Another great trip report!
Brought back some memories of my own 'Goliath Beetle' experience in Manuel Antionio...gee I hope you don't have one there too...once a trip is enough!
Anyway, we were staying at Villas Nicolas. There was a net around the bed but we had not seen any bugs so didn't use it that first night. Sometime after midnight I was woken up by something hitting my hand..HARD. I jumped up, which woke up my husband. He turned on the light and we saw 'Goliath Beetle' on the bed next to me. It's a good 2-1/2" long and as big around as a half dollar. He says, "geez, did that thing TOUCH you?"...and said .."damn straight!!!" as I'm shaking, shaking, shaking my hand" as it feels like it is STILL on my hand. He didn't try to kill it because we could tell by the looks of it that it's shell was like an armored truck. Instead he graps a dirty t-shirt, folds it into a ball of sorts, picks up Goliath and throws the whole ball outside. We start looking around and notice that one of the screens in our room, about 15 or 20 feet up, has a hole in it. No way to reach it for repair. After that, we used the net around the bed for the rest of the trip. Next morning, I gingerly and very slowly start to pick up the t-shirt from outside, just knowing that the darn thing was waiting inside the T to attack me again, but it was gone.

my husband and i are leaving to costa rica tomorrow and will be visiting Manuel Antonio! i am hoping to get to read your adventure there before we leave. your trip report has been great :))))) thanks so much for sharing with us..

Day 11- Gaucimel, Good Road and Good Grief.

