We travel in a van from our hotel to Manuela Antonio National Park - about a 3 1/2 hour trip with a couple of stops on the way - San Jose to Quepos. It is the rainy season, though today's forecast is for just a few showers and mostly fine.
One of the stops - the Costa Rica Crocodile Bridge over the Tarcoles River. This river is one of the most well known in the country largely because of the crocodiles. "It’s a popular tourist stop for those heading to Jaco, Manuel Antonio and the South Pacific.The entire river watershed covers over 2000 kilometers (1242 miles) and empties into the Pacific Ocean. Additionally, Tarcoles River begins at the point where two different rivers meet creating the border of the Carara National Park."
We get to the coast, and towards the end of the trip there is some heavy rain.
It was absolutely pouring when we arrived at our hotel, but the staff were all super organised and friendly with umbrellas and golf carts. It rained solidly all night. In the morning we got to see the view and even what hotel we were in?
And what a view when the sun came out.
After breakfast we got a shuttle to visit the park. On our way from our room . . .
We head to Manuel Antonio park. I can't wait to see a sloth moving.
But there were lots of other things to see in the park, all picked out for us by our guide Harold.
And we saw sloths. (Thank goodness, Ed.)
"Sloths live in the tropical forests of Central and South America. With their long arms and shaggy fur, they resemble monkeys, but they are actually related to armadillos and anteaters. They can be 2 to 2.5 feet (0.6 to 0.8 meters) long and, depending on species, weigh from 8 to 17 pounds (3.6 to 7.7 kilograms).
There are two main species of sloth, identified by whether they have two or three claws on their front feet. The two species are quite similar in appearance, with roundish heads, sad-looking eyes, tiny ears, and stubby tails. Two-toed sloths are slightly bigger and tend to spend more time hanging upside-down than their three-toed cousins, who will often sit upright in the fork of a tree branch. Three-toed sloths have facial coloring that makes them look like they're always smiling. They also have two extra neck vertebrae that allow them to turn their heads almost all the way around!
The algae grows on their back for cover as well as they could eat it if times get tough!"
If you didn't have a guide I don't think you would see a thing. This is something I cant even see clearly in the photo. It is maybe a sloth-like bat? It is between two berry plants?
Another not sure . . .
Then lizards and monkeys . . .
A 'Jesus Christ' lizard - named because it walks on water . . . we saw that, but I wasn't quick enough to video it.
More diversity. Costa Rica has 6% of the world's biodiversity (in about 1/5 the size of New Zealand).
The park also had beautiful beaches, and other walks. We will come back on this trip.
Next day it was a visit to the Rainmaker rainforest. The hotel we were staying at was charging US$120 each to go there. Bill worked out we could hire a car for less than that and do it independently - yay.
This from a review that I thought got it right. “The waterfalls and swimming holes were breathtaking. Well marked trails led us through peaceful rainforest terrain, suspension bridges and beautiful views. This is a place of serenity. We swam alone in a glorious watering hole. We saw dozens of falls, lizards and frogs. Make this a must stop on your Costa Rican trip." It is on private property and the suspension bridges (some of which were seriously high) were all put in by hand by a reputable engineering company.
Lachie had his eyes out and spotted this frog.
Then we found a nice little pool.
No-one around, so we went native . . .
Then we drove back for lunch. Wild life is everywhere now we are looking better ... this was outside our lunch restaurant.
Then Lachie found a coffee shop to go to in Quepos. We talked to the American who had set this up 28yrs ago when he decided there was a better way to use his university degree. Coffee was yum.
For comparison, this was outside from another coffee shop on another day - we got both sunshine and rain on our trip!
Later that afternoon we did a tour of the hotel property where the owner Boris has funded a rehabilitation center for macaws. Like the kakapo they had been predated to near extinction, but centers like that at the hotel are bringing them back.
They couple up for life. Their partner is never too far away.
The next day Bill wanted to watch the All Blacks-Ireland first test on replay. Lachie and I went to a cafe (owned by the coffee shop owner, and a great cafe). I wrote the blog. We went back there for dinner that night. It poured with rain for a few hours.
Bank notes are pretty.
The next day we all toured the park a bit more.
The two toed sloth has no tail.
Then we went out for dinner with some people we had met at the hotel and on the walks. Both were honeymoon couples - Rui and Angela from Portugal, although they live in Switzerland, and Jeronimo and Sandra from Madrid. They were all very nice, and speak wonderful English - we feel very guilty. Bill was most impressed with Jeronimo, as he knew the All Black haka names and plenty of All Blacks.
Abraham, one of the Gaia golf cart drivers, (the hotel is up a very steep, long drive way that golf carts navigate for everybody), shared some sloth videos with me. I am still working out how to download them here! They are fantastic!
Abraham who drove us daily to our room and reception area- gave me a few videos of sloths he had captured on the drive in the last two years.
This is our last night at Gaia and Manuel Antonio.
