Costa Rica-Day 4

Tuesday October 13, 2009:

This was our first day in the National Park :) We went on a "guided" tour of the park. Our guide taught us all about the plants and animals and insects in the Park, and had a telescopic lens so we could see things up close. It was really cool! We saw...Monkeys, Sloths [2 and 3 toed], Bats, a Twig Bird [it blended into the branch perfectly!], a colorful bird related to the Tucan, Iguanas, we heard Howler Monkeys [but never saw them]...and I can't think what else, but it was amazing!
This is one of the first monkeys we saw--I was so excited :) Then we saw a Sloth.
I was in aw of this one.They're so "old" and move so slow, but we were able to see it move its head to eat.
This is a picture using the telescopic lens, so you can see its head better.
We stopped for a break had some pineapple. We were supposed to continue on with our guide [and maybe eat termites-which my cousin did on one of her trips and I wanted to try...but...] Shawn had heard about this "Hidden Beach" and asked our guide all about it, and decided then and there that we were going to try and get to it [it is only accessible during Low Tide]. So we left our guide and our group and that is where the real adventure started! Up until this point we had been walking on a big wide dirt road through the park and other groups were everywhere. Well we had to take this little trail into the...foliage. It felt much more real and remote, and both Shawn and I liked it better.
We even crossed this ricket-y wooden bridge over a ravine. [I must admit I was a little scared.]
This was a lookout point that we "detoured" to go see. Another couple came while we were there and we were able to get a picture of both of us [and not just our faces]
Did I mention that how humid it was? Cuz we were soaking!!
We saw this beautiful butterfly on along our way. It was huge [like the size of my hand].
We made it to our destination, but we couldn't make it to the beach. We were "stranded" on some rocks because the tide hadn't gone out enough. We could see the sand in the back ground, but didn't dare to brave the waves and the rocky terrain to get there.
But it was a beautiful area, and there was no one else around. [PS I know this isn't the greatest picture of Shawn, but I love how it shows how secluded it was, and how big and beautiful the whole area is.
We took a different trail back [they all sort of loop together] and stopped at this beach and went swimming. We were so hot by this point. I loved the water, but Shawn wasn't so much of a fan...apparently 80 degree water isn't cold enough for him. Perfect for me--heavenly!!
Shawn tried to take a bunch of pictures of me in my swimming suit--all of which are too dark [thankfully!] but I like the silhouette of this one.
It was getting late--neither of us had watches--and the afternoon storm was rolling in, so when this guy showed up and started walking directly towards us, we decided it was time to leave.

Manuel Antonio National Park was definitely a highlight. I got to see and experience so many things that I never had before. [I also really really love animals] It was just so cool. I hope the pictures do it some justice...