January 18, 2016 - Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

Today was a lazy day for us – yeah. We had planned to go to Manuel Antonio National Park, but it is closed on Mondays. Glad we planned to spend a couple days here!
After cold showers and breakfast, we stopped at the front desk and reported no hot water. They were very apologetic and send the maintenance worker right away. It’s an interesting “instant-on” hot water heater and the heating element was burnt out. You turn the hot water on by sliding a switch on the front of the white part. A little nerve-wracking to have electric in the shower, but it works.They repaired it while we were out today and we had loads of hot water this afternoon. Nice.
We drove from the hotel toward the park and checked out one of the public beaches. Most of the areas charge for parking and it was $6USD, but the beach looked nice. We stopped and talked to one of the local guides for the park and figured out our plan for tomorrow.
We had a brochure for a kayak trip through the mangroves so we went into town to see if we could set that up for the afternoon. No luck. The trips are based on the tides and the two trips today went at 6:45 AM and 8:30 AM. The woman at the tour office was really nice and gave us a map and told us about another small public beach that is about 2km from our hotel. We headed to Playa Biesanz for some sun and swimming.
The parking was on the road – which is VERY narrow – and the “guard” that watches your car only charged $2000 Colones ($4USD). It sounds crazy to pay someone to watch your car – not a concept most Americans are used to, but it is common in Costa Rica and Mexico. Many of the people here are very poor and the cost of living is not cheap, so why not help them out a little?

The water was delightfully warm and we enjoyed staying in the water, then sunning ourselves to dry out and back in the water again to cool off. The temperature was in the mid-80s and it is very humid compared to Colorado!

After a couple hours we decided we were “well-done” enough for one day and headed back into Quepos – the “big” town to have lunch. Parking in town is a challenge, also! Most of the places require a permit, but we found a place on the road heading out of town and walked in. We ended up at  the Subway and it was expensive compared to the US. A 15 centimeter (6”) sub sandwich combo included a small soft drink and 2 cookies was $8.50!

After lunch we walked around and looked in some of the shops before heading back to the hotel for a dip in the swimming pool before showers.

Today we are learning to live “pura vida” , the motto for the Costa Rican people. The concept of “Pura Vida” is interesting and fun to read –take the time to check it out! The story of Pura Vida
We had fish tacos at a little place across the street from our hotel for dinner tonight. They were pretty good and reasonably priced ($1700 Colones – just over $3USD), but the sauce was a little spicier than I prefer. 

We are going to watch a movie tonight and go to bed early so we can get to the park early to beat the crowds!
Pura Vida!