Blog #3 – El Parque Nacional de Manuel Antonio

Hola todos –

It’s Monday afternoon, and I write this blog entry back in San Jose after my incredible adventure at Manuel Antonio! This weekend was relaxing and exciting as we got to explore the national park. I’ll walk you all through my weekend:

Friday

We left my school and headed to Manuel Antonio National Park! Along the way, we stopped at a bridge where we saw (from below) crocodiles! Since it was mating season, there were a lot of them to see!

We then drove to our hotel, had dinner, and prepared for our big day!

Saturday

I think I uttered the phrase “That is so beautiful” at least 100 times during the day. To say Manuel Antonio National Park is beautiful is a severe understatement. The park was one of the prettiest places I’ve visited thus far in my life.

We first started the day with an early breakfast, and then went to the front entrance where we met with a naturalist from the area. He had special camera/binoculars, so we were able to see up close some animals:

And finally, my favorite photo that we captured at the end of the tour:

The tour was amazing and I was just in awe of the greenery everywhere:

After our tour, we had lunch and then explored the rest of the park. There were a couple of small hikes that we did that took us to the top of the hills in the park. The views from these hikes (at the observation decks) were breathtaking – I got emotional a couple of times because I was awestruck with wonder and disbelief. The pictures don’t do the views justice at all:

Again, I was just amazed at the natural beauty of the park and how we’d be in the middle of the forest, and then find ourselves overlooking pristine beaches.

After our hiking adventures, we proceeded to swim in the pristine oceans. I felt like a little kid as I caught the waves and laughed with my friends. We even saw some crabs on the shoreline.

That night, we went to dinner, then a bar, and just chatted away as we reflected on the amazing day we had.

Sunday:

We had breakfast this morning at the hotel. We had some visitors at breakfast who wanted a fair share of the food. The waitresses had to come over and spray them with water to try and deter them (spoiler alert: it didn’t). It honestly was quite comical to watch.

After breakfast, we then went into the ocean right next to our hotel. The waves were bigger than the day before which made swimming in the ocean that much more fun. The beach was also stunning to see – it felt like I was living in a postcard:

After our time at the beach, we left our hotel and departed back to San Jose.

Reflection:

This weekend was exactly what my body and soul needed. Culture shock was affecting me a lot last week, so being able to connect with nature, hang out with my new friends, and relax was rejuvenating. This trip made me even more excited for future excursions that I will embark on. Until next time, ¡chao!