Hang Diez

Our final full day in Costa Rica and we’ll surely miss this view with breakfast!



Today we had to get business out of the way and take a taxi to nearby Quepos for a Covid test to return to the States. We needed to get the test first thing to qualify for the day before the flight, and to guarantee receiving our results before our departure. Our kind cab driver waited while we were swabbed and brought us back to our hotel. 

We had a 9 am surf lesson and it would be both mine and Marie’s first time surfing. A bus brought us down to the beach and we received a quick lesson on how to jump on the board from 19 year old Jimmy with a unique voice. We then headed into the ocean and we think Marie’s instructor didn’t speak any English because he didn’t say much, but had a whole lot of sunscreen on his face.

In our instructor pairs, we tried to ride the wave or hang ten or diez! I got up more in the beginning, but Marie got better and better. Frankly, I was getting tired from the paddling, holding on to the board, and the water slamming into me. I was paired with Jimmy and he said these waves were normal - no wonder hardcore surfers like the waves in Costa Rica! I’ll always remember his pre-pubescent sounding voice: “Paddle paddle Cynthia! Stand up Cynthia, stand up!”

Jimmy also protected me from the big waves and the board when it thrashed around and he would always say “ok?” And I would keep asking him if he was ok. I’m sure it’s not easy holding the board from behind and taking care of a middle-aged beginner. He was sweet, even when I lost my grip and slid right down on to his head and shoulders when the board shot up 90 degrees from a wave. I tipped him well. 

Here’s a photo of us with our beginner board after our lesson and the beach - pura vida!





Upon returning to the hotel, we hung out by the pool. It was a little cloudy and it rained a little, but there were birds to keep us company!





And then there were the monkeys that returned and started licking the window of our room and playing on our balcony. Marie got some fun shots which I’ve picstitched here:



After celebrating our negative Covid test results, we then headed out to dinner to Claro Que Si at the Si Como No resort (cute name pairing) where we had chicken dishes for our last night in Manuel Antonio and Costa Rica. Then we returned to the hotel to rest for our early ride to the airport.

Manuel Antonio

Our first morning at La Mariposa, and we were up early for our wildlife hike in Manuel Antonio - the most visited park in Costa Rica. We started off with the included breakfast looking over the pool. I ordered the traditional gallo pinto which reminded me of the Costa Rican breakfasts we had in Montezuma. A photo below:



Our tour guide was Alex and he picked us up with Carlos the driver, and we rode less than 10 minutes to get to the entrance of the park. We were greeted there by his 9 year old nephew, Dejan. All the guides knew each other, and one of them was Alex’s brother and Dejan loves scouting for animals in the park so he comes when he’s not in school. Their group was always near ours, so we got to interact with Alex’s family and hear about how many steps Dejan had taken as he was addicted to his pedometer.

We saw a lot of animals on a very well managed trail and all the guides carried standing telescopic lenses to spot the animals - you could even take photos from your phone through the lenses. The walk was wonderful as they were no other guests with us, so essentially we had a private tour. Here’s Marie at the entrance area pointing to the map:



Here’s a crab:



Some plants related to the bird of paradise:



A lizard:



We saw this snake in the wild and from afar - very poisonous and see if you can spot it!





A tent making bat who pokes a hole and protects itself under large leaves:





A white tailed deer - one of the Costa Rica symbol of wildlife animals:



A sloth - also a symbol of Costa Rica:



Dreamweaver spider:



The tour included fruit and juice in the middle at a cafeteria:



Here’s Dejan and Alex spotting a sloth:



Here it is kind of as a fur ball, but you can see the three toes…there are two toed sloths and three toed ones…

At the famous Manuel Antonio beach. We didn’t bring our bathing suits, but we were also okay with not going in:





Another lizard:



Espadilla Sur (south) beach… the north beach is a public one and not in the designated park area which has grown over the years to protect the wildlife:

You can see our hotel from here which is the highest in Manuel Antonio:



The poisonous tree - the bark, the leaves, the fruit, all poisonous, but the lizard can eat the fruit!



