Ziplines, Diving and Rafting Oh My!

WARNING! This is a long post (4 parts) with lots of pictures!!! Enjoy!

ZIPLINING!!!

Our "Teak Henna" tattoos

Erin on the Tarzan swing!

 Our week in Manuel Antonio was beyond awesome.  Our second day here we got to go zip lining!  It was one crazy experience.  On the bus ride there the tour guide Jorge explained about many Costa Rican things, like the palm groves (one of Costa Rica's biggest exports-also a great place to find snakes! eek!) the teak trees (very hard wood for nice furniture, and the leaves can be used like henna when you crush them up) and the 3 things that are needed for a town to be official in Costa Rica (a school, a soccer field and a bar!)

No hands!

Repelling!

When he pointed out a tree that was as tall as the ones we would be at the top of I got a little nervous.  It was freakin huge.  Like one of those trees I saw hiking the day before and stopped in front of going "woah.  That's a gigantic tree." 





So as we got suited up and strapped into our gear my nerves kept clamoring.  Until the first line.   Then all the nerves fell away and it was like flying!  With each line I got more adventurous and even did one line unpside-down with no hands!  Wooo! We also got to do the "Tarzan swing" and yes it's exactly what it sounds like - grab onto this rope and hurl yourself over a 15 foot gap to that platform over there.  NBD.  Then we got to repel!  I thought it was going to be difficult but it was actually really easy!  And probably my favorite part :) 
 

After the last line I really wished we could do it all again.  Luckily we still had lunch, and the butterfly garden and serpentarium to look forward to!  Lunch introduced us to two phenomenal Costa Rican delights... arroz con pollo (chicken and rice) and Lizano Salsa! 

Purple Owl Butterfly! (It looks blue but I swear it's purple!)

 Now I know chicken and rice sounds boring, but they have some secret ingredient or magical incantation here that makes this chickeny, ricey, flavorful yummyness soooooo good.   Then, when you add Salsa its a party for your tongue!  Lizano Salsa is hard to describe but its kind of tangy, kind of zesty, and completely delicious.  I'm going to try to bring a bottle home and share the magic :)







Next we got to go through the butterfly garden and serpentarium.  It was beautiful!  There were butterflies everywhere! One even landed on Erin's arm and made friends with us!









 The whole day was amazing and on the way back we even got to stop at the bar (yep, the one that made El Silencio an official town) and got some beers for the rest of the ride back!  My first Costa Rican Imperial (La cerveza de CR)!


DIVING!!!

Why hello there!

 The next day, we went SCUBA diving! Pura Vida style!  Considering it was our first dive since getting certified in July I was a bit nervous (What if I accidentally hold my breath and pop my lungs, what if I  can't keep my buoyancy neutral and float away from everyone and get lost in the Costa Rican waters?)  But luckily the guide diver and the divemaster in training were very helpful and reminded us just exactly how to set up our gear etc.  And I came out with both lungs fully in tact!  The dive was very cool! tons of fish, reefs and the waves kind of rocked you back and forth as you swam, we were like a school of fish moving around together as the water carried us side to side!  Erin even saw a huge jellyfish and what we believe was a lionfish :)  (We later heard they are actually invading the waters around here lately and are becoming somewhat of a pest!)  We brought a camera down with us but as it is not digital and we haven't been able to venture out to try to find a photo developing place, I don't have any of those pics yet.  Hopefully they turn out and then I'll put them up!  But since I have no dive pics I'll put a picture of the Toad that was on our porch almost every night during out stay at Manuel Antonio :)  Hello toad!

Coconut!

 After diving we made our way to the beach and hung out for the rest of the afternoon. Manuel Antonio is a BEAUTIFUL place. 

I love the juxtaposition of the jungle and beach, the tropical trees covering the small little islands popping up right off the coast.  We walked over to a secluded little area right where the exit of the national park is and were blown away. We just stood on the beach for a while taking it all in.  It was truly an amazing place to be in. The rocks and crashing waves, the cliffs with overhanging trees and vines, the gorgeous coast, the fallen coconuts everywhere!  It was exquisite.  Even when it started to rain. 

up to my ankles in water!

