While in Manuel Antonio, we spent one day at their National Park.
The National Park is known for their beautiful beaches and wildlife. The Park was our main reason for visiting Manuel Antonio in the first place. We were ready to see some monkeys in action!
We caught the 8am complimentary shuttle (told you Si Como No was awesome) and on the way to the park, the driver pulled over to the side of the road to point out a sloth he had spotted in the trees. Our trip to see the animals was starting out well.
When we arrived at the park we paid our entrance fees and then we set up a tour with a guide. Originally we thought the guided tour would be a rip off but it actually proved to be a great decision because the guide was able to find a ton of animals that we never would have spotted. We were also able to get some outstanding pictures through the use of the guide’s spotting scope. Just take a look at some of the wildlife we saw:
Our first animal spotting at the National Park!
Frog
Crab
We spotted a bunch of sloths both inside and outside the park. We saw a few sloths on the move too, which is apparently really lucky since they are nocturnal!
We got within a foot of this snake!
We spotted a bat during the day, which is apparently a really tough thing to do!
We also saw a ton of white faced monkeys. They were everywhere! They were in the trees, on the beach, on the walkways, and on top of the trashcans. They would run right up to you! The guide told us we needed to make sure to keep an eye on our bags because the monkeys can undo zippers and they would steal our lunches. I wish I could have brought one home with me (and one for you too Teresa!), but unfortunately it wasn’t allowed. Thankfully I got some great pictures of them though!
When our tour ended we headed to the beaches (there were 4 inside the park). Our guide told us that Jacques Cousteau (the noted scuba diver) once said that the beaches of Manuel Antonio are the best in the world. I haven’t seen all the world’s beaches but the quote is very believable. The sand was white and the water was light blue; the beach looked like something out of the movie (think The Beach with Leo DiCaprio):
The beaches all also featured natural jetties that shielded us from the large waves the Pacific has to offer. It was incredibly relaxing to bob up and down in the 3-ft. surf.
After spending about 4 1/2 hours inside the park we packed up and headed to lunch in town.
It was the perfect day at the beach!
