Two Beers and a Pretzel

Someone was complaining that I was still too pale in the belly flop video after 3 weeks in the tropics.  Well, I have some color now…

Actually, the photo looks a lot worse than it really is.  Here’s what I really look like (drinking a caipirinha – something like tequila, lime, and sugar).

The beach is fun (of course), but it would be incredible if I spoke Portuguese and if I was about 16 years old.  Actually, a really cute girl approached me when she heard me and my uncle speaking English.  She walked with us for about quite a while to practice her English.  She asked some odd questions, like do all Americans really hate the British like her friend told her?  She invited me back to talk with her twin sister, who also loves to practice English.  I’m pretty sure she was 16 or 17, so I erred on the side of caution and walked back to my place.

I think we’re on the “family” side of the island.  The ocean side has a surf beach that is probably more my speed.  However, I am hanging out with my Aunt Maria’s sisters.  We’re going to another Samba bar tonight, and they apparantly have plans to hit a few hot spots for New Years.

On Tuesday, we slept in a bit, had a late breakfast, and headed down to the beach around 1PM.  For the first time in my life, I drank and ate fresh coconut.  Generally, I hate candy or cake with coconut shavings in it, but fresh from the tree is a whole different story.  Kinda like anchovies in Italy – once you’ve had them there, you discover you actually like them.

Back on topic…we spent the day walking on the beach watching waves crash on the rocks…

…until we found a decent bar, where we enjoyed a few beers and watched the sunset.  I also discovered the panoramic mode on my camera… (click the image for a larger version)

On Wednesday we had to wait to get our laundry, so I missed the bus to San Jose (dang it!) and had to stay another night in paradise with the girls.  We found a cheaper hostel with a pretty good vibe, stashed our stuff, and walked thru the actual park.

Manuel Antonio Park is one of the smallest national parks in Costa Rica, but it’s still worth visiting.  There are well marked paths thru the woods, and a number of animals to see.  The monkeys are the highlight.

You turn a corner in the forest and suddenly hear surf breaking.  As you walk closer to the beach you start to see monkeys in the trees.  These are some devious little bastards.

Since the trees run right up to the maximum high tide line, the trees ring the beach.  People sit in the shade and hang their stuff on the trees…  There are no barriers, so the monkeys will run right in front of you.  Then they zip in and steal stuff.  Bags, hats, drinks, food, clothes and flip-flops are all fair game.  We watched a monkey pick thru someone’s bag and steal a Hi-C juice box, scurry up the tree, and start tearing at the corner until there was a hole it could drink out of.  Then the other monkeys saw him and the screaming and chasing ensued.

We walked around a bit more and found a path that wound it’s way up and down the rocky isthmus between the beaches.  That ended up near the monkey beach, but in a much more tranquil, secluded spot.

Of course, our day of playing in the surf and sand was totally ruined a few hours later by the aching pangs of hunger.  So we made our way out of the park and back to the beach bar for more drinks and another stunning sunset.

My only regret from Manuel Antonio is that I didn’t have time to stop at the “Ollie’s Folly” restraunt, “el Avion”.  We did drive by it many times, so it’s not a big deal – especially since it was not in a convenient location.  It’s an old ’50′s Fairchild airplane that Oliver North bought for the Contra’s on Reagan’s tab.  Somebody gutted it, shipped it here, put a roof over it and turned it into a cafe where you dine under the wiings with ceiling fans where the external fuel tanks used to be.

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Sadly, I said goodbye to the girls today at the bus station this morning.  They were heading south along the coast, and I had to get back to San Jose to square away my visa for Brazil.  It’s not so much “Adiós” as it is “Mañana“.  I’ll probably visit Ingrid in Holland in August (if she’s actually there), and if Erinn’s still living in Cozumel, I may make my way there someday if I finish my SCUBA certification.

Nevermind my hair – a cold shower tends to shorten the primping.  And yes, I cut the goatee to a fumanchu and a flavor saver.  I’ll probably shave it clean tonight….