Manuel Antonio... with Doug this time!

The Vista Serena

One of our favorite things about having visitors on this trip is that we've gotten to do and see things that we wouldn't have if it was just us.  Thanks to Shuli, we were able to rent a car and see the Nicoya Peninsula. Denise made the House of Dreams and another road trip possible, not to mention all the culinary possibilities we had available because of the pounds of cheese she brought us. Amy and Doug made our stay in the Pimp Suite possible, and when Amy left we got to visit one of our favorite places again because we wanted to share it with Doug.  Manuel Antonio,and our stay at Vista Serena, was just as amazing the second time around.

Amy, Doug, Kirby, and I took  the early morning bus back from Puerto Viejo to San Jose and got to spend a couple hours with Amy munching on empanadas, taking a walk through San Jose to buy bus tickets for the 3 of us to Manuel Antonio, and stuffing her luggage with as much of Kirby's stuff as we could squeeze in. Thanks to her, Kirby will have a much easier time getting everything back home. We haven't bought many souveniers on this trip but somehow we seem to have picked up a few things along the way. Like the pitcher we bought for the House of Dreams.  How could we let that go!?

El Avion restaurant, one of our many photo stops on the way to the beach

In the morning we were all up pretty early thanks to our good night's sleep, so we had plenty of time to enjoy the coffee, toast, and view on the balcony.  We watched the iguanas creep out onto the rocks and up into the trees, then got ready to make some moves of our own.  We packed our beach bag, geared up for solar defense with hats, wraps, and sunscreen, and began the beautiful walk down the crest of the hill to the ocean. 










At the entrance to the beach we strolled through the souvenier stands, giving Doug a chance to add another shot glass to his collection as well as a few things for the kids at home.  Kirby and I weren't planning on doing any shopping of our own, but we found a couple things we couldn't live without.  With the heavy rains and road closures, the tourist stream has been lighter than usual, so the vendors were all so happy to have customers that they were willing to negotiate prices to fit even the tightest of budgets. Like ours.

The beach was even more beautiful than we remembered, and even though there were less tourists than usual for this time of year, the beach was pretty full.  Umbrellas, lounge chairs, and people from all over the world wearing bikinis, swim trunks, and speedos that showed off their solar history.  There was just-arrived-in-Costa-Rica-yesterday blinding white, worshipped-the-sun for decades leathery brown, I-live-here-golden tan, and the ever-present I'm-too-cool-for-sunscreen lobster red.  Kirby and I are the save-it-for-later types, so we found a nice shady spot and enjoyed our view of the ocean from under the brim of our hats.

After swimming and hopping around in the waves, we decided it was time to get our wrinkly hands out of the water and onto some drinks.  Since we're trying to save money, we opted for the most economical option available: buying beer by the liter.   The #1 beer in Costa Rica, Imperial, was the perfect choice to wash down our delicious Chicken-on-the-Run leftovers.  Soon we were ready to do it all again: another round of swimming, playing in the waves, and drinks.


















When the sun started to go down, the cameras came out. One of the most beautiful sunsets we've seen on this entire trip.  I couldn't stop snapping pictures, it was like I was getting paid to document every second of the sun set and was really trying to impress my supervisors.

That's Doug!

I snuck in a few more pics after we left the beach!

After a hundred pictures or so Kirby and I decided to take one last swim, then back to the beach for more pictures.  Luckily Kirby and Doug had some help tearing me away from the sunset because the sand flies came out.  The mere mention of sand flies strikes fear into our hearts.  They're one of the sneakiest bugs to be bitten by because the bites don't pop up for a day or so, but then they last for at least a week and are incredibly itchy.  For days.  Actually, I bet Doug thinks about his visit very often since he's still dealing with those bites.  Maybe he's even scratching one right now.  I am.



Back at Vista Serena we rinsed all the salt and sand out of the various nooks and crannies it had found its way into, then got dressed up for a night out to dinner.  We don't actually have anything fancy to wear, so getting all dressed up mostly just involves being clean and showered.  We added some extra touches though, like putting on clean clothes and the jewelry we'd bought at the souvenier stands that day.  Since Doug was treating us to dinner, we tried to be as presentable as possible.

We weren't quite sure where to go eat but luckily there was a very friendly and informative couple in the driveway.  They had plenty of recommendations and it seemed they knew the prices and menu options of pretty much every restaurant within walking distance.