 And rain it did.  Now we knew we were coming at the tail end of the rainy season, but were still surprised by how quickly it went from clear outside to a torrential downpour!  However, we really didn't mind.  Living in Arizona all our lives has given us an appreciation for rainy days, and luckily the storms here are not cold and uncomfortable, it stays warm even when the rain falls!  So we took cover in a cute cafe and gelato shop and enjoyed some pizza and the storm :)  When we got back to our hotel the walking path was basically a river, but we dried off and I took the opportunity to enjoy the storm with some quality hammock time!





MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK!

spot the monkey!

The next morning at breakfast we were entertained by monkeys right at the restaurant patio!  They were on top of the wall right next to us, scampered across the roof over our heads and squeaked with jubilation!  The only bad thing is that they're quick little guys and everytime I would go to get my camera out again they had scampered off!  See if you can spot the monkey in Erin's picture!

 

The first of many perisosos we saw!

Thursday was our day to explore so we decided to go down to the beach and hike through the  Manuel Antonio National Park.  All I wanted to see was a sloth.  And guess what?  Right after we bought our tickets, before we even actually got into the park, mission accomplished!  There was one in a tree hanging above the ticket office building!  Check! (p.s. I learned the Spanish name - perisoso or "lazy monkey" and have decided I like it better)

Forest Crab!  It lives on the tree!!!

These guys were about a foot long!

 Now at the park there are many guides you can hire to carry a telescope and take you through the park, pointing out the animals, but as Erin and I are the independent types and we decided we would rather spend the $40 on drinks later, we set out on our own.

Howler monkey

We learned this was the smart approach, as enough other people hire the guides, and stop to look at the animals, that it is not at all hard to tell where the animals are.  One of the guides was even nice enough to let us peek through the telescope to get a great view of the howler monkey he spotted! (It must have been my awesome frizzy humidity hair, he just couldn't resist!)  Unfortunately, I discovered that my camera was just about out of battery pretty much as soon as we got to the park.  So I didn't take as many pictures as I normally would, but I think the pictures we figured were worth turning on the camera for are the good ones anyways!

I love the Tico Monkeys!

We saw many animals on our way through the park, but amazement grew when we reached the National Park beach, where we got up close and personal with monkeys, raccons, coatis and more!



 They were down lower in the trees here, and would pretty much pose for pictures! They were beyond adorable.  Especially the baby monkeys  riding on their moms' backs.  Too cute for words!


We learned that the animals here are sneaky and daring though, as any bags left unattented on the beach were soon pillaged by  the raccoons!  People were actually having to scare raccoons, coatis and monkeys away from them rather than coaxing them to come closer for pictures!  

The evidence.

The culprit.

Next we went over to the huge rocks on the beach to take some pictures.  Erin left her bag just about ten feet away from us.  I climbed up on a rock for a fabulous photo op, she snapped the pic and we couldn't believe our eyes!

said fabulous photo-op picture :)

A Monkey was already upon her backpack, trying to get inside!  After some panicked shouts he moved away, but he had opened the top of the bag!  Clever little guy!  We didn't set our bags down anymore after that!  We later heard that monkeys also love to steal electronics, play with them and throw them to each other!  Glad my camera wasn't nabbed!

view from the trail!

 Next we decided to take what we thought was a '5 minute short cut' to the other beach past a part of the coast that jets out a little ways.  Well it turns out it was the exact opposite, and we ended up hiking for about an hour and a half through the jungle!  

The elusive R.O.U.S.

 We were actually glad we went that way though, as we saw some of the prettiest views from up on that trail, and we saw what we like to call "The rodent of unusual size" (5 points if you can name the movie that comes from!)  We had seen one scamper across the road as we were walking through the main park, and made it our mission to get a picture of one!  They're very hard to spot, and we were actually able to find this one thanks to it's little munching sounds!



We also came back to beach right at the spot where we got our best view of a perisoso!  It was like 5 feet away from us!  Those things are so cute and slow and relaxed.  Again I was tempted to try to hold it.  It looked like it would be so nice to cuddle. So our trip to Manuel Antonio National Park was a success!  We saw the animals we wanted to see and conquered the jungle trail.  However, we then learned that the hard part was getting out of the park.  We somehow missed the memo about the little boats that take you across a small stretch of water that separates the part of beach where the park is (It jets out into the ocean) from the main beach.  At low tide it can be dry between the two areas, but we didn't come out of the park at low tide.  Nope, we came out of the park at high tide and mid-storm.  We walked along the peninsula and found what looked like a shallow spot to cross, but still ended up wading in over-the-knee water!  Needless to say I was eager to get home and dry off after that!


