Manuel Antonio - Quepos - Costa Rica
As the bus pulled into Quepos, we could see the hustle-bustle of the costal town. There were street vendors selling everything from necklaces to cans of soda. People were in shorts and t-shirts and looked very tanned. Miguel asked the bus driver if he would drop us at the hotel. He pulled the bus off the road just beside El Avion. As we stepped out of the bus and admired the old army airplane sitting on the side of a cliff, with a restaurant built around it, we noticed our abode for the next few days a short way down the hill, the Banana Tree Hotel. Although, I am giving the hotel a link, I would not recommend that my worst enemy stay there. I won't bore you with the details, but it was not the nicest place to stay. I'll give a few hints why...mold, smell, damp, basic, dirty. We'll leave it at that :) If you want a great place to stay in Quepos and Manuel Antontio, I would suggest the Hotel Si Como No.
We checked into the shit-hole and decided to head back up to the airplane restaurant for a bite to eat and an ice-cold beer after the long, hot bus trip. This, after we confirmed that there were no other vacancies in Manuel Antonio. As we stepped into the open-air restaurant we were given our choice of seats. We had no idea that the views were going to be so spectacular. The restaurant was built into the side of a cliff and overlooked a couple of small islands in the Pacific below...the sun was just about to set. We took photos, which for some reason, did not come out. Anyway, we enjoyed our meal, numerous beers and a pleasant chat.
After dinner, we went to Bar Tutu just across the road from El Avion. To get to the bar one has to walk up three filghts of outdoor stairs, past a beautiful swimming pool and up to the bar. The bar is so high so that it can take advantage of the beautiful scenery by being higher than El Avion across the road. The bar itself was pretty chill...loungy music, cold beers, and a variety of people...mostly tourists. Conversation was good. Miguel met a guy who worked as a flight attendant. After a brief discussion, the man gave him a valume (?) to help ease his nerves on the return flight...more about that later.
The next morning, we woke early to the sound of screaming monkeys....no, really monkeys. So, we got up and headed down towards the beach (which we had not seen yet.) On the way down we saw a family of monkeys (what the hell do you call a group of monkeys...a gaggle?) Any we got some photos with them and kept on our way. The walk down was probably about 2km and the views were stunning. I think I'll name my first child Manuel Antonio, just because of the beauty of this place. By the time we reached sea level, my white ass thought I was going to pass out. The heat was intense, I felt dehydrated and panicked because I had not applied sun screen yet. Before heading down the beach, we stopped for breakfast. The restaurant was awesome, but I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. Having grown fond of rice and beans for breakfast, that's what I had.
We walked down the beach and found out spot, just under a banana tree...I could get shade and Miguel could get sun. The weather could not have been better and thankfully, there were people selling cold drinks and empanadas. The morning and afternoon drifted away with numerous swims in the bath-like pacific and a little sun to warm the soul.
That night we went to one of the restaurants, Rico Tico Bar'n Grill at the Hotel Si Como No. Wow! The food was amazing, the atmosphere was even better, and the views out of this world. It was a really nice meal and once again, if you go to Quepos Manuel Antonio, I would suggest the Si Como No as the place to stay. Built into the side of the same cliff everything else is built into, they feature two swimming pools, swim up bars, two restaurants and beautifully landscaped grounds. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the rooms, but were told that they were more than comfortable. On the way out of the restaurant we ran into "Sister Mary Dyke" from the plane and her "lover." We had a nice chat with them and oohed and aahed about how coincidental it was that we ran into her again. Anyway, nice lady and nice butchy lover, I mean friend. After dinner it was off to Tutu Bar for drinks. At Bar Tutu there was a group of four ladies...mid 60's, who took a liking to us. Actually, they were very cool and Miguel even danced with one of them.
The last day was more of the same...horrible views, terrible weather, yucky food, and disgusting beaches...joking...it was awesome!
For our return to San Jose, I convinced Miguel to go on a little puddle jumper plane. The trip was only 25 minutes, as opposed to four hours on the bus, so he agreed, reluctantly. Well, Miguel never opened his eyes and I thought the whole way we were going to die. The views were awesome, but the plane was bouncing around so much as it we went over the numerous mountain ranges, that I actually thought I was going to be sick. At one point there was a mountain off to the right that was actually higher than we were. That said, I would do it again simply because the travel time is so much less. From the airport in San Jose, I went to my second appointment. Again, these "appointments" will be blogged about separately.
