Costa Rica: Day 6

July 21, 2011

We needed to be up very early for a 6:50 a.m. pick up for a kayaking tour, so we decided to get up a bit early and explore the nature trail at the hotel, where we heard the monkeys liked to frolic at dawn. It was pretty dim and slippery … and there were no monkeys to be seen. We had another great, big breakfast and met our driver and guide.

We kayaked in a double kayak along with two other couples on the Mangrove estuary. We were with Josh and Meagan, who were staying a hotel up the road, and Jessie and Jason, who were a young, honeymooning couple from our hotel. Our guide, Dennis, was great at pointing out wildlife along the way, including a boa constrictor and a Jesus Christ lizard that walks on water. We went through very narrow canals among the roots of the three different Mangrove trees that filter the salt from the water. The canals are where the freshwater meats the salt water and our trip was timed by the tide. We, amazingly, didn't take any photos because we weren't sure we could guarantee our cameras would stay dry. It was a rare adventure seen completely with our naked eyes.

It was a two-hour trip and Kevin did most the hard work, but I tried. After, we were served another big, great breakfast with rice and beans, plaintains, bread, eggs and coffee. We were back at the hotel early and set up camp at the pool. Jessie and Jason were with us and we chatted with some others, too. We ordered drinks at the swim-up bar, including a blended ice mocha and mojitos, and ate a delicious quesadilla as a snack. We read and uploaded photos and swam and relaxed so much.





We showered and met up with Matt and Jenna to take the shuttle to the main road and the bus to Quepos, the main town about 10 minutes away. It’s not a pretty town, or all that alluring for tourists. We settled on an Italian restaurant with awful service and equally awful margaritas (who puts the lime in the blender??). We hit a few shops and they bought some wood souvenirs, but we wanted to hold off until after our puddle jumper flight to San Jose, also knowing we’d have time to shop in San Jose.