Thursday March 13, 2014
We got up early, and had breakfast in our bungalow. We took a taxi to the entrance to Manuel Antonio park, paid our entrance fee, and were inside before 8 am (park opens at 7). LOTS of people on the main trail through the park, many large groups with guides. This was on a Thursday – we deliberately chose a weekday instead of a weekend – glad we did!
We moved fairly quickly through, pausing only to watch some monkeys on the way to ‘monkey beach’, the one known for the best swimming. I should note that several park trails are currently closed which may have contributed to the congestion we felt all day. Also, we had nearly reached the beach when we realized we forgot to pack the sunscreen… so Chad went back to the entrance and bought some at the Super Joseth down the street.
We were on the beach for about 45 minutes without him… a gorgeous beach with white sand (less silty than Tulemar’s beach) and turquoise water and man, was the water ever warm. But the down side was that it was awfully crowded, with wave after wave of tour groups rolling in. Chad came back with the sunscreen and reported that he’d seen several sloths on his return trip through the park, a few of which were quite close by. So we applied our sunscreen, and all went back to find the sloths.
Afterward we got back in the water. Around this time the monkeys started coming out… several troupes of white faced capuchin monkeys looking for handouts. A few packs of raccoon type animals were doing the same thing, as well as a few large iguanas. We saw monkeys drinking from the water fountains and monkeys sitting in a tree having stolen a bag of chips from someone. Later on we also saw monkeys eating a cheese sandwich and a banana they had stolen. The kids found all of this hilarious, though it was also kind of sad to see how domesticated the monkeys were and knowing that the food they were eating was garbage for them.
Mostly we stayed in the water… the kids simply adored playing in the waves – Mallory especially – off on her own (within eyesight of course) keeping herself perfectly happy and entertained doing who knows what?? Liam and I swam to the far end of the beach, and he enjoyed playing there as the waves crashing on the large rocks were a little rougher. That end of the beach was probably the more scenic end.
We had brought in some snacks and drinks and we stayed on the beach mostly (with a few trips back to see if the sloths had moved to a better viewing position) until early afternoon. By then we were all hot and tired, and also realized we were getting a little burnt… the sunscreen that was not our regular sunscreen did not seem to be doing a great job. We packed up our stuff, and hiked out the back entrance of the park, which was actually a quicker exit than going back up the main road would have been and which took us past Playa Espadrilla Sur (which definitely had rougher water) and through the estuary (dry for us at that time of day and year, and no crocodiles) to the public beach.
Outside of the park gate we bought some coconut water for Liam and then poked into a couple of souvenir shops before hopping on a local bus which was a a bargain for 285 colones (about $2.50 for us all) compared to the $10 cab ride we took to get to the park. Back at Tulemar, we rinsed off sand and salt, and I cleaned out my camera gear, having gotten some sand into it.
We crashed for an hour or two – the kids were happy to watch some Spanish cartoons and enjoy a cold drink in the air conditioning – they were exhausted. Our laundry was not back yet. so we spent some time chasing that. We convinced the kids around 4 pm that we should head down to the Tulemar beach for a bit before dark. We were there by 4:30 or so, and were lucky to get 3 boogie boards for the last 20 minutes of the day. It turns out that both kids are naturals at boogie boarding! – they both surprised us by riding their first wave right into shore. It was hilarious to watch them. Of course now they thought boogie boarding is the best thing ever and they were so disappointed to have to turn the boards in at 5 pm.
After the boogie boards had to be turned in we still spent another hour or so on the beach. Spending that last hour at Tulemar’s beach made me really appreciate having it – the water is darker than the water in the park on account of the silt, but otherwise it is just as beautiful and so much less crowded than inside the park. After they lost their boogie boards, the kids still had fun jumping the waves in the ocean.
A little before 6 pm as it was getting dark we caught a shuttle up the hill to our bungalow and got cleaned up for dinner. Still no laundry! – running out of options, even having recycled some clothes… We went to the on-site restaurant for dinner and the food was good but service was slow (though we found it to be slow most places). Mallory ate 5 slices of cheese pizza – she must have worked up an incredible appetite – we could not believe our eyes. Back in our room she went to bed almost immediately, too tired to even write in her journal. Liam stayed up a little later, but we were all ready for some good solid sleep that night.
Cook Family Travels 