Sloth Sighting at Manuel Antonio National Park
The morning commenced with a trip to 6 Sigma Laboratories in Quepos for the newly required Covid testing.
We had initially tried scheduling an appointment at Hospital Metropolitano, but they were booked two weeks out, so they referred us to 6 Sigma as an alternative. We walked in on Thursday and were able to schedule an appointment for first thing Monday morning at a cost of $70/test. The man running the place was very friendly and spoke English, and overall it was a wonderful experience (well, except for the part where the guys felt like their brains were being poked out by the nasal swab!).
We stopped in at the Baguette Bakery (adjacent to the unique El Avion restaurant between Quepos and Manuel Antonio) so I could grab a pastry.
I love stopping in at local bakeries and pastry shops when we travel and trying out the goods. The cinnamon roll made of puff pastry was a nice treat to start the day.
Next destination: Manuel Antonio National Park. You have to reserve tickets in advance by creating an account and purchasing the tickets for a specific date and times entry (note that the park is currently closed on Tuesdays). True to what I had heard and read, persistent peddlers up to a mile back tried to us into their parking lots, persuading unsuspecting tourists that it’s the official place to park. Don’t be fooled! You can drive nearly up to the entrance gate and then find parking for 4,000 colones for the whole day.
The trails consist of wooden and asphalt walkways tunneling through the verdant jungle flora.
No outside food or drink is permitted, but a cafe midway through the park offers a decent selection of fare. Look at Daniel sitting there with his ham and cheese croissant…so unsuspecting…
And look at the little capuchin monkeys sitting there so innocently and playfully… Until a split second later when one daring little bandit scrambled across the picnic table, grabbed the croissant right out of Daniel’s hands, and climbed back to his perch with his stolen goods! Hope you enjoyed that one bite, Daniel.
Gemalas Beach was deserted except for the myriad crabs that played along the shore, darting in and out of their sandy holes, to avoid capture by one curious teenager.
Escondido Puerto Beach was slightly less accessible…
…but we managed to at least make it to the overlook.
On our way back up the path to Manuel Antonio Beach we finally spotted an elusive three-toed sloth! He almost looks like a stuffed animal perched high above the ground as he lazily moves across branches foraging leaves for lunch.
They are fascinating little fellows. And quite a contrast from their naughty, lightning-speed capuchin neighbors!
Manuel Antonio Beach lived up to its reputation as one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica. It was also much more peaceful due to the controlled number of visitors allowed in the park each day and the absence of the ubiquitous street vendors at Espadilla Beach. Unfortunately, this translated into less-than-appealing for Daniel, who would rather have the bustling sounds and activities of the latter beach. So our time was short-lived before we headed out of the park for some souvenir shopping.
Some fresh fruit smoothies were a refreshing conclusion to our park excursion.
After having several locals encourage us to visit Biesanz Beach, Julian and I decided to check it out! It was a quick drive down from our Airbnb and we easily might have missed the entrance if not for the string of cars along the road and the Tico collecting change in exchange for keeping an eye on our car.
The beach is tucked into a lush cove and had only a handful of visitors compared to the crowds at most of the other beaches. It was so relaxing and peaceful.
Our final meal took us around the corner to Samui Thai where we shared an order of chicken pad Thai and an order of chicken fried rice. This was primarily in an effort to save room for dessert because we had our heart (or stomach?) set on another cheesecake from Emilio’s Cafe. See, I knew it was a good thing we didn’t find out about those cheesecakes until later in our trip!
We listened to the rain pummel the roof as we ate our meal. I don’t know what is typical for rainy season in Costa Rica, but we were pleasantly surprised that most days were still sunny and dry while the hard rains came at night.
So if you see a forecast that looks like this, don’t dismay (like I did!)! We only had to pull out our rain jackets one evening and found that the little bits of rain or cloudy skies on a few days didn’t hinder our activities in any way. Whether June or December, Costa Rica makes for a memorable vacation. Pura vida!
