Costa Rica Day 9

Gotta love spending the day in the sun!

I slept in a little later than expected since my body didn't really want to get up this morning (7:05...yes that's sleeping in).  There were various options for breakfast this morn but I opted for the pancakes!  They were really good too.  They actually reminded me of my dad's homemade pancakes...nice and fluffy.  It was a nice little treat.

Today all that was planned was a guided walk through Manuel Antonio National Park, which was included with our tour.  I was contemplating doing the walk since I was wanting to sleep in but I'm really glad that I did it.  Our guide was great and he was really enthusiastic about his work.  It was really cute because we saw a whole bunch of different wildlife this morn and some that the guides have never seen so they were really excited to show us the various animals.  The coolest and probably the most rare to find in the park was a black headed (or faced) hawk.  The guides were giddy trying to get us all to see this bird.  Most of them had never even seen one in the park.

We also saw some frogs, some sloths, a couple of toucans, iguanas and white faced monkeys.  There were raccoons too but I don't think they "count" since I can see them in my backyard in Toronto.    The white faced monkeys were my favourite.  They look like Marcel the monkey from Friends.  You have to watch your stuff with these guys though 'cause they are notorious for stealing backpacks, food and other possessions that are laying on the beach.    They may be cheeky but they are cute!

The beaches in Manuel Antonio National Park are beautiful!  I spent most of the day just laying on the beach or laying in the very floaty (aka buoyant) water.  It was a perfect day!  Nice and relaxing.

Since some people are going their separate ways as of tomorrow, we made sure to all do dinner together this evening.  It was a nice little restaurant on the hill looking over the ocean and the sunset.  It's crazy how quickly this trip has gone.  It really doesn't feel as though 9 days have come and gone already!

So technically I'm supposed to be heading back to San Jose tomorrow but I've decided (as with some others) to stay an extra day here.  There really is no draw to go back to San Jose and I might as well stay in a spot with beautiful weather and beaches.  There is a couple (that is on the tour with me) that have booked a hotel (they did this prior to coming) for an extra night and they've said that I can stay with them!  How nice is that?!  They said that the room is really big and has two queen beds anyway so I am more than welcome.  I'll just get a bus back to San Jose the following day...perfect!  It crazy actually....the taxi from San Jose to the airport which is around $30 for a 45 min ride while the bus from Manuel Antonio to San Jose airport is $40 for a 4 hr drive.  Why not stay really?!

KK

If my passport could talk...
                                          "Who needs another day in San Jose when you have such beautiful surroundings in Manuel Antonio"