Back to the Capitol City, San José

Today is our 8th day in Costa Rica. We have been busy and the time is flying!

Lucy and Maddie had a few more things on their shopping list so after breakfast we walked to the nearby shops. The guys joined us later and they bought some additional souvenirs for their families.

There is an abundance of shops to buy carvings, clothing, bracelets, pottery, and just about everything else for a keepsake of Costa Rica. Prices are not marked on much of the merchandise, so when they tell you a price, you are free to barter with them and give a counter offer. Some of the students in the other group were successful with this, but our group was hesitate to try it.

 The coastline is beautiful but the high temperature and humidity are intense. After an hour of shopping we decided to retreat to our hotel rooms for half an hour before loading our suitcases on the bus.

I walked across the street to take a few photos of the beach.

Then the men loaded the suitcases on the bus...

and we took some photos of Giovanny and Didier, our bus driver....

and one last photo of our group before leaving Manuel Antonio.

As we were leaving Manuel Antonio, we spotted the road sign below.  It informs drivers to drive slow due to the possibility of children, dogs, sloths, and monkeys crossing the road.

On the trip back to San José, we stopped for lunch, ice cream, and souvenir shopping. This painting of the fruits of Costa Rica was on the ice cream shop wall. I found a poster of this and bought it for my classroom. (That's the teacher in me.)

We arrived in San José mid afternoon and had free time to relax, connect with family, and organize our suitcases for our return flight to the states.

After our dinner, Giovanny thanked us for being willing to try new things and for immersing ourselves in the culture. He asked each of us to share one memory that we will take home with us. Some of the memories mentioned were watching the World Cup game with the locals, seeing the howler monkeys, white water rafting, and the friendliness of the people of Costa Rica.

For one last group activity, Giovanny said he felt like going for a walk, so the whole group took a 40 minute walk around the (big) block. The weather was much cooler than in Manuel Antonio, and it was a nice way to end the evening.

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Tico Fever and World Cup Frenzy

The whole country of Costa Rica is preparing for the World Cup match of Costa Rica against Greece at 2:00 today. The blue, white, and red flag of Costa Rica can be seen everywhere; on cars, motorcycles, public buses, outside and inside stores and restaurants, or simply by people carrying them as they walk around town.

Giovanny suggested the restaurant, The Marlin, for lunch, because it has several televisions for viewing the soccer game. We arrived around 12:30 and we found a table that was close to one of the televisions. The pregame shows had already begun and people started filling the restaurant. By 1:30 the restaurant was packed, so we were glad that we had arrived early.
By game time, we had finished our meal and could give our full attention to the game.

Cole, Michael, and Lucy were dressed in soccer shirts of Costa Rica, so they fit in well with the native fans.

Neither of the teams scored in the first half, but it was interesting to watch the employees of the restaurant. When the Costa Rica team was nearing the goal, the waiters and fans would say things like "vaya, vaya" and when the cooks heard that, they would come running from the kitchen to check out the action on the tv screen.

The second half was more eventful with a goal by Costa Rica. The place erupted with cheering and horns. The employees at the restaurant were hugging each other and running around giving everyone high fives.

Needless to say, when Greece scored with only a few minutes left in regulation play, the atmosphere was quite subdued. Two overtimes followed.

At this point, there was a lot of nervousness in the air. There was an empty seat at our table facing the tv screen and our waiter would sit in the chair for a few minutes, then leave to check on customers, and then return to watch the game again.

Finally, it was down to penalty kicks. Each score by Costa Rica was accompanied by cheering and celebration in the restaurant. When the player from Greece failed to score, the stage was set. The fifth player on Costa Rica scored and the place exploded with noise as you can see on the video below.




On our walk back to the hotel, we saw more celebrations and dancing in the street.

We saw Giovanny smiling from ear to ear when we reached our hotel. There is no doubt that the Costa Ricans are happy and proud tonight.

