Now, on to Manual Antonio Park on the Pacific side. We took the scheduled 9:00am flight to Quepos, the little town just north of the park. Another 6-seater plane!! We were the entire scheduled flight!
To celebrate Becky's birthday, we went for a guided horseback ride. We saw a large, working plantation. They had brahma cows, in back of us in the pic. The guide explained how they planted the palm trees for oil and pressed the oil. |
 Then we crossed a stream and went out to a deserted beach. We did a little horse-trading, so to speak, so that the girls and the guide could do a little more adventurous riding than us old folks wanted.
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| Like a tv commercial - cantering on the beach, thru the waves, sun shining, a dream come true. Anna's old riding skills came right back to her, and she and Becky had a great time. | |
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At the hotel restaurant (which is totally outdoors, partially covered) troops of little white-faced capuchin monkeys would come play. They would take turns swinging on branches, and one time threw coconuts down for added fun and target practice. |
And, these great big iguanas would hang out, practically begging at the tables for handouts! These guys were big -- almost 3 ft nose to tail! |
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We all had a blast playing in the waves. Huge monster waves... The three of them are ready... |
... and only Anna is left standing, 10 seconds later!! |
We played til the sun set. |
We took a guided tour in the Manual Antonio park, where many sloths live (kind of like my house!) |
Another cute lizard. |
These are bats sleeping! They line up so that predators think they are some larger animal, like a snake, and don't bother them. With the binoculars, you could see all their little ears and noses - very cute. |
Finally, some great guide told me how I could take a pic thru the telescope (which all guides are born with). This is a cool bird with a large beak. |
Need I say... anything? |
Two males sloths, one chasing the other, at record speeds (that is, observable motion!) Territorial dispute - the lawyers followed close behind. |
Clearly a three-toed (count 'em) sloth. Isn't he just too cute? |
Our towels!! I should have been taking pics all along... every day at every hotel our towels were folded incredibly. Like swans, or fancy shapes with soaps tucked in, or here, like a shirt and a purse. Even the start of the tp and kleenex had little fans or whatever carefully folded. We are talking Olympic quality folding here. |
Looks just like a philodendren that we see in the States... but these leaves are 18" long. 'Lush' doesn't even come close! |
And, the airport at Quepos, as we were leaving. A small airstrip tucked into the jungle... |
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