And touch it:







Here’s Alex and I making the classic “Stephen” face as Marie always yells out his name and makes him look back for photos:



After our 3 hour walking tour with our nature guide, we returned to the hotel where we had a quesadilla and caprese salad. I also had a piña colada and finished my book. Marie took a photo of me in a different pool underneath the water:



Marie headed up first to the room and on my way up, some of the servers were looking at some monkeys. I didn’t think anything of it, but when I got out of the elevator, there were two laying in from of our room and another two on the railing. These were the white faced mean omnivores and when they saw me, 3 of them jumped into the tree. But this one stared at me - definitely felt a bit alpha and I yelled for Marie and she came out of the room. She was so excited she tried to take photos while I rushed into the room as I was afraid he would follow us in:



After washing up, Marie enjoyed a drink watching the sunset while I took a call while watching the sky from our room. Then I joined her for a walk into town, where we ate at Agua Azul - we split tuna tostadas, seafood pasta, and panko breaded tuna. I also had an Imperial beer Michelada style, so with lime juice and salt. We then returned to the hotel as we have another early morning to minimize any rain during this technically rainy season.

Crossing the Gulf of Nicoya

After our last breakfast at Aves, our transport came to pick us up and bring us to the beach. It was Zuma tours that provides a taxi boat from Montezuma to Jaco and crosses the gulf of Nicoya. They provide transport also from Jaco to our hotel which is south of Jaco by about an hour in Manuel Antonio.

Here’s a photo of Marie pointing to the boat and the porter carrying our wheeled luggage and more photos from our 40 minute boat ride:









Our shuttle bus dropped off folks at hostels and hotels in Jaco and Quepos and we passed these African palm farms that provide palm oil:



We safely arrived in La Mariposa which has a lovely view of the water and is on a cliff. Hotels are up on the cliffs for the views, but also development near the beach and near the most popular national park is not permitted in order to conserve the park and area.

At the hotel, we were greeted by a squirrel monkey which had longer fingers than mine, enjoyed the pools while our room was still getting prepared, and monitored the poolside iguana who had eaten a nearby sunbather’s lunch.







For lunch, we headed up to the bar where there was a swim up pool next to it, so I had jumped in and shared a salad and french fries with Marie.



Alas, our room was ready which was on a higher floor with an ocean view and in the corner with a wraparound deck! So beautiful!



We washed up and walked 3 minutes into town and down the hill, where we perused souvenirs and shops. Marie had researched all the restaurants and we decided on Karolas which was a part of the nearby Los Altos resort. We both ordered the typical Costa Rica fish dish which reminded us of Jo’s cooking with the side salad, vegetables, plantains, and mahi mahi. Afterwards, we walked up the first hill to an ice cream shop where I had a chocolate cone. We then walked back and up a hill to the hotel and Marie took a picture in front of the sign: 

We went to bed early as we wake up early for our guided tour of Manuel Antonio park, the most popular in all of Costa Rica!

Last Day in Brazil

After having breakfast at our hotel, we headed to Copacabana beach for one last time. The beach was pretty empty, but quiet and peaceful. The weather was about 80 degrees with little to no humidity - similar to yesterday. Marcela said that real Cariocas don't go to the beach on these types of days because it's too cool. We said there seemed to be many Brazilians, but she said they were tourists from outside of Rio. As New Yorkers, we found the weather to be amazing and would probably fry in typical Rio summer heat.

Copacabana

After a few hours, we headed back to our hotel so we could check out and store our bags. We then headed to the Botanical Gardens. Personally, I don't really seek out botanical gardens or zoos in other cities, but several people mentioned how amazing it was here, so we decided to check it out. Marcela asked me if there were monkeys in the ones I've been to or the one in NY. Fair point.

So we took a cab to the garden which was lined with many palm trees and had a "monkey river". Here, we saw cute monkeys and marmosets. We had lunch at the garden as well. We ate baguette sandwiches and drank fruit juices at the part of the garden where it had the ruins of an old gun powder factory. After getting our steps in, we headed back to our hotel neighborhood and ran a few errands.

