Costa Rica Day 10: Life’s a beach

My tropical beauty

Well it took ten days, but we finally spent some time like most people do on their honeymoon.  On our first “free day” with no events scheduled, we took a transport van to the beach for some relaxation by the Pacific Ocean.  I can tell we are going to need to be more aware here then at our other sites.  It seems everyone is looking to gain a buck from the tourists.  Locals were trying to sell us drinks, snacks, ceramics, whistles as well as any number of other things.  One guy must have been convinced that I could not live without cigars.  He kept coming back to see if my mind had changed in the five minutes since he last asked J Overall, we took it in good humor and EJ’s knowledge of Spanish was good at helping to deter them.  In the end though, the best way to get some peace was to take a nap (I guess they know that a abruptly awoken tourist typically will not buy stuff or be happy).   Ironically, my friends, this is just what I wanted to do.  After a morning lounging on the beach, with occasional breaks to swim and plenty of time to read or nap, we decided to get active. 

Hiking through the tidepools

EJ wanted to explore the local national park.  Excited to get a chance to see the Squirrel monkey (the last monkey in CR that we have not seen), I was ready to go.  I must tell you, alas, we did not see a Squirrel monkey.  However, we did see some more howler monkeys, a white faced monkey, some raccoons, several iguanas, and tons of hermit crabs.  We were having a great time hiking through the woods, beach, and exploring the tide pools when a ranger whistled us to come talk to him.  Well my friends, he told us we had to leave the park.  Were we doing anything wrong? Had we trespassed into a restricted area?  Were they closed? No, to all of these questions.  Apparently, the Pacific coast of CR was on tsunami warning and we were being advised to leave the area post haste.  As I am sure most of you know (but we just learned), Japan was rocked with two massive earthquakes and a tsunami.  Hawaii and California had also been hit by a tsunami and we were not sure if we were next.   So we exited the park and headed for high ground (admittedly we did take some wildlife videos on the way out).   Luckily, no part of the storm hit us but it was probably good that we returned to the inn as the sun did bake us a little bit. 

 

So we headed out for dinner and live music at Raphael’s Terazzas.  We were able to eat while watching the sunset over the Pacific.  We enjoyed 2 for 1 Mojitos and Pina Coladas, fresh seafood, chocolate cake and coffee.  When it became dark, we marveled at the numerous gecko lizards that hunted bugs near the lights.  Overall, we had a wonderful tropical day.

Good evening from Manuel Antonio

See ya tomorrow

Z