Manuel Antonio Trip

We took off last weekend for Manuel Antonio, a nature reserve on the pacific coast a few hours away by bus. Rachel was the catalyst behind the trip and we´re so glad she came up with the idea. The trip down the all dirt 47 km road was a bumpy one, but once we got there we quickly found a little room for us to share for cheap and we hit the beach. The beach was long and gorgeous. Not many tourists yet as it´s still the rainy season and the swimming was great. We had been warned about the rip tides, which seem to be bad all up and down the pacific coast of Costa Rica, but this day the water was warm and we just played in the waves. After that we returned to our room (they call them cabinas here, which sounds way more exotic) via the private path through thick forest/jungle growth for a little rest. Oh, I almost forgot an important part of the story. Along the way we ran into a family from the states who were enjoying their day at the beach: Larry, Joy and their two sons who were about 10. They had been hanging out on the beach for some time before we bumped into them and stopped for a chat. After talking about the weather and what we were all doing in CR, the three (Rachel, Beth, and I) all noticed simultaneously that Larry´s (and I hope I don´t offend anyone with my directness here) penis was hanging out of his zipper! At this point all of our eyes turn to the horizon and we fight back the laughter as Larry goes on about the great apartment they found for cheap and he invites us all to stay with them if we need a place. Then I collect myself and I say, "Hey man, your fly´s down" (an understatement if I´ve ever heard one). And he replies "Oh, that´s pretty exposed there." Who uses that language unless it was totally intentional!? Exposed! You´re darn right it was exposed. And what´s the deal with the wife and kids not giving ol Larry a heads up? No pun intended.

Pretty quickly we declined their offer to room with them and moved on from there. What to do next? After our rest time we checked the guide book and got sucked into spending a fortune on a shit meal at an expensive (prices in dollars) restaurant because the meal came with a free film at the adjoining hotel´s movie theater. Long story short, the film was the worst ever. I´m not against dracula, but this version was terrible. We shivered for two hours being drenched from the rain that fell hard and fast before the meal and left with a few minutes to go in the film. An over priced taxi ride later we couldn´t stop lauging about our run in with larry and how we got suckered by our guide book. And we slept soundly knowing that even the occassional rip off wouldn´t ruin our getaway weekend.

The next day we hit the national park and walked through it´s beautiful trails. Along the way we met 3 sloths, a few monkeys trying to steal bags from the beach, a cayman, a sweet looking lizard (see pic) and had our first dose of tropical forest.