Our last big excursion was to Manuel Antonio National Park. Named after a conquistador buried on site.
We left early in the morning to get there before the crowds. The park service limits the number of visitors to 600 a day during the week. The minute we got there a guide approached us to solicit a tour. We had read it was better to get a guide, and ended up hiring him. He was excellent. Make sure you use a guide who has a uniform. This shows he is authorized by the park to work there. Our’s went out of his way to show us all the flora and fauna with his spotting scope. All the guides work together to make sure all the groups see where the particular animals are at that time in the park.
The Ant Eater we saw, was unusual. They had not seen one in two months in the park. We had seen one driving from Puerto Viejo to San Jose the week before.
Our trek through the trails in the park was fairly strenuous because of the heat. It just kept notching up as we walked. I was looking forward to the end of it, so Scot and I could do some snorkeling in the Pacific even though the ocean was warm here.
From the pictures you can tell the beaches here are gorgeous. They filled up with people by noon. We heard some screaming for help on our tour, but it ended up some people left there lunch where the raccoons could take it which is common for the animals to do here.
There are quite a few places to stay, eat, and shop outside the park and in Puerto Quepos.