It is morning and we are getting ready to go to Manuel Antonio. I have put on my shorts, tank top and sandals in my determination to will the sun to come out. Rene joins me in this show of stubborness. It is a little chilly but what the heck. Head to the restaurant for breakfast. We both have French Toast which is really bad. It is just very dry. Check out. It was $45/nt and I pay the extra 6% and do it on Visa. Off on our next adventure. While at Almonds and Corals we met one of the tour guides. I told him I was worried about the roads in Monteverde. He told me not to worry and said that when leaving follow the signs all the way to Gaucimel and past through a town that started with S (the name of which escapes me). He told us to keep on this road as most people branch off but this would save us at least half an hour. We're off. The road is the same as coming up. Covered in broken rock. There are, however, some beautiful vistas of the cloud forest from here and we stop quite a few times to capture them on film. Hardly any traffic and once again the road is not scary. Sure there is a drop off but we stay near the centre and are not going fast at all. We bounce along following the signs to Guacimel. After quite a while we go through the town. It is still a lousy road and we question the guide's advice. Carry on to the town that starts with S. Just past the town the road changes. It is the nicest road we have seen. Freshly blacktopped with nary a pothole to be seen. There are palm trees lining the sides and beautiful homes. We are giddy and Rene drives extra fast and I don't even mind. Also note that there are a few prison camps along here. It is very warm out and we are following the signs to Puntarenas. After encountering people passing from the opposite direction we decide perhaps we should slow down a bit. But the windows are open, our hair is blowing and we are cruising. Get to what seems like a main crossroad and can only go left or right. We see a cabbie and ask which way to Jaco. Turn left and go for a while and there are a lot of signs for Jaco and Quepos. Turning off we are now on the coastal road. This is also very lovely and we enjoy the drive. A lot more potholes and traffic but we don't care. Over the Tarcoles bridge (we actually didn't realize this was the crocodile bridge as there wasn't a sign and there were no cars parked). Don't bother to turn around as I know that we will have to come back this way to San Jose. The clouds are starting to darken. I can't believe it. It has been so nice. The closer we get to Quepos the darker it gets. Starts to sprinkle and I think to myself that if Rene has to turn on the wipers I will cry. He turns them on. It is the only time that I actually did well up with tears. Have to go to the bathroom. We stop at a Soda and I go inside. It is very large and quite beautiful with painted gold elephants. The girl points to the banos. Every other ones we have encountered have said Damas and Caballeros. There are two doors with symbols but I can't figure out which symbol I am. Find the girl again and she points to one of the doors. Go inside and find a curtain. Behind the curtain is a vacumn cleaner and behind that is the toilet. Continue on our way. The wipers have been turned off and we are just outside Quepos. Everyone comes to a stop. We have to apparantly cross bridges. These are one lane bridges and quite long. You have to line your tires up on the tracks and bounce across. I am hoping they have tested the weight restrictions as we are quite high up and there are a lot of vehicles on the bridge. In Manuel Antonio we are staying at Villas Nicolas. There are no signs but I know that it is next door to Si Como No and there are plenty of signs for them. Drive through Quepos and up the hill to Manuel Antonio. We find Villas Nicolas no problem. The lady has our prepaid reservation and says that we are going to love our room. She takes us up to room 8UP and we are awestruck. The balcony is huge and tiled. On it is a double hammock, table and chairs and and a large wrap around bench with plenty of cushions. But the view! We look over top of the trees and can see right out to the ocean and an island in the middle of it. Louvered doors open into our bedroom which is very pretty. Not large but a big bed, fan, dresser and bathroom. Rene estimated the balcony to be about 16 x 24 ft. The sun is shining and once again it is very warm out. I grab hangers and we proceed to hang all our wet clothes from the rafters on the balcony. Go off to explore the property and check out the pool and hot tub. Very nice. There is a bar there but they do not open in low season. No problem. Reception sells beer and bottled water. Getting hungry so walked down to Cafe Milagro and had some really good sandwiches. They cash my traveller's cheque. Walk up the road a bit and check out the lovely art gallery outside Si Como No. Decide that we will catch the bus and go into Quepos. You catch it directly across from Si Como No. It costs 100 colones each (approx. 30 cents). They are nice buses (as compared to Mexico)and they run about every 20 minutes. Boy, is it hot out. The ride to Quepos takes about 15 minutes and we get off at the bus station. Wander up and down the streets and look in all the souvenir shops. Head to El Gran Escape for a cold one. It is time to go back and we go to the supermarket across from the bus station. Buying two 6 packs and 4 packs of cigarettes it comes to less than $13. We figure we have died and gone to heaven (our cigarettes are $7 each here and a six pack is $12). Back on the bus to Villas Nicolas and once again it stops right outside Si Como No. Sit on our balcony with our cold beer and watch the most incredible sunset. Snapping pictures like crazy. Dinner time and we figure we will go up to Barba Roja's for their famous natchos. It is about a 5 minute walk up the road from VN. Rene takes our small flashlight as it is now dark out. Once there we grab a couple of stools and order 2 cerveza's and the large order of natchos. They are fantastic! Not really something we can describe as they are not like those we have at home. The large is too much for us but we are full. Our only problem is that we are getting bitten really badly despite using the bug spray. Head back to VN. Sit outside on our gorgeous balcony and watch the geckos on our ceiling. A frog hops along our railing and we take pictures. This has been one great day. Bug check and off to bed, smiling.

Next up - Day 12 and beaches, bugger all open, bad service.

Another great report Trish! We'll be spending three nights at Villa Nicolas next month and now I'm really looking forward to it!! Thanks!

Hi trvlbug,
Really enjoying your travel report and looking forward to your next installment! Did you take the anti-malarial medication? I know most people on this board don't think it is necessary but I am still undecided.

I am so glad you had a better day and we will be there in Aug, so I too am glad you like VN so far....Joyce

Great report - Manual Antonio sounds lovely!

Trish: Your report about Villas Nicolas sure brought back some great memories of my stay there. We stayed there 4 nights, but could have easily stayed a week. I really appreciate the feedback on America West - I've read some pretty negative comments about their service a couple of years ago, but I understand they've made significant improvements recently. Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip!
Terri

Hi everyone,

Thought I would get a few questions answered before continuing.

Shillmac - the steaks at El Novillo were very good and done exactly right. My husband likes his rare and I like mine medium and that is the way they came.

