Goodbye Monteverde, back to the coast to Manuel Antonio (02/08/2022)

Two beautiful evenings in the idyllic Monteverde are behind us, today we continue to the coast to one of the highlight hotels and areas of our Costa Rica trip. We have about 3.5 hours drive ahead of us, which calls for a good culinary treat before we start after check out. In the center of Santa Elena (the largest town in the Monteverde region) where we had already discovered nice restaurants the days before, we also find one today. In the restaurant 'Open Kitchen', a crossover of Costa Rican and Israeli cuisine, we have a wonderful combination of 'Israeli Breakfast' and Acai Bowl for breakfast, a perfect start to the day.

The drive to Manuel Antonio proves to be a test of patience, as the roads are mostly single-lane, although the quality of the road surfaces is much better compared to previous experiences. It is a test of patience because heavy traffic is also on these roads, and in Costa Rica, intersections often do not have traffic lights, despite heavy traffic, which, combined with the ups and downs, leads to long convoys. After a stop in the bustling coastal town of Quepos, we wind our way the last kilometers towards Parador Resort, our home for the next three nights.

You immediately notice on the hotel grounds that you are actually in the rainforest. High humidity, birds and monkey sounds everywhere, lush vegetation. The spacious layout of the hotel complex (12 hectares!) can already be impressive in the first few minutes of arrival. On the way to our room, we already see two colorful macaws (Macaw) parrots that have decided to breed on the property. After settling in our spacious room with a great view of the Pacific Ocean and the small beach of Biesanz, we decide to take a stroll to explore the best place for tomorrow at the pool ;-).. A hotel employee has already brought us into joyful anticipation with the statement that we will definitely encounter monkeys on the premises and should not leave anything hanging on the balcony (mind you, at a height of around 12m). During the stroll, we witness a real monkey party.

It is a little after 5:00 pm, and since the sun sets in about 50 minutes, the little rascals are likely to become very active again and frolic at every corner of the hotel grounds, much to the delight of the guests, all armed with smartphones, eager to capture the best pictures. From balconies to palm trees and onto the roof of another building, it is a bustling activity of the smaller monkeys. During the stroll, we encounter about 10-15 monkeys, including two different species. This promises a lot of action for the next few days. After settling in and getting an overview, we decide to eat outside the hotel, as we have found some exciting local restaurants that are also much more attractive in terms of price compared to the naturally high-priced 5-star hotel restaurant. We end the evening in a very nice restaurant called Cafe Milagro (recommended!) with excellent tuna steak, curry, and carrot cake (which can be found everywhere here). Additionally, we get the first craft beer on tap in the country, brand Ambar - the clear #1 among all local beers from the author's point of view.

The Daily Two:

Insight: The elections described on Sunday are over, and two candidates have emerged for the second round of presidential elections, namely Figuerres and Robles. Interestingly, both can be politically classified as center-left and both in the color green. Figuerres is likely to be the favorite for the second round, having already received 27.2% in the first round. An interesting fact, Figuerres was already President of the country from 1994-1998, and even his father (who, incidentally, founded the party he is running for) was President three times in total. The final round of voting will take place on April 3, 2022.

Moment of luck: The colorful monkey activity on the hotel grounds brought broad smiles and entertainment. After hoping to see some yesterday in Monteverde, they were now out in large numbers today. Let's hope that the little gangsters don't steal anything from us, which has apparently happened before ;-)