Exploring Costa Rica - Day 9 - Manuel Antonio

Read day 8 here. As usual I’m up early and I take the time to go outside on my patio to enjoy the view of the volcano. This morning it’s really clear again and I’m able to see a small plume of steam coming out of the top of the volcano.

  This morning we have to have our luggage outside our room at 6:45 because we are leaving for Manuel Antonio right after breakfast. After a great breakfast from the hotel buffet we are on the bus and leaving the hotel before 8:00. At about 9:45 Pedro tells us we have just crossed the Continental Divide! The Caribbean side is to our right and the Pacific side to our left. After a short stop for a bathroom break we continue on with our journey. We pass through primary and secondary forests and we also see the Gulf of Nicoya as we travel. Pedro tells us that the Costa Rican coffee farmers of old used to make the long journey by oxcart to bring their coffee to the Gulf of Nicoya – the largest shipping port at that time. We reach the Jungle Crocodile Safari area right around noon and we sit down for a nice lunch in a large open air gazebo. After lunch we will be taking a boat ride on the Tarcoles River to see if we can spot the crocodiles the river is known for. The boat itself is a large canopy covered craft that seats our group of 19 with no problems. As always there are life vests available for everyone.

  During the next couple of hours we spot 22 species of birds including 2 pairs of scarlet macaws. We also see several crocodiles but the highlight for me had to be when we spot a crocodile that is over 15 feet long sunning itself on a sandbar. This particular crocodile is missing the end of his tail and Pedro says that you don’t get to be 60 or 70 years old like this one without having been in a few fights. Pedro also estimated he probably weighed at least a thousand pounds! Wow! What a great way to spend a beautiful sunshiny afternoon. At the end of the cruise we return back to reception area where we started at and after a quick bathroom break we are on our way.

We reach our hotel, the La Foresta, and I have a large room with a sitting area that includes 2 double beds, a refrigerator, AC, TV, coffee maker with coffee, large walk in shower, hair dryer, shampoo and conditioner. The reception area also has a computer for guest use. Dinner is scheduled for 7:00 in the open air dining room that is located next to the pool. There is also a small bar attached to the dining room. During dinner it starts to rain but Pedro gets umbrellas from the reception desk nearby and we stay relatively dry on our way back to our rooms.   Day 10 >