We decided on Cafe Angel. It had a variety of options and most were under $10.  It was just what we'd expected based on the recommendation - a laid back, friendly place where you can get a lot of good food for good prices and sit outside and watch the cars go by.  We all enjoyed our meals and ended up finding our favorite casados in all of Costa Rica, and for only $4! 










After dinner, we took advantage of the restaurant's proximity to the supermarket and got ourselves another round of drinks.  We walked back to the hostel with very full bellies, looking forward to sitting on the balcony and enjoying more of Costa Rica's favorite beer. 

Kirby with her fat stacks and her list of what beats what

Kirby suggested we play some cards and Doug suggested we play Texas Hold 'Em.  The Canadian boy sitting next to us thought that was a great idea as well.  The only hold up was that Kirby didn't know the rules, but after a quick explanation and a list of what beats what, we were ready to play.  We didn't put up any money so the game probably went very differently than it might have.  Since we weren't worried about losing our money, Kirby and I played pretty much every hand.  We were dealt a lot of good cards, had no hesitation about betting a lot, and ended up dominating the game.









The poor Canadian guy seemed like he was getting a little frustrated that we were novice players that kept winning every hand, but Doug was a good sport and was happy to see us having so much fun.  Every time we won big we took pictures of each other "raking it in" and then took more pictures of our "fat stacks" of chips.  The guys won a few hands too and we encouraged them to rake it in as well, but they weren't as into it.  Apparently Doug is more of a collect-and-stack player.

 Kirby ended up taking all the Canadian's chips with a full house that she didn't even realize she had! She was just excited about her 3 kings and hadn't even noticed that there was a pair of 2s to go with it.  In the end it came down to just Kirby and I, and the game probably could have gone on for a long time, but we were both pretty tired so we went all in right away.  I ended up winning and we were both pretty excited about the whole situation.  We're counting down the days til the next Wylespalooza so we can join the Texas Hold 'Em tournament and actually get some cash when we win!

The next morning we were a little slower to get out of bed thanks to our full day of swimming in the sun and enjoying quite a few Imperials.  After the morning coffee and toast on the balcony we got ready for a day of hiking in the national park and set off down the hill.  We stopped at Cafe Angel for breakfast.  We'd scoped out the menu the night before when we were there for dinner and suspected that the food would be just as plentiful and delicious.  We were right.  For just $5 we were able to get eggs, gallo pinto (rice and beans mixed), platanos, eggs, and tortillas.  So much food we were able to share 2 plates between the 3 of us.

This was our second time to the National Park in Manuel Antonio, and this visit was even better than the first.  Last time we'd missed seeing a sloth, but Doug spotted one right away.

Look in the center of the picture, he's upside-down

Watching them move so slowly up in the trees is much more exciting that you might think.  The monkeys at the beach are much more lively and even more exciting, partially because you have to always be on guard to make sure they don't steal any of your stuff.  Luckily we didn't have any snacks with us, so they weren't too tempted to un-zip our backpack to supplement their lunch.  At one point they completely surrounded us on the limbs of a huge tree we were sitting underneath and a few tourists came over to lure them into the perfect photo position with crackers.  Even though it's amazing to see the monkeys so close up, it's sad to see them so domesticated and frustrating to see people like that adding to the problem.  But check out these pics!

The waves at the beach were very calm and the water was the perfect temperature so we stayed in the waves for long stretches at a time before coming back out to relax on the sand.

Eventually we left the beautiful beach behind and made our way into the jungle to hike around Cathedral Point.   We started out walking barefoot on the sand of the beach and decided to just continue barefoot in the mud.  It's a gorgeous hike around the point and the views of the coastline are amazing.  It was a little weird walking through the mud at first, but we started thinking about it as a tropical mud therapy and the squishiness between our toes wasn't so bad.  We'd made it almost all the way around the point barefoot when Doug was attacked by a metal post in the mud.  It ended up cutting his foot open, which we actually didn't realize til later.  Luckily it wasn't too deep, and also lucky that he's tough.

When we made it out of the jungle the beach was completely empty, as all the tourists had been herded out of the park for the day.  it was amazing to see the beach completely empty,almost like we were castaways on a deserted island.












We didn't stay and enjoy the solitude for long, though. We made our way to the beach on the other side of the point for our last swim in Costa Rica.  It was sad to think about the fact that this was our last time bobbing in the waves off the Costa Rican coast, but the view was beautiful and the waves were fun to jump over and duck under, so we focused on just enjoying the moment. Until Doug drew our attention to the fact that fish were jumping out of the water, possibly indicating that there was a large predator attacking them.  We all got out of the water, surveyed the surface, and discussed what might be lurking beneath.  Kirby and I convinced ourselves that there was nothing to be afraid of and started walking back out into the waves and a big fish jumped out of the water right in front of us, sending us back up on the beach and ready to be on land instead of in the water.




