We headed off to Manuel Antonia park. The drive was just over an hour along a narrow coastal road. The traffic wasn’t as bad as previous days so it was a pleasant hour. We arrived at our accommodation – Manual Antonio Park House– in a stretch of coast that was packed with accommodation. The house used to be a restaurant but was turned into a guest house. It was run by a Dutch local called Michael who did a great job of making the place feel like a family home. It had a huge pool and was completely surrounded by national park – so we got to see monkeys and Agouti (guinea pig) while chilling around the pool or in the very comfortable lounge. We went for a walk to explore the area and I dropped off a load of washing at a local hotel that did laundry – I was told it was 1800 colones a kg which was reasonable so I was a bit pissed off when they said they had a minimum charge of 5000 colones (A$15) for my 1kg.
Michael offered to cook us dinner – he used to own his own restaurant in the area. I had the veggie lasagna and Deryn had the chicken pasta. Delicious. Micahel was amazed I could manage seconds!
We were planning on getting to Manual Antonio National Park ahead of opening at 7am (it’s Costa Rica’s Mostar popular national park) but Michael said that is the busiest time, its best to turn up around 10 when the early arrivers start leaving. So we grabbed a local bus at around 9.45 (340 colones each/$1.20) and was in the park by 10.30. It cost $16 each. Most of the early path were wheelchair accessible so it was easy walking. It wasn’t too busy but it certainly was hot so at the earliest opportunity we headed into the sea. The landscape was stunning, tropical rainforest surrounded by stunning beaches on both sides. There were plenty of animals (monkeys and iguanas) as well as birds and butterflies. We spent a fair bit of time at Playitas Beach which was at the northern tip of the peninsula.
We spent about 3 hours in the park and walked over 8kms so were happy to head home to the pool and get out of the heat. We spent a pleasant afternoon chilling by the pool reading. We were treated to another of Michael’s meals for dinner – he gave me a massive plate of pasta and again was astounded that I finished it. Having the munchies certainly helped.
We had a leisurely start to the day as our next stop was the nicely named Cool Vibes Beach Hotelon the reasonably well know surf beach of Dominical. The drive was very easy and within the hour we were checked in to a well run and busy Cool Vibes hostel. The pool was tiny but that was fine as it was only 100m from the beach. The surf was obviously good as the place was packed with surfy types and there must have been 20 surfboards on the rack outside our room.
We headed down to the beach for a swim and to explore the area. The beach was pebbly with dark sand but pretty impressive. The surf was very choppy but the water temperature was perfect. We walked down the river at the end of the beach and had some fun diving into it and floating back towards the ocean. The town itself was tiny with half a dozen shops and the same number of restaurants. We grabbed a drink at Coca before heading home for another swim. It started absolutely bucketing down so we headed indoors for several hours to wait the calm. It never came so we drove back into town for dinner and an early bed.
The next morning we drove the 3 kms down the road to Hacienda Baru, a private natural park. Another $15 and we were enjoying the tropical rainforest once again. It was almost deserted which was a treat after Manual Antonio. We saw the usual monkeys, Iguanas and birds but not anything new which was a tad disappointing. After really enjoying the drinks yesterday, we headed back to Coca for lunch. Very good. The afternoon was spent chilling again before I cooked our leftover spaghetti and vegetables for a tasty wee dinner. That followed by another shite Netflix movie – our hit ratio has been sub 30% on the tour to date. Terrible recommendations from the online critics.
Deryn spent most of the following morning trying to sort out her phone. We’re not quite sure where it is – either at the DHL office or customs. We’re going to start with the DHL office and work our way from there. We were going to drive back to San Jose via route 2 (very mountainous) but decided with all the rain around visibility could be a problem. Before heading away we went for our last swim in the ocean for a while. It was absolutely teaming down which made it even more special.
We stopped at Ridiculous (priced) Burgers again for another overpriced burger as we passed through Jaco. After that the traffic wasn’t too bad until we got close to the airport and the DHL office. Initial discussions were promising but soon turned to dust and it now looks like Deryn’s phone is a lost phone. Incompetence. The drive to our hostel Finca Escalante– was slow but it was peak hour.
The hostel was lovely. It used to be a wealthy family home and was converted to a hostel a few years back. It was in the heart of the gastrointestinal area of San José so their were plenty of decent restaurants in the area. We met a friendly local so spent the evening playing cards and finishing off our alcohol. The next day was very slow but we did venture our for a walk for lunch before retreating back to the hostel for movies and sleep. We headed out for a meal – best meal on tour so far. I had sweet potatoes gnocchi and Deryn had tuna.
Our flight was at 1.50 so it was a leisurely start to the day before heading off to the airport at 10.