Traveling to Manuel Antonio




Map from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio


 Today was a long travel day. We boarded our chartered bus,



left Monteverde's Cloud Forest's elevation of 4,364, and drove 6 hours down to the Pacific Ocean seaside town of Manuel Antonio renowned for its pristine beaches and national park. 




visit Manuel Antonio



We could hardly wait!

Our bus traversed the serpentine and narrow mountain roads. Often these mountain roads proved just wide enough for a small vehicle and a tad tight for our bus.

visit Manuel Antonio

Soon the clouds dispersed and we 


had a beautiful, clear blue sky day as we traveled across the mountainous terrain. 

We stopped to take photos of the panoramic view.


We could see all the way to the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of  Nicoya!


We also stopped at the famous Costa Rican Crocodile Bridge over the Tarcolas River. It was a great place to stretch our legs and have lunch.

The Crocodile Bridge over the Tarcolas River is quite a tourist attraction. We soon understood why it has this reputation.

The bridge over the Tarcolas River looks like any bridge, 


that is until you look over the pedestrian side railing.


Down below 


are massive amounts of crocodiles. 


The Tarcolas River is considered to have the highest population of American crocodiles in the world... 25 crocodiles per square kilometer which is 25 crocodiles per  0.6 square miles!











Adjacent to the bridge was our lunch stop,  Restaurante Los Cocodrilos, conveniently located by the entrance to Carara Park.


    

Restaurante Los Cocodrilos' food was delicious and no, they do not have crocodile on the menu! 

  Then it was back in the bus as we journeyed on our final leg to Manuel Antonio. 
 
  It was quite a trip descending from Monteverde's 4,364-foot elevation down to Manuel Antonio's sea level elevation! As we drove down from the mountains we knew we were finally nearing Manuel Antonio as we saw these spectacular views.     







 


Things to Do in Manuel Antonio National Park & Quepos, Costa Rica



    Located on the edge of the Pacific Ocean, the seaside town of Manuel Antonio borders the Manuel Antonio National Park. This is Costa Rica's smallest national park with only 4,900 acres. It is extremely popular and is best known for its beautiful beaches, hiking trails, and wild animals. 

   At long last, we arrived at Manuel Antonio. We quickly checked into our hotel,  dropped our bags, and headed across the street to the beach. 

  It was absolutely wonderful! The white sand was powdery soft, the Pacific Ocean was warm and the swimming was divine! 

   Our sunset was spectacular.












We ate a delicious dinner at La Buru  



and had a round of Pina Coladas and Sangria to celebrate our arrival at the beautiful seaside town of Manuel Antonio. 

Cheers!
Pura Vida!


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