Kwoo - we took no medications. Our Dr. looked on the website for disease control and told us we were fine. He also said that nothing had been reported from CR for many years. Also stated that because it is developed more than most Latin American countries the malaria, dengue and hepatitis risks are extremely low. Hope this helps although I know that it is subjective and a person has to do what gives them the most peace of mind. As far as tours went if we booked through the hotel they just added it on to their bill or we paid be credit card when we got there.

Ally - laughed at your description. They were the most dreaded on our trip. Everything else I could deal with (bug wise) but those just gave me the willies.

Terri - service with AW was fine. The counter people were very friendly and helpful and the attendants on the plane were also good. Like I said, the meals were good. They were hot or cold sandwich type meals with cookies and chips etc.

Molly2 - What the heck are zorries?

I will not comment on the driving just yet as I will give mine and Rene's opinion in my wrap up. Only a few more days to go. Day 12 soon. Once again, thank you for all your wonderful comments.

Trish

I'm sorry if I'm starting to sound like a broken record, but there were several cases of malaria around Jaco last year. Big article in the NY Times about it, as I recall. We were in Quepos at the time, those folks were not happy about all the negative publicity for the area.

Maui had a major outbreak of Dengue fever in the fall of 2001. Enough of a concern for me, who despises the use of Deet, to slather myself with the stuff. Yuk.

As for Hepatitis A, it was just last year that several people died in Pennsylvania from it.

My point is, those diseases are out there. Never have taken anti-malarials for trips to Costa Rica. We did take Chloraquin (sp) for a trip to Belize. Also will take one of the anti-malarials for an upcoming trip to Panama. May even get yellow fever vaccine for that one, depends on what the local travel clinic says.

I would certainly get Hepatitis A vaccine, even if I didn't travel. About a dozen states now require it for children. Two injections, six months apart you and protected for life.

Off my soapbox now. Sorry to interrupt these absolutely wonderful travel reports.

Jean

Zorries {sp?}, to some of us eastern-USers, are flip-flop type sandals - LOL!

I went to the hospital injection clinic and told them where we weregoing. They gave us a typhoid shot, hepitatis A shot, and a tetnus shot. They also gave us malaria pills. The main concern for our trip was that we were going to Tortuguero. They also recommended DEET at 35% max and 10% max for kids.

I felt that it was better to be safe then sorry especially since we were taking our 8 year old son.

Kathy

Message from JeanH:

Unless you are 70+, it is my understanding from the medical sites that the HEP A vacine(2 shots) is good for 10-15 years, not life.

thanks for these great stories.

Denny, I just looked at the CDC website and it says 20+ years of protection from Hep A vaccine. Certainly not a lifetime if you're getting it as a toddler. I'll have to ask at work to make sure, but we're telling people two shots six months apart and you're set for life. Perhaps we need to rethink what we're telling people. Since I work in pediatrics, obviously I don't see people coming back in 20 years for booster immunization.

Definitely something I'll check on when we return to the travel clinic this fall.

jean

I'm happy to know that zorries are flip-flops - but I've always wondered what LOL stands for! (stupid-question of the day??) Katie

LOL means 'laughing out loud'.

Trish...we are waiting for the next report!

