Monkey Business. . .But Not In Bimini

(We’ll see who gets the reference in the title – Google it if you don’t.) Well, it’s raining again, but the rain held off long enough to make the day mostly great. If it had waited another hour or two, it would have been better.

Last night, as I was catching up on two days of email and uploading the blog entries (because it is $5 per hour of wireless here, I blog on Wordperfect first and then cut and paste), the skies opened up. It poured. However, a 5:40 pm start was the latest of any day. Today was 2:30pm, although it didn’t start really pouring until 4pm.

We scrapped our plans to go into Quepos for dinner because of the monsoon-like downpour, and instead had a fine meal at the nice seafood restaurant here at the resort (there are two places to eat). At first, because of the downpour, we were one of only two groups eating, but once the rain let up (didn’t stop, just not as much of a deluge), the place filled up. We ate in smug superiority, knowing that we deserved the best food and service for braving the heavy rain, while the latecomers were nothing but food wussies. I’m a nice guy, so I didn’t openly mocking them. The food was delicious – I’m eating fish probably two out of three meals – quite nice preparations.

We got to sleep in till 6:40 (I was up earlier doing some work) this morning, because we had a 7:45 pick-up for the hiking/nature tour of Manuel Antonio National Park. We were the only English-speaking group on the shuttle bus. When everyone else was talking excitedly in Spanish, I assumed they were plotting to kill the gringos and take our money, but it turns out they were only scaring themselves about snakes. That was kind of a relief.

It was unexpected. . .of the 60 or so people there, only 16 spoke English, so that was our tour group. Fortunately we had a guide. We never would have found one quarter of the animals we saw without him. We saw many iguana (which tend to blend in), lizards, agouti (a cute prairie dog like large rodent), both two-toed and three-toed sloths (some more active than others). Maddy spotted a snake (non-poisonous bird snake – so-named because it eats birds). We also saw multiple interesting insects, including stunningly beautiful blue and red metallic colored grasshoppers. There were crabs with bright red legs, a baby Caiman, and a Jesus Christ lizard (because it can run on water).

However, the highlights of the trip were the white faced monkeys, as well as the howler monkeys. The beaches in the park are among the most beautiful in the world. And, there was a monkey sighting at one end of the beach cove. The monkeys entertained us by climbing through the low brush, crossing the beach at points, and then snagging some coconut pieces that lay shattered in the low brush. It was amazing how close we could get to them.

Later, as we walked down a path known as “sloth alley” (yes, we did spot multiple sloths along the alley), we saw a family of howler monkeys high off in the distant trees. It was entertaining to watch them swing and play through the trees. I thought about channeling Howard Cosell, but since he was nearly fired for that comment, I decided not to.

We heard toucans, but none of us could spot them through the dense tree growth. We did not see any crocodiles (just the baby caiman, which prefers brackish waters), but our guide got a laugh (at least from me) by quickly pointing out a logodile (simply a partially submerged log that looked like a croc).

Now, you can enter the park yourself and walk around (although you’d better tip the boat owners who help you cross the river to enter – unless it is low tide, then you can walk), but it’s definitely worth having a guide. Otherwise you would not be able to spot the animals that blend in so well to their surroundings. Plus, they have help – other guides radio them with sightings, so they roughly know where to look for different animals.

It’s a very easy hike (except for the sweat), and quite a beautiful mix of lush rainforest and stunning tropical beaches.

We ended in time for lunch, right back at Marlins, where they give you fruit and juice. . .and then entice folks to stay for lunch. That was a pretty easy decision – and today I had the chicken Casado, which again was quite good. I love that plantains come with each Casado – it’s my favorite Carribean food (much more so than, say, mangos!).

Then, we eschewed the ride back to the hotel, changed in the restaurant restrooms, and went straight to the beach. We got our lounge chairs, umbrella, and boogie board from the same woman as yesterday (despite another person trying to cut in), our cervezas from the same guy (although he appears to have variable pricing). Oh, there are even massage tables set up in case you want one right there on the beach.

Since we had all afternoon free, it was time for some adventure sports – Julia did the parasailing. From the beach, it appears she got a great ride around the entire area, out past islands and then down in front of the beach. It was pretty cool when she was able to wave to us as she went by high in the sky. She loved it (and wants to do it again – she can pay for herself next time!).

Then, Maddy, Torie and I went sea kayaking. Maddy had one to herself, and Torie and I took a double. The best part about sea kayaking is the uncertainty about getting out past the breaking waves. Maddy said it best – “I was scared when each wave came in, but it was fun going through it.” The second best part about sea kayaking – or skyaking as I called it once by mistake today – riding the waves in. We were heading out to explore the islands (from a distance – we wouldn’t want to get dashed up against the sharp rocks), when we heard thunder (the sky had turned gray around 1:45), so we headed back in.

However, we rode the waves in, and then went back out several times – just to crash through the surf and ride back in again. Torie and I flipped the first time, but Maddy rode like a pro. We did several trips out and back in again, not wanting to stray too far from the beach in case of heavy rain or lightning. The last time in, Torie and I caught the perfect wave, riding high like royalty to be deposited gently on the beach.

We did cut short our kayaking because the thunder increased in number and duration.

The only downside to the day (besides the early rain – we would have been quite content to stay longer at the beach) was the confusion getting back to the hotel. The shuttle never came (they claimed they had been there and we obviously were late. Not true, we were five minutes early, and even the workers at the beach store said it hadn’t been there yet). Rather than keep waiting, we walked up and caught the bus that runs always between Quepos and Manuel Antonio (well, vice versa in this case).

I’ve always wanted to take a bus in a Latin American country. Unlike “Romancing the Stone,” however, there were no live chickens in cages on the bus. Que sera. However, I think it only cost about one dollar for all of us to take it. I gave him 1,000 Colons (a bit less than $2), and got a decent amount of change back – rather than count it, I assumed it is correct and shoved it in my camera bag. There’s a certain amount of trust implicit when the bus fare is already a lot less than expected.