Sloths and Monkeys and Lizards, Oh My!

On Thursday we woke up early to go to the Manuel Antonio National Park for a guided tour. It had rained hard the night before, and in a possibly related turn of fortune, we got very lucky with animal sightings. We saw several sloths, a couple of which were moving; fantastically camouflaged helmet lizards; a similarly well camouflaged bird, a couple beautiful species of spider; a honey bear (that one was just a tiny blob of fur sleeping between two branches); dozens of overly friendly capuchin monkeys; a porcupine, which a capuchin poked; a howler monkey swinging between trees; a agouti, related to capybaras, that looked like a mix between a rat and a rabbit but with a certain prey animal quality; a very small deer and its fawn; a tiny frog; and several lizards. Our guide, who had interned at the San Diego Zoo, was amazing at spotting animals hiding in the trees. We would have only seen about a quarter of the animals without him. He spoke great English, knew an enormous amount about the small national park, and had an easy rapport with the other guides; as we passed other groups, the guides would point out animals to our guide, and he would do the same for them.

A slow-moving sloth (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A helmet lizard (Photo/Jason Rafal)

An adorable agouti (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A mother and baby sloth (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A posing capuchin (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A porcupine curled up in a tree (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After our tour, Ally, Emilie, Jason, and I went on the Cathedral Point loop to look at some views of the ocean. Then we went and changed into our swimsuits and actually jumped in.

A note about the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica: it is beautiful, light green, and very warm. A note about me: having spent very little time in the ocean while growing up, I really don’t know how best to handle it, and there is a lot of flailing and swallowed water when I am spending time there. The others were quite proficient at ocean, but I am rather bad at it. I got caught in a wave twice, which was a bit alarming for me, but I feel like I’m getting better. I definitely had fun once I caught my breath.

A lounging capuchin (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We ordered a couple of ripe mangoes from a street vendor - they were amazing (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After swimming we made dinner plans with Anne and Marc and headed to get - wait for it - coffee. At the coffee shop, we sat and watched the late afternoon sun shine over the ocean, then watched a thunderstorm move toward us. It wasn’t until right before the wall of water reached us that we realized we might have trouble getting back to the resort. It would be quick, we told ourselves. Half an hour of downpour later, we realized we might just have to suck it up and walk the five minutes back in the rain. We made a call and headed back, then got raincoats so we could head the other way to dinner. Of course, as soon as we started heading to dinner, the rain slowed.

The view from our hotel room window (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Friday morning we took a kayaking and snorkeling trip, and we had the tour all to ourselves, which was lovely. Our guide showed us how to paddle most effectively and then loaded us up into two-person open kayaks. We paddled around a bird nesting ground, between the rocky shore and an island, and over to a snorkeling spot at the other side of the small bay. We never actually went to land, but instead to a buoy with a place to tie kayaks near an outcropping of rocks in the middle of the water. Our guide stayed in his kayak to manage our kayaks and be around if we needed rescuing, and we put on our gear and jumped in.

Starting off (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The water was much murkier than the Caribbean, but we were still able to see several types of fish. Ally and Jason dived down with GoPros to try to capture them, which worked surprisingly well.

Jumping in with the fishes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A variety of fish (Photo/Jason Rafal)

More fish (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Anne in the water (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After returning to our kayaks and “gracefully” clambering aboard, our guide gave us some fresh pineapple for a snack and helped us get situated to paddle back.

Unloading from the kayaks (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we got out of the water, our bus took us to a restaurant where we were served cansadas, a typical meal with delicious fried local fish. Our guide helped us arrange a ride to Quepos that afternoon for the Friday night market, and we headed back to our resort to relax for a while.

We got to the night market a few minutes before sunset and watched the color over the water. The night market was small (Quepos only has about 4000 residents) but had a great selection of fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, and handicrafts.

A boat coming in during high tide (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset on the ocean (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Giant zucchini (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Stalls at the night market (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A street in Quepos (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Saturday afternoon we had a transfer back to San Jose. In the morning, we all split up and did our own thing. Jason and I walked down to the beach before breakfast, where I waded in and we watched a couple of very excited dogs dog a hole in the sand. We also saw a family of capuchins crossing the street using the power lines. We were waiting where we expected the hotel shuttle to come pick us up, but it never came, so we got to experience the public bus, which was very nice. The elaborate foam coin compartmentalizer for providing change made me question how many coins Costa Rica actually has.

An airplane that a rich expat brought to Manuel Antonio and built a bar in (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A capuchin and her baby (Photo/Jason Rafal)

I don’t understand why all of the animals in this sign are realistic, but the child has an absurdly large head (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A happy beach dog (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A less happy beach dog (Photo/Jason Rafal)

One beach dog yelling at another to dig more (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we got back and went to breakfast, we went to the butterfly gardens in the animal refuge, which is managed by the same company as our hotel. The butterfly garden was small but beautiful, and there were tons of colorful butterflies fluttering around (I still think they should be called flutterbys). The garden had a second floor level with wooden chairs and benches that was shaded, which provided a very nice respite from the heat while watching all the butterflies.

A very large caterpillar (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A posing butterfly (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A very dramatic lizard-type animal (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After butterflies, in a completely unexpected turn of events, we went to get coffee. We went to Emilio’s, where we sat and watched the amazing view one last time. Costa Rica doesn’t really have a coffee shop culture - people usually seem to eat a meal around having coffee. To feel better about taking up a table just to have coffee, we also ordered a croissant and pain de chocolat, which both came warmed. It felt a bit European. After coffee, we headed back to the hotel to check out.

Espresso in paradise (Photo/Jason Rafal)

In between checking out and leaving for San Jose, we got lunch at a little fast casual falafel restaurant owned by an Israeli woman. The food was delicious, and they had a very good mango ginger smoothie as well. After eating, we met up with Anne and Marc at the other coffee shop, where the Rafals got more coffee. I had a frozen lemonade blended with mint. Many of the mint drinks here have been blended, which means you can get a wonderful amount of mint in the drink without being annoyed by the full leaves sticking everywhere.

After lunch we were picked up and began the three hour drive back to San Jose, where we had dinner and prepared for our trips home. I definitely could have stayed longer.