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Manuel Antonio National Park

Our day started at 7:00 with breakfast at the adjacent restaurant.  Then we changed into our swimsuits and walked several hundred meters to enter Manuel Antonio National Park. This is Costa Rica's smallest national park but is unequaled in the 100+ species of mammals and birds.

As soon as we entered, we saw many different species such as a deer, sloths, spiders, a white-nosed coati (pictured below to the right of the deer), a raccoon, and tree frogs, to name a few.

When we arrived at the beach we immediately saw a group of monkeys hanging out in the trees.  We placed our backpacks and other belongings on a picnic table and Giovanny stood guard over it while we enjoyed the park.  He said one time in the past he saw a monkey try to snatch away someone's bag and he grabbed the bag and had to pull it away from the monkey!

This little guy was enjoying attention from guests in the park.

A true "photo bomb". I only realized the monkey on the right was in the photo later that day.

Click HERE to see a video of one of the monkeys.

We had two hours to spend at the private beach in the park.  Mohit took advantage of the coastline and went for a 25-minute run on the beach, and then joined the others in the water for the remainder of the two hours.

I enjoyed the time talking with Carolyn, the leader of the other group, watching one of Carolyn's students break open a coconut and drink the milk, and talking with Giovanny.

At 11:00 we left the beach and saw even more wildlife as we exited the park such as the camouflaged green snake along the pathway (below) and several lizards.

The park has several hiking trails, but we were more interested in escaping the heat and cooling off in our air-conditioned hotel rooms before lunch and the big World Cup soccer game in the afternoon.

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Off to see the crocodiles

We awoke to the sounds of a blustery day, which is a first on this trip. After our buffet hot breakfast we began our journey toward the southern part of Costa Rica. As we left town, we saw a beautiful rainbow over the village of Santa Elena.

The first part of our trek was on a winding gravel road that is currently under construction to broaden and pave. Giovanny calls this type of road a "massage road".

A rainbow over Santa Elena

However, the best vistas of Costa Rica can be seen from the "massage roads".

English is widely spoken in Costa Rica, due in part to the government, which in 2009, made it mandatory for all schools to teach English. Even small 4 room schools in remote villages as seen below, teach English to the students beginning in the elementary grades.

Many homes in the mountains are small farms with animals to supply some of their food.

Traffic was stopped at one section of the highway for a sloth crossing. Our witty tour guide, Giovanny, then asked us, "Why did the sloth cross the road?"

A sloth

Part of the trip to Manuel Antonio was on the Pan-American Highway.  This route stretches from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina, and crosses the following countries:  Canada, the United States, Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. I'll have to add this bit of trivia in my Spanish class. (A map of the Pan-American highway and additional information can be found HERE.)

The Pan-American Highway

We stopped in the town of Jaco, along the Pacific Ocean, for a late lunch in a restaurant with delicious food and large portions.

The next stop was the Jungle Crocodile Safari. As we rode on a boat on the muddy river, Giovanny and the driver spotted over 30 crocodiles. At one area, near the mouth of the river, there were 15 crocs along the riverbank!

Our driver slapped a rag on the water to attract the crocodiles.

This guy was clear-eyed and ready to hunt.

Click HERE to see a video of the croc moving toward our boat.

This bird was taunting death because it was only feet from a crocodile.

Quick break from croc watching for a photo shot

Small Lizard

Mountains serve as backdrop on our croc tour

Chillin' at the edge of the river

Can you find the lizard? It's green & near the center of the photo.

We reached our destination of Manuel Antonio, unloaded our luggage, and quickly returned to the bus to drive to the restaurant for our evening meal. We ate at Ronny's Place which is on a hill with a beautiful sunset view.

Shortly after the sunset, dark clouds rolled in and we were chased inside by the impending rain. It's a good thing we had moved inside because after the light rain, the skies opened up and it poured!

The remainder of the evening was spent relaxing at our hotel.

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