Our last night in Costa Rica involved a lovely dinner at the restaurant in ApartHotel Christina, La'Olive. Then we headed out to the club...met a few cool people, had a great night and headed out to the airport in the morning.
We checked into the shit-hole and decided to head back up to the airplane restaurant for a bite to eat and an ice-cold beer after the long, hot bus trip. This, after we confirmed that there were no other vacancies in Manuel Antonio. As we stepped into the open-air restaurant we were given our choice of seats. We had no idea that the views were going to be so spectacular. The restaurant was built into the side of a cliff and overlooked a couple of small islands in the Pacific below...the sun was just about to set. We took photos, which for some reason, did not come out. Anyway, we enjoyed our meal, numerous beers and a pleasant chat.
After dinner, we went to Bar Tutu just across the road from El Avion. To get to the bar one has to walk up three filghts of outdoor stairs, past a beautiful swimming pool and up to the bar. The bar is so high so that it can take advantage of the beautiful scenery by being higher than El Avion across the road. The bar itself was pretty chill...loungy music, cold beers, and a variety of people...mostly tourists. Conversation was good. Miguel met a guy who worked as a flight attendant. After a brief discussion, the man gave him a valume (?) to help ease his nerves on the return flight...more about that later.
The next morning, we woke early to the sound of screaming monkeys....no, really monkeys. So, we got up and headed down towards the beach (which we had not seen yet.) On the way down we saw a family of monkeys (what the hell do you call a group of monkeys...a gaggle?) Any we got some photos with them and kept on our way. The walk down was probably about 2km and the views were stunning. I think I'll name my first child Manuel Antonio, just because of the beauty of this place. By the time we reached sea level, my white ass thought I was going to pass out. The heat was intense, I felt dehydrated and panicked because I had not applied sun screen yet. Before heading down the beach, we stopped for breakfast. The restaurant was awesome, but I can't remember the name of it off the top of my head. Having grown fond of rice and beans for breakfast, that's what I had.
We walked down the beach and found out spot, just under a banana tree...I could get shade and Miguel could get sun. The weather could not have been better and thankfully, there were people selling cold drinks and empanadas. The morning and afternoon drifted away with numerous swims in the bath-like pacific and a little sun to warm the soul.
That night we went to one of the restaurants, Rico Tico Bar'n Grill at the Hotel Si Como No. Wow! The food was amazing, the atmosphere was even better, and the views out of this world. It was a really nice meal and once again, if you go to Quepos Manuel Antonio, I would suggest the Si Como No as the place to stay. Built into the side of the same cliff everything else is built into, they feature two swimming pools, swim up bars, two restaurants and beautifully landscaped grounds. Unfortunately, we did not get to see the rooms, but were told that they were more than comfortable. On the way out of the restaurant we ran into "Sister Mary Dyke" from the plane and her "lover." We had a nice chat with them and oohed and aahed about how coincidental it was that we ran into her again. Anyway, nice lady and nice butchy lover, I mean friend. After dinner it was off to Tutu Bar for drinks. At Bar Tutu there was a group of four ladies...mid 60's, who took a liking to us. Actually, they were very cool and Miguel even danced with one of them.
The last day was more of the same...horrible views, terrible weather, yucky food, and disgusting beaches...joking...it was awesome!
For our return to San Jose, I convinced Miguel to go on a little puddle jumper plane. The trip was only 25 minutes, as opposed to four hours on the bus, so he agreed, reluctantly. Well, Miguel never opened his eyes and I thought the whole way we were going to die. The views were awesome, but the plane was bouncing around so much as it we went over the numerous mountain ranges, that I actually thought I was going to be sick. At one point there was a mountain off to the right that was actually higher than we were. That said, I would do it again simply because the travel time is so much less. From the airport in San Jose, I went to my second appointment. Again, these "appointments" will be blogged about separately.
Our last night in Costa Rica involved a lovely dinner at the restaurant in ApartHotel Christina, La'Olive. Then we headed out to the club...met a few cool people, had a great night and headed out to the airport in the morning.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home