RAFTING!!!  (Oh my!)

 We woke up the next morning and couldn't believe Friday was already upon us.  Now this was bad, because that meant we only had two days left in Manuel Antonio, but fantastic because it meant it was white water rafting day!!!  And I LOVE whitewater rafting day!  It was my first time rafting, and Erin hadn't been since grade school so we were both a little anxious but super excited.  We ended up having just two other people in the raft with us, Sandy and Joe, the lobbyist from Louisiana.  Interesting man.  So those are the people you see in many of the pictures.  The "learn how to raft" session was very quick and before we knew it we were off!  (I do remember that if you fall out you should try to put your feet in front of you to go down river)  After trying a few different foot, leg, and paddle positions I settled on the one that felt most comfortable and shoved my feet into the footholds as sturdily as I could.  I felt almost safe.  I really couldn't believe that I was just supposed to sit on the side of this raft as we flew over the rapids.

 Soon I found out it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, and I'm happy to say I never fell out of the raft! (Although I did fall IN the raft once!)  I can't quite say the same thing for Erin though (more on that in a minute). 













Rafting down that river was a mix of adrenaline and serenity.  The rapids were exhilarating and during the calm part floating down the river we saw some of most beautiful scenes I've ever seen.  Soon we came upon one of the most amazing places of all, the waterfall!  We got to pull the raft over and get out to go stand under (and I mean literally under) a gigantic waterfall!  It was amazing (for the whole river actually) how warm the water was.  When you have a rush of water over you it's expected to be cold but the water in the Savegre and this waterfall area was so comfortably warm! We got to stand under the falls and get a natural back massage, hang out on the rocks and take it in.  Definitely an unforgettable experience!

So back to the part about Erin falling out...
There was one part of the river that, as we were approaching, our guide goes, "So guys, this next part is where many people flip.  So If we do, just stay calm, there's a nice swimming pool on the other side and we'll get you there!"  So we braced ourselves for the rapids, approached like pros, and managed to keep our raft right side up!  However, Erin and Joe flew over the side, only being held in by those wonderful footholds!  I think I was more worried than Erin was, she was actually very serene laying there, half in and half out of the boat, at the base of about a 6 foot waterfall rapid with water rushing all around.  All I could think to do was try to stay on my side of the raft so we wouldn't tip, and the guide got both Erin and Joe back in the boat with his oar, letting them grab it to pull them back up.  The guides said we actually did really well and are the only boat in the past couple weeks that hadn't flipped!  Here's how it went down.....

 

 WOOOOO!!!!!  That was fun:)

 That was the big finish to our rafting trip and after we were done we got another fabulous Tico lunch, chicken a la leña, rice, potatoes, natural "cas" juice and of course some Salsa to go with it!  So yummy.  It was made right in the little town we stopped in on the way back from the river, over an open wood burning grill (a la leña).  It was some of the best chicken I've ever eaten!  

  For dinner after rafting we went to "El Avion"  the local restaurant with a plane in it.  Yep! a plane!  We got to sit right by the edge of the patio, and since it is situated on a hill, it was like eating dinner on a cliff!  My burger was about the size of a football and Erin was delighted to be able to get fajitas.

 

Later that night we went out to "Bambu Jam" the bar we heard had live music on Friday nights.  It was fantastic!  The 5 person live band was awesome, the music was so fun and everyone was dancing!  We actually were very entertained by a woman we watched who danced for the entire time we were there.  Without breaks.  By herself.  She was a dancing machine.  We're going to need to perfect our Salsa skills here in Costa Rica, it's the dance of choice!  


Our week in Manuel Antonio was amazing to say the least.  We tried new things every day, had relaxing times and  we also went like crazy hiking, rafting and more!  It was the perfect start to our adventure, an experience I will always treasure and I can't wait to see what comes next!!!