Costa Rica-Day 3

Monday October 12, 2009:

Because Manuel Antonio Park is closed on Mondays, we scheduled a "Sailing Tour" that advertised seeing dolphins, whales, and even sea turtles.
Well, we didn't see any! I was so disappointed, but we did get a sweet tour of the area by boat. And we got to go snorkeling for about 45 minutes. It was amazing. Shawn had never been [I think he liked it :)] There were these yellow/silver fish that would just swim right up to you. They weren't afraid and wouldn't swim away like the other fish. But wow there were so many different species of fish all around the rock-I couldn't believe it. My favorite was this little black fish with a florescent purple nose and bright blue dots down it's sides. Unfortunately, Shawn and I forgot to put sunscreen on our backs before we jumped in the water. I've never been that sunburned in my whole life. Seriously-one hour was worse than a whole day without sunscreen back home.
After Snorkeling we had lunch on the boat--Marlin kabobs, fresh fruit and pasta salad. The kabobs were pretty good, but I didn't eat much because I had a serious case of motion sickness. The boat was a catamaran and it rode low to the water and had a net for the middle of the boat. I was not doing so well... Shawn said I was looking a little green...Luckily he was doing just fine and was even able to get some video of the ride.

Even with being sick I liked the boat ride. It was cool, and a great way to spend most of our day. We just relaxed in our hotel that afternoon [I had to let my stomach settle]. This might sound lame...but one highlight of the trip came Monday night.

We went to dinner at La Hacienda. Absolutely amazing. Shawn wanted to go back every night, but I wouldn't let him. It was seriously some of the best food we had while we were there, and the best food I've had in a long long time. I got cranberry pork tenderloin with rosemary potatoes and vegetables. Mmm I can almost taste its goodness just thinking about it. Shawn's dish was also good [I had a bite]. He got shrimp with jasmine curry and rice and pineapple. Talk about a flavor explosion! We were the only ones in the restaurant [We went during the "off season"] and we sat next to the...backyard forest jungle foliage area. Haha. I can't explain it. It felt like were were eating dinner in the rainforest...except we were in this really nice restaurant. It was a relaxing satisfying evening. Reaffirming my phrase that Costa Rica is "Tropical Paradise".

If you're wondering, yes, you should go. As soon as you can.