We made our way down the trail to rinse off in the beachside showers, then took a very short boat ride across the river to exit the park.  On the other side we were offered fresh pipas, the young coconuts that you cut open to drink the juice.  We got a couple to share, then caught the bus up the hill towards our hostel.

We'd decided that we wanted to watch the sunset from a higher vantage point this evening, both for a different perspective and for the lack of sand flies, so we got off the bus near a restaurant called Agua Azul that had a great view of the ocean and sky.

We soon realized that the magnificent view was accompanied by not-so-cheap food and drinks, of course, so after politely ordering one drink each we decided to change locations.

On the way back to Vista Serena I had to take more pictures! 

Kirby had a great idea to divide and conquer to get the most out our sunset experience. I would get back to the hostel as fast as I could to set up my camera for a time lapse of the sunset while she and Doug grabbed Mexican take-out and some beverages for the evening.  I ran most of the way back, determined to snap up as much color as possible.  The sunset view from Vista Serena is wonderful and I made it in time to see the lower sky glowing in all its orangey-red glory.  And take lots of pictures of it, of course.









When Kirby and Doug arrived we sat for a bit watching the sky take on the deeper blues and purples of the evening, then sat down to another delicious dinner.






After another long day in the sun, we were ready for a relaxed evening on the balcony just chatting in the hammocks and enjoying more Imperial.  Soon it was time for bed once again. We snuggled into our cozy but squeaky bunk beds and closed our eyes for our last night's sleep in Manuel Antonio.



Doug and I were up early for our last morning on the balcony.

 We were rewarded with one of the cutest things I've seen in Costa Rica so far - a baby toucan!  As we scanned the tops of the trees waiting for iguanas to poke their heads above the uppermost branches, we saw a tiny toucan fly to the top of a tree and swing his chest back and forth while making a "dee deep" chirp.  He continued on to the next tree for a few more chirps, then was gone. It happened to be one of the very rare occasions on this trip when I didn't have my camera.  As I was debating about whether to go back to the room to retrieve it we saw another toucan fly by.  This one was fully grown though, and gave Doug his most up-close toucan encounter.  Just like Kirby and I, he was impressed to see the vivid colors in real life.

The morning went by much too quickly and before we knew it we were taking our last sips of coffee and heading out to catch our bus to San Jose.  The bus ride was one of our most comfortable yet, especially thanks to the fact that Doug and I were assigned the seats with the most leg room.  We got an exciting start to our journey when we saw crocodiles sunning themselves on the bank of a river we crossed.  There were almost a dozen of them laying on the sand and it was really exciting to see them in the wild.  It was the first time we've seen crocodiles on our trip here, but maybe not.  After seeing how much they camouflage with the log debris on the banks of the river, its possible that we've seen some before and didnt even realize what we were looking at. 

After our crocodile sighting we continued the in-bus entertainment with a viewing of Get Him to the Greek.  Kirby and I had downloaded it to watch on our way to Nicaragua but unfortunately the sound quality isnt great, especially since Doug and I shared one pair of headphones.  We got hand cramps from squishing the headphones into our ear so tightly and at the end of the  movie our ears were a little sore.  I'd planned on starting to crochet a beenie for him while watching the movie, but had to abort that plan due to the technical difficulties. 

Back in San Jose we loaded Kirby up with all our stuff and got her in a cab back to Galileo.  Doug and I stayed in the center of town to walk down the promenade and check out the Central Market.  We wandered around through the maze of shops and sodas and past all the glittery and gaudy Christmas decorations.  Soon our hunger was calling us back to Galileo to retrieve Kirby and go to dinner.

Doug's last meal in Costa Rica ended up being very American!

 The night went by way too quickly.  Between making earrings for friends and family, crocheting the rest of Doug's beenie, and stuffing as much as possible into a carry on for him to take back for me to lighten my big load, the night was over and it was time to get some sleep before Doug's early morning flight.   In the morning we were up with the sun, enjoyed Doug's last cup of coffee in Costa Rica, then were off on the bus to join the early morning commuters on their way to Alajuela.  The trip went by so quickly, but luckily we have hundreds and hundreds of pictures and lots of great memories.