Costa Rica - Day 6 - Catamaran Tour

Last day in Costa Rica. We had to check out by 12 pm and then the cruise bus will pick us up at 1 pm. Breakfast was the same. I had scrambled eggs today. 

It was a lazy morning. I packed my stuff so I could rest easy.  All the others packed at the last minute. We kept our luggage in the storage. The tour bus arrived promptly at 1pm and it was full. It took us about an hour to board the catamaran. It was a nice port area and a really nice boat also. The restrooms were neat and clean. They served fruit and crackers first. The drinks were open the whole time. We drank a lot of drinks (all non alcoholic – I don’t know how people drink so much alcohol).

After about an hour of boating the boat stopped near the Manuel park for snorkeling. I was thinking I was going to miss snorkeling, but I could not have done it – they had to swim out a bit and I don’t think I could have swam that comfortably. There was also a place from the boat where people could just jump off the boat into the water.  And there were slides off the boat. Lots of fun for about 40 mins. They set up dinner meanwhile. I was among the first ones to get it! Pasta, rice, some great sauce and salad. It was good food and enough.

The boat turned around to go back. We went around the park – saw some birds, some dolphins. So cool! And finally the sunset. As usual – just beautiful. With the sunset I can feel our trip coming to an end also. I am glad the kids went snorkeling. There was a shower on the boat so they could get the salty water off.

The drive back to the hotel was uneventful. I changed into something more travel sensible and soon our driver came to pick us up to drop us to the airport. There was a lot of traffic going out of Manuel, and since its only a one lane road, it was little slow moving, but we had plenty of time to get to the airport.

This last van was possibly the worst one they sent, but it was still okay.  Check in was easy enough and we had some snacks to eat before going through security.

As soon as we passed security we came to this huge shop! It was about 12 am and the shop was open with customers/tourists shopping. We strolled to our gate, taking pictures on the way of interesting sculptures. Boarding was seamless. We were absolutely at the back of the plane. Little rocky flight, but we got to Fort Lauderdale right on time!

What a nice trip.

Costa Rica - Day 5 - Manuel Park

Got up at 5:30 am to get ready so we could go early to the park.  We were all ready and at breakfast by 7 am. We made some rudimentary sandwiches to take for lunch as we knew there would not be any eating place there.  I knew they would become soggy but we had no choice.  

Took the bus again to the last stop, as that is the shorter route to the park, at about 8 am. The line to get into the park was sooo long! I was under the impression that they allow only a certain number of people in the park, but that is not true. We got the tickets from the bank, the main gate does not sell tickets. It took us about one hour to get in the park.

At the security gate the guards checked our bags. They saw the tomatoes separately and told us to put them in the sandwiches, but that would make the sandwiches so soggy. We did not have much choice. But then they also did not check the bags again. So we could have skipped it. 

The walk inside was all boardwalk. The road parallel to the boardwalk was for maintenance vehicles and anyone who wanted to go on it. Initially we did not see much wildlife, just a lot of trees and bushes. Slowly we started seeing crabs, sloth, iguanas and then came the spider monkey, mafia monkey (steals food!) and many lizards. Sadly we did not see any birds.  The walk was very pretty.

We came to the beach. It was very pretty. Many people come only for the beach. There is showering area also, so convenient to come to the beach. This would have been a better beach to spend time on. There were many mafia monkeys around here. They are kind of cute but really naughty.

We then went to the Watchtower trail. It was a killer trail! Too many steps up. I thought we would never come down. The views were okay on the way but the up and down was just a bit much after doing the volcano hike a day ago. 

We had lunch after the trail ended at the beach. It was a nice beach. The sandwiches were soggy and horrible but it was food. We walked past the mafia monkey and the beach. We took some additional side trails on the way back. We were all hot and sweaty but it was an enjoyable day. We were out by 3:15pm. Bhaiya and all decided for an afternoon catamaran cruise for tomorrow. There was going to be dinner, snorkeling etc in the cruise.

We got back to the hotel by 5 pm. Showered, made some tea , rested while everyone else showered. Went to dinner at the Fallafel place today. It was really good fallafel dinner. Papa called during that time as I had called him earlier from the beach to share the view.  At this time the connection again was poor so we called him when we got back to the hotel.

Had some good desert that Bhaiya had bought at Arenal. Really tasty. Another great day with so much new to see and enjoy.

Costa Rica - Day 4 - Manuel Beach

No rush to get up, so we all slept in. Around 8 am or so, we went for breakfast. Breakfast was not buffet but an order from 3 options. Not that great but still okay. Coffee was not all fresh but what to do. The fruits and juice came with the breakfast. Almost all of us had pancakes.

Breakfast area

Strolled back to our room and rested some more. Around 11:30 am decided to see around town. Not much around the hotel, just a few restaurants and some stores. No major shopping anywhere. Bhaiya had already taken a walk in the morning so we were just following him. At was so hot that we came back soon. We did stop by La Lambretta to see the beautiful view of the ocean. Sent Sarvesh later to buy a cold coke and enjoyed some chilled coke! I had also bought some plantain chips from one of the stores – a small pack for about $1 – good size and yummy!

We had lunch in the room of whatever snacks we had. I could not eat much after eating all the chips. We really got some good time rest until 2 pm and then we decided to go to the beach. I would not be able to get into the water, but still. Gave $5 deposit for each towel at the reception and took the local bus to the beach. It was about a 5 min ride.

Manuel Beach

The beach was quite crowded. It was Friday after all. It was also super sunny. The beach was very wide, but one of the guys there giving out chairs said that the water comes in a lot as evening progresses. I got an umbrella and chair for about $5 for the evening.  All the four went into the water. I took care of belongings. It was nice to just sit and enjoy the beach. (not quite – but still better than being at home). Bhaiya, as usual is the first to come out, and then I went for a walk. It was a nice beach – lots of activities going on – parasailing, boating, tubing etc.

The tide started to come in around 5 pm. We all got up and went for a walk, also to get a good view point for the sunset. There was no place to shower or change there. So we left soon after sunset – took the bus back. It was a good day.

We all took showers and got ready to go out to eat. We walked to the Falafel place to eat but it seemed like they were not seating anyone anymore, so we went further on to Burrito Express. They had good vegetarian choices but their wait was a little too much – over 30 mins. The burrito and quesadillas were very tasty though.

Walked back and relaxed again. Not much to do in the night. So went to sleep early also. Tomorrow we have to go to the Manuel Antonio park a little early.