Banana Tree Hotel Manuel Antonio National Park

... took a little nature walk through the rain forest to get to the water. We learned about coffee beans, plants and trees. It was kind of interesting, but I was just really impatient and wanted to get started. We finally made it to the river and had a brief safety instruction. Nathan and I were the only ŽexperiencedŽ rafters. I have been twice and Nathan once. I did the New River in WV my freshman year of college, but I donŽt count it. The river was flooded so there were no rapids ...

... takes you through the centre of the park but there are many side trails to take. We took one up to the viewpoint where there was beautiful views across the Pacific and over to the islands. There was a fair incline and although not that demanding we were feeling the humidity. We then took the trail to one of the beaches in the park and found ourselves sharing it with a rather large iguana.

There ...

It's 2:05 a.m. in the morning and we are getting ready for our friend Rodney to take us to the airport. Our flight left at 5 a.m. and after having to the 4 lbs out of our suitcase (it was a rip off I swear) we got checked in and our 2.5 h flight to Houston was nice and without a delay. After a great lunch at the Pappadeaux Restaurant at the airport (and a Margarita... hey... it was 5 o'clock somewhere ...

... that's what the restaurant was called) had ladies night and a lot of people were heading out there tonight. Flyers were passed out on the beach right before sunset to advertise it. Our GAP leader, Fabiola, said she would take us there as it was only a short walk from our hotel. We met up at about 10:30 pm to go to Bambo Jam or whatever. There was 7 of us who went. It was a nice place and was definately crowded. We found a ...

8/12 ble stort sett en reisedag. Etter en droey time i baat og deretter noen timer i buss hadde vi forflyttet oss fra Montezuma til Manuel Antonio Village. Denne lille landsbyen ligger like paa utsiden av nasjonalparken Manuel Antonio, en av Costa Ricas minste nasjonalparker (landet har i alt mer enn 75 beskyttede omraader). Manuel Antonio bestaar i hovedsak av jungelomraader og noen saerdeles fine strender. Uten beskyttelse ...

... to look for. Also they had a great telescope to find those small things you do not see in the naked eye. 18th heading to Alajuela, stopped over a bridge and saw many crocks just lying around and chillin on the river bed. Wanderful drive back to the Air port. Lastly, took us about 9 hours to get back because of a 4 hour lay over in Guatemala City. Lates. Until Next time.

We finally made it to Manuel Antonio park for the first time on this trip. We walked through the park, wondering why we hadn't come earlier, looking at sloths, monkeys and Iguana. We saw 2 and 3-toed sloths high in trees, lots of Iguanas of all sizes, a Jesus Christ lizard, hermit crabs and white-faced monkeys putting on a show for the tourists. We also saw a Ringed Kingfisher at the beach. A lot of the animals seemed to ...

Today is one of those days when the cumulative effect of lying is wearing on me. "Are you married?" "No, I'm single." Looking at the ring on my left hand: "Are you married?" "No." (and then not explaining the ring) "Who's taking care of your dog?" "My best friend." "My roommate." "Are you going alone to Corcovado park next month?" "No, a friend is coming to meet me." At lunch ...

... Apparently Roberto, the 35-year-old father, makes lunch/dinner on Sundays.) Inez also delivers the children to and collects them from school. And she cleans every day. I've repeatedly attempted to help with dishes, etc., but she won't let me do more than bring dishes into the kitchen from the table after a meal. Roberto is a truck driver for a paint company, so he leaves the house often at very odd early morning hours because he ...

... Having made sure Louise got on the plane we were then at a bit of a loss so first went to a book fair in the old part before visiting the cinema, our first time on this trip. Saw a funny yet very violent film called "Crank". We had the heaviest rainfalls that we've had all trip while Louise was with us (it is the rainy season!) but every day seemed to have sunshine and laughter anyway and most importantly for her, she managed a bit of a tan! To recuperate after ...