corner and repeating the same calculated action to every visitor that walked around the corner! After exiting the Park, I stopped at two souvenir shops and bought a few souvenirs. We then returned to the bus, and went back to the hotel Terrazzo del Pacifico. There, we watched HBO, showered, went downstairs to the open-air beachfront restaurants and took pictures of the sunset, and ate dinner. We finally came back to our room for the night.