Day 12 - Beaches, Bugger all open, Bad Service

Well it is Tuesday we decide that we will go to the park. It is 7 a.m. and we are sitting at Cafe Milagro having breakfast (very nice). The sweat is pouring off Rene and he is using every napkin on the table. Very muggy indeed. Walk back to Villas Nicolas and decide how to go about our day. It is so lovely here. Finally we decide that we will walk down as it seems to be all downhill. Setting off we take our time and look in stores etc. that we are passing. We also pass that monstrosity that is a plane. What an eyesore. Anyway, on our walk we see see some monkeys up in a tree. They are orange which I believe are spider monkeys. We also spot a Jesus Christ Lizard and a couple of other really large lizards. It is a nice walk and takes us about half an hour or so. Thankfully a lot of it is in the shade. Reaching the main "strip" we see the first beach. It is really beautiful and is the free public beach. Just an aside here and I do not wish to offend anyone. At this beach, our hotel and other places we went there were quite a few gay couples. They were fairly open about their sexual orientation and I am only mentioning it in case someone is easily offended by this they will not suddenly be "surprised". Coming from Vancouver, we could have cared less. We find a place to park ourselves and just sit there looking at a piece of paradise. Poor Rene is sweating buckets but luckily there was a fellow on the beach selling bottles of water. So we just relax, paddle our feet, drink our water and take in the view. There are a lot of vendors on the "strip" and we go looking for a photo album. They are really lovely albums made from banana leaves and make a wonderful souvenir. It is extremely hot out. Boy, we're never happy are we? After much searching we find the "exact" one that I want. This makes Rene very happy. While walking the strip we are approached by a lot of people wanting us to book tours, eat at their establishment etc. One guy who approaches us is Paul from Canada. He asks if we'd like to go for a surfing lesson. I tell him that I can't swim and he replies that I don't have to that the waves will just carry me back to shore! I guess the glazed look in my eyes from the extreme heat made me look stupid. We politely declined. It is so hot out and we are really tired. Here is where you can all boo us! We decided we did not want to go into the rest of the park. Had already seen so much wildlife on our trip and this beach was so beautiful (I know, the others are even more so apparantly) and it was sunny and hot out. This was enough for us for today. Caught the bus back to our hotel. Now we were hungry. Set off to get some food but there is nowhere open! Surprise, it is Tuesday and low season and so not a lot of places stay open this day. Some are even closed for a week or two to have holidays or ? Now what do we do. Don't really want to head back down to the park, where all the restaurants were open. Head back to the hotel and just happen to look across the street. There is a pizza place open. Wander in and it is a nice setting right by the pool. It is connected to a hotel although the name escapes me (it begins with K). Share a palm salad and a margherita pizza, both very good. When paying the fellow here tells me that I will get charged a fee for travellers cheques and not visa so I opt for the visa. Back to the hotel and change into swimsuits. Take some beer down to the pool and lie on a lounger in the shade. Dip in the pool and relax. Rene gets out of the pool and sprains his wrist. We are not sure how long the pain will last as he has ankylosing spondalitis (say that 3 times fast) and sprained wrists can happen. Decide that tomorrow we want to go on the Damas Mangrove Tour. Did not want to book it with the vendors at the park as we were not sure of the risk factor. Booked it through our hotel. The lady at reception called them and they told her that we had to be ready to be picked up at 8:15 a.m. The times you go out are based on the tides. We gave her a $40 deposit ($20 each). Back to the room for siesta and sunset watching from our balcony. It really is gorgeous. Later that evening we head out for dinner. Once again, where do we go with everything closed? Up the street is a sports bar and casino. Figure this is fine as we are not super hungry and will just have appetizers. It is nice and breezy in there and when we sit down we notice that on the giant screen they have the Calgary hockey playoffs on. Bonus. So we wait and wait until finally a girl comes over to take our order. A couple of beer and a few appetizers. Wait and wait until a fellow finally brings over the beer. Wait and wait. The food arrives. It is ok. But soon we are out of beer. A fellow sits down at the bar and sees the remote and changes the channel to wrestling! This proves too much and we yell at him. He changes it back and goes off to wherever the others have gone. There is no one around. Eventually someone comes and we figure we'll order another beer and the cheque. This place was an exercise in patience which is what we were running out of. C'est la vie. The rest of the day has been pretty nice and we head back to the hotel and a good night's sleep. Thank goodness for the fan! Next up - Day 13 and Money, Monkeys and Mexican Food. Hang in there, it's nearly over!!!

Trish,
Another great report. I'm looking forward to your "final thoughts" on this trip!

We will hate to see your report end! Was it a comfortable walk to the beach? We plan to stay there in Aug and I wondered if we should try to drive or walk to the beach? I am hoping to get a larger room as we will have our son with us. Joyce

I got a good laugh about your "almost" surfing experience! Once, in a {perscription} drug-induced daze,I got talked into swimming into whitewater rapids and had to be rescued!

Can't wait for your next installment!