View of Christ the Redeemer from the Botanical Garden

Our hotel had arranged for an airport transfer and we made our way through the Rio rush hour traffic. At the airport, there was no line at check-in, security, immigration, or snack bar. For the win! However, the airport is a little underwhelming for being an international airport about to host the World Cup and Olympics.

After a few round of beers and snacks to use our last Brazilian Real, we made it onto our flight. Our flight leaves at 8:40 pm and is an overnight. So sad to leave Brazil and end our vacation, but also excited about going home!

Ilha Grande

Today, Rio Hiking, an adventure tour company took us to Ilha Grande. Alex, our guide, picked us up at 6 am and drove about 2 hours south of Rio where we got on a 1 hour boat ride. The car ride was a trip back into time with 90s and American music. Listening to Sublime, ACDC, Foster the People, and others was not expected at 6 am in Rio. After our boat ride and walk through the town, we checked in at our Pousada, or inn, called Hipocampus Cavalo Marinho and did a quick change.

Ilha Grande is a nature preserve where no cars are allowed to come on to the island and where there once was a famous prison. There is all sorts of activities and water sports. We opted for a 3 hour hike that brought us to secluded beaches. We saw cool trees, plants, and heard howler monkeys from afar. The first mountain was the steepest and we even went to the tippy top for a beautiful view of the island. This is where I fell the first time, coming down from the tippy top. The weather was overcast, but no rain and very humid. We continue to remark that we could not imagine what it would be like during the high season of summer!

Ilha Grande

Then we went down the mountain which was easier and then I slid again. We hiked through 2 more hills and passed through 2 more beaches and I managed to fall sideways on some wet rocks. Don't worry, I'm okay, but my practically worn out sneakers just had no traction and this was over 4 hours or so. All in all, we hiked about 8 miles according to my iPod Nano pedometer even though Alex thought it was 3 km. We have come to learn that although he is a good guide, he lacks spatial reasoning skills. According to Alex, distances are not that far and hikes are easy-medium! ;-)

Allison: With a tree needle used for poisonous darts.
Lizzie: With the photobomb.

At the first beach called Palma, we had fresh juices. I had passion fruit with strawberry while Allison and Lizzie had pineapple with mint. So fresh and delicious!

We finally made it to Lopes Mendes beach - the most famous beach on the island and considered one of the top 10 in the world. Here we dipped into the clear blue water and enjoyed riding the waves. We also had a few Antarctica beers and climbed some rocks for a better view. This is where I nicked my knee and started to bleed, because I was holding my camera in one hand. Everyone seemed worried, but I assured all that I wasn't going to break. As Lizzie termed it, "Cynthia, the warrior-princess!"

Lopes Mendes Beach

Afterwards, we made our way back through 1 hill and then took a 40 minute boat ride back to the center of the only village, Abraão. During the boat ride, we saw dolphins!

It was pretty funny in that the whole day was truly idyllic. Watching the sun rise, the sun coming out when we were on the beach, and then the dolphins. Alex joked he had it all planned and I quoted the Chevy Chase movie, "Funny Farm": "cue the deer!" So we all said, "cue the dolphins!" Alex also said it was pretty rare to see them too, so we were pretty excited.

We decided to go to a buffet that weighs your food by the kilo (this is pretty common practice) and had a nice conversation with Alex over some coffees. Also, today in our conversations with Alex, I made a few brincadeiros (jokes)! I've become famous in all languages, proclaiming when I make a joke.

We returned to our pousada, showered, and napped. Then we headed out to dinner around 9 pm to Lua e Mar which is known for their fish stew. Lizzie and I shared a fish and shrimp stew that was delicious and meant for 2. Allison had fried fish while Alex had squid risotto.

After a few hours of chatting and Antarctica beers, we headed back to the pousada for the night to rest up for our 2nd day on Ilha Grande.