Heaven on Earth

I think I have now found the closest thing to heaven on Earth....Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. This weekend was amazing, but of course not without some mania along the way!

We got into San Jose to get tickets for the bus to Manuel Antonio at 6 but when we got there the ticket window was closed. I guess that they can just close whenever they feel like it, and unluckily for us it was before we got there. So we found the bus and tried to figure out what to do next. The way it´s done I guess is that you wait until everyone gets on the bus and then they see if they have room. So we waited, freaked out because it was the last bus of the day. Well we got on BUT we had to stand the entire way.....4 hours. Yes, that's right....we stood in the aisle of a bus speeding through the mountains, in the dark for 4 hours. Ahhh, nothing is ever easy but it seems to all work out in the end. And am I glad that it did.......

View from the top after a hike

We had a bit of trouble finding a place to stay, as we got there after 10 pm so most everything was closed. We finally found a hotel (with A.C.!!) which was a little more expensive than we wanted but it did the job. On Friday we went out with some people we had met on the bus. We went to two bars that were the closest to our hotel, which ended up being pretty fun. The first one was pretty chill and the second one was a dance place. The night was a lot of fun.

One of the beaches in the National Park

On Saturday we woke up at about 8:30 am and went to have breakfast. After eating we went to Manuel Antonio National Park (at which Holly had to take a minute and puke at the enterance). The park was BEAUTIFUL. There were multipule beaches in the park, as well as monkeys, sloths, iguanas, and spectacular views. After spending time hiking and hanging at the beach we decided that we needed to head back to make sure we had tickets for the bus the next day. We grabbed snow cones and shopped our way back to our hotel. After getting our tickets, we took the opportunity to take naps to prepare for the evening. Holly still wasn't feeling well so I headed out with Steve and Carson. We went to the first bar we went to on Friday because we made friends with the bartender (Layne) and the waitress (Alexa). We asked where we should go and they took it upon themselves to take us to a house party after they got off work. I was a little nervous going in but once I entered, it was like I was in the U.S....it was all the Americans that have moved here. We only stayed for a beer but it was interesting seening all of these people I could actually communiate with having a good old time. After we went to one of the bars, had some drinks, danced a bit, and went home......at 4 am. yeah, the next morning was very interesting getting to the beach.

We spent the whole morning before we left laying on the beach and playing in the water. It was wonerful, but I now look a little pink OR as my kids called me today 'cara

Buying a Sno Cone in Manuel Antonio

rosada'...pink face. yeah, they thought it was pretty funny. aw well, I think I will survive!
The weekend was perfect and was exactly what I expected Costa Rica to be like--beautiful in every way and super fun.
It's hard to believe I have been here for a little over three weeks. It feels like I just got here, but also so long ago that Justin dropped me off at the airport. Which also reminds me, I only have the rest of the week and next before my two week vacation--and that means Justin, Mom and Dad! Should be interesting trying to adventure our way around a country I don't know too much about but I guess that is part of the adventure! Hope things are as well at home as they are here! Hasta luego!

Quepos, Costa Rica