Quepos - After fog forest comes rainforest

After Monteverde, our next destination was Manuel Antonio National Park. The city of Quepos is very popular among many travelers because it is located close to the national park and offers good infrastructure with a bus terminal, various supermarkets, restaurants, and hotels.

But somehow we didn't really research the region in advance, so we only noticed how hot it is during the very long bus ride (about 6.5 hours with one transfer). The bus had a constant pleasant temperature of 37 degrees Celsius (in La Fortuna and Monteverde it was a maximum of mild 25 degrees Celsius). Besides the vendors who occasionally approached the bus during stops to offer local snacks such as pineapple slices, fried bacon, or empanadas, the only thing missing was a mint infusion to give it a sauna flair.

The cities are actually only 190km apart, which can be done in just over two hours in Germany. But since Monteverde is very mountainous, it took extremely long to get onto a main road. In addition, the buses in Costa Rica seem to stop every 200 meters because either someone wants to get off or someone wants to board. We never really made progress without interruption. So we made ourselves comfortable in the moving sauna and patiently endured the journey.

Fun fact:
The bus driver spent the last half hour of the bus ride counting money instead of using the empty streets to reach the destination a bit faster. Coins and bills fell down, which he skillfully pulled back with his foot and then picked up. The passengers around him didn't mind much, as they chatted with him on the side.

After a 3.5-hour journey in the heat, not only we, but apparently also the bus was exhausted. When turning, it stopped in the middle of the road and didn't start anymore. Fortunately, it was only 200 meters before the destination, so the bus driver could let us off.

In the hostel, we decided to forgo a private bathroom for the first time on our trip. On the other hand, we had the luxury of a pool, which was just right in the heat. So we changed clothes directly and jumped into the cool water. The day ended at Soda (that's what the local restaurants in Costa Rica are called) Sanchez. Here, we treated ourselves to two typical dishes.

Roman had Casado. A portion of meat/fish with rice, beans, salad, fried plantains, and cooked vegetables. Leonie had fried rice with vegetables and a salad. Both were very delicious and afterwards we fell tired and satisfied into bed.

The next day, we didn't feel like doing much action or movement, so we basically spent the whole day relaxing by the pool. True to the national motto "Pura Vida", we relaxed and went with the flow. Pura Vida is a way of life in Costa Rica. You hear it everywhere and the inhabitants are very proud of it. In Soda Sanchez, we saw a simple explanation of it (you can find it in the pictures). As you can see, we internalized it after just a few days.

On the last day before leaving for Uvita, we still wanted to visit Manuel Antonio National Park. After the various tours in La Fortuna and Monteverde, this time we decided to explore the park on our own. The entrance fee of €34 for two people was enough for us this time. Even though several tour guides approached us, we remained strong - knowing that we probably wouldn't see as many animals. Nevertheless, we wanted to set our own pace. And we should be rewarded for that. After about 10 minutes in the park, we saw wild capuchin monkeys. Overjoyed, we watched as a mother carried her young and protected them from passing tourists. About 8 monkeys were in the trees, some of them not being bothered by the tourists, climbing through the trees and eating. One monkey was apparently so accustomed to the hustle and bustle that it walked along the railing only one meter away from us. It could almost be petted. After another 10 minutes, we came across a small café, which of course attracted many tourists. But not only that, another bunch of capuchin monkeys settled down and jumped around on the roofs of the facility. What a great experience! It was wonderful to be able to observe the animals without a fence or glass pane.

In addition to the unique wildlife, the park also offers enchanting beaches. But this time we didn't go into the water because we considered the limited time in the park too precious for that. In Manuel Antonio National Park, there are a total of three different species of monkeys, so we were now motivated to see them as well. So after a short break on the beach, we looked for a hiking trail and walked along it. In the dense forest, we heard the howling of howler monkeys several times and behold, an attentive tourist in front of us spotted them high up in the trees. Jackpot! 2 out of 3 sighted. The howler monkeys were particularly striking because of their noises. Since they were so high up in the trees, we could only see them to a limited extent.

Unfortunately, we couldn't see the third species of monkeys (the squirrel monkeys) and then strolled towards the exit at closing time. On the way there, we noticed another tour group with a guide who was photographing something by the roadside. We joined them and tried to recognize what apparently interesting thing was in the foliage. The group had to help us because it was an incredibly well-camouflaged bird that we would never have seen on our own. That confirmed once again that a guide is definitely worth it. Nevertheless, we left Manuel Antonio National Park satisfied.

Pura Vida!