Manuel Antonio Park

Mike, the owner of the condo that we’re renting, showed up on Tuesday.  We heard some noises coming from upstairs, and assumed it was him.  We went up sometime after dinner; and introduced ourselves.  Nice guy, and within a few minutes we hit it off.

He told us that some of his relatives were here from San Jose and that they were going to Manuel Antonio park on Friday; and asked if we wanted to come along for the day.

We packed a lunch; and headed out the door late morning; and arrived in Manuel Antonio about an hour later.  Nice drive along the way and Mike was able to give us some history about the area.

Within a few minutes of entering the park, we saw a 3 toed sloth.  He was pretty high up in the tree; and the only picture I got is a bit fuzzy, but it was still cool to see one.

We then continued along until we got to the beach.  We found a place to sit; had some lunch; and just enjoyed the beautiful beach.

After a while, Mike and I took a walk and came across some monkeys and raccoons.  There were half a dozen monkeys and just as many raccoons.  The monkeys were mostly up in the trees; and some had food that had been snatched from people.

We stood and watched their antics for a while; and then continued along our walk.  There were lots of young kids here; turns out that school children are on their summer break.  The weather is a lot nicer at this time of the year then in the summer months; so it makes sense that their school break is now; instead of during the rainy season.

I was surprised to see all the raccoons here.  They were very aggressive; and more than one tried to go after food brought by the people.  A few times, we watched as people tried, unsuccessfully, to shoo the coons away with a stick.  The coons here are also a lot skinnier here than at home. 

We left the park late afternoon; and went in search of a restaurant for dinner.  We finally found one that was right on the beach.  Kind of a strange place.  Figured it was the kind of place that the “Rubbles and Flintstones” would eat at.  The tables and chairs were all stone and very uncomfortable.  Guess its easier to take care of, being right on the beach.

The food was okay, and Mike’s cousin Joseph treated everybody, as well as us.  Very nice of him.  We left there, and headed to restaurant #2... Never before have I left one restaurant and gone directly to another.  Everybody ended up eating again… except for me and Mike. 

While the others were eating, Mike and I looked in some of the shops; and then headed across the street to watch the waves.  There were also a couple of bonfires going; and we stood for a minute to watch the fire.  Way to hot to stand close for too long; but it was nice to watch a fire.  One of the things we miss the most from home is our nightly campfires.

We arrived back in Jaco around 9pm and Mike took the first exit in to town.  Lots of people out and about.  Within a few minutes we started to see motor cycles.  There must have been a couple of hundred of them; some really nice looking. 

It was a little disconcerting to see the colours and names of “The Hells Angels” and “Bandidos”.  I’m sure that the hotels and restaurants downtown are thrilled though; as business would be hopping. 

Yesterday, Mike took us shopping to get a few things that we needed for the condo; we then picked up his 2 older cousins; and headed back downtown for dinner.  The whole main street of Jaco was alive with 1000’s of people.  We ended up finding a quiet little place and all chowed down on pizza.

Over all, it was a nice weekend; it was nice to finally meet Mike the owner; it was also really nice to finally get to Manuel Antonio park. 

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