Costa Rica Trip Report (02/06/09- 02/15/09) – Part II- Manuel Antonio
Feb 23rd, 2009, 05:20 PM
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Costa Rica Trip Report (02/06/09- 02/15/09) – Part II- Manuel Antonio
Costa Rica Trip Report (02/06/09- 02/15/09) – Part II- Manuel Antonio; Costa Verde Hotel for 3 nights (http://www.costaverde.com/index.htm)
Intro
We have made the great majority of choices and reservations for planned activities before leaving NY. The guided tours were all good and the guides were knowledgeable. However the best guides were those (very few) that took 4 or less people and for which the guide was able to “talk” bird or monkey language. On these tours we saw a lot more birds and animals. Also if at all possible seek out tours where they group tourists separately by language (Spanish vs. English) or they have two guides that can explain in each language.
One more generic piece of advice: at check-out from hotels don’t forget to ask for a receipt of payment if you pay with cash and don’t forget to retrieve the blank, signed copy of your card if you provided that to be able to charge to your room.
All our hotels had a safe, hair drier and we never had any problems with the hot water. None had alarm clocks so it is handy to have one. While we followed advice and shook our shoes and slippers before use and looked under the pillows, we were lucky enough not to find scorpions in our hotel rooms.
Day 1- trip from New York to Manuel Antonio
Other than the early wake up, the departure was uneventful. We were lucky to leave in between snow storms. Continental’s non-stop from EWR arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule. During landing we thought that we might have had a beginner pilot as the plane was wildly swinging, dropping, etc., but as it turns out a storm was just arriving with very strong winds. After we landed, I made the silly decision to look for a bathroom before the customs. By the time I got out 4 more planes landed and the quick stop cost us about 45 minutes of waiting in a very long line.
After exchanging some money at the bank located in the building across the street (first floor, international departures), we took off with our very helpful driver, Fran Gallegos (Coach Costa Rica) for Manuel Antonio. The weather was very nice all along and the roads we were on were very good for the whole 3.5 hour trip. Fran picked a Soda where we had a good lunch and sampled some of the local sweets. The owner of the place (who knows Fran well) treated us with a freshly baked corn based pudding. We stopped at the “crocodile bridge” in Tarcoles and crossed the bridge while watching the huge and lazy crocodiles (supposedly fed by the locals). In Manuel Antonio we stopped at a supermarket and bought bottled water. We arrived to the hotel, Costa Verde, in time for the sunset.
We got help with our luggage which we needed as the small buildings are up a steep hill. Our room (A5) was in section A and had partial ocean view from a nice patio. We had perfect privacy. The first evening we took a short walk towards Quepos until we had a sidewalk, got somewhat familiar with the surroundings and had dinner at the Cantina (one of the restaurants that belongs to the hotel) while enjoying the live music they had on site. The food was good and the place was pleasant. No mosquitoes bothered us. Then we found the Internet at the gift shop (about $2/half hour).
While our room was not too far from the main road, it didn’t bother us as the hum of the A/C that functioned extremely well covered outside noises and the traffic was not too heavy. We were very pleased with the room and the bathroom, which were clean and met all our standards.
Day 2- Manuel Antonio
We woke up very early, rested and happy to have the patio to enjoy the birds chirping. There were no clouds; it was a glorious, refreshing morning, with the temperature probably around 70. We saw no monkeys on the property, only heard monkeys in the distance (the howlers). They do not visit on demand. After a breakfast at Cantina on the open air patio with very nice views, we “inspected” the property itself. Situated in between trees and on very well maintained grounds, the property (which is quite big), is one of the nicest ones that we stayed at. Some of the buildings are on the other side of the main road (section D), we didn’t walk over to see them. Costa Verde II, a new, taller building for adults only doesn’t have air conditioning but screened open windows with very nice surround views. We would have not liked it as I don’t believe we could have slept without the A/C.
There are 3 pools on the property. We loved the one in our section as it had a shaded side and resident iguanas that we enjoyed watching. Costa Verde II has its own pool (no shade but great views and a bar) and there is also a pool for children someplace downstairs (we didn’t visit it). The hotel has some private trails but they didn’t appear to be well maintained so we didn’t go on them. There is also a plane converted into a hotel suite, it’s interesting but it appeared to be empty.
People who have trouble going up on stairs or on steeper walkways might have problems with this hotel (in sections other than Costa Verde II).
The local bus stops (if flagged down) in front of the hotel.
The room we had had a refrigerator, TV, a phone, a range and some dishes. Those who want to do some shopping can have a very nice breakfast on the patio. We experienced no musty odors anywhere (a complaint I read from others).
While the closure of the patio door and windows was far from tight, we had no undesired “guests” (scorpions, mosquitoes and such). Probably they did not like the cold temperature in the room.
We had a tentative reservation for a boat tour on Damas Island with Safari Mangrove Tours ($65/person, one of the most expensive tours we took). They picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the boat, about 15 minutes away. The boat accommodated about 15 people and had a cover that protected us from direct sun. For about 2 hours we went in between the mangroves and enjoyed birds and monkeys, with good explanations provided by the guide. The white faced monkeys are familiar with the boats and they know that some food is coming (the locals brought with them small palm nuts). One of the monkeys decided to go to the bathroom over the head of one of the tourists who was not exactly delighted about it.
The monkey feeding is a sensitive topic in Costa Rica. Tourists want to see monkeys. The locals want to attract tourists and please them. The wild animals do not show up when tourists want to see them unless they are fed. In fact as we learned, monkeys will not touch bananas in the wild but they get accustomed to them when fed by humans. They become “spoiled” just like the black bears in the Rocky Mountains and after a while expect to be fed, which is not a good thing. I am sure that Costa Ricans, who are very proud of their country and love it very much, will figure out how to strike a balance between protecting the nature that brings the tourists.
We had a tourist in the boat who went on the same boat tour 2 years ago. The guide remembered him. On the prior trip, this tourist noticed a snake on a tree and insisted on catching it. The snake bit him but luckily it was not a venomous one…
After the boat tour we went to a local small restaurant where we had “tipico” food. And then we were dropped at the hotel. The boat trip was overall enjoyable.
We had dinner at Anaconda, the second restaurant that Costa Verde has, also on the property and then walked to Fincas Naturales (where we had a reservation for a night tour, $35/person) across from Si Como No. While the walk from the hotel was not long, we had to cross a few times the main road from one side to the other, as the side walk is not contiguous. Finas Naturales attempts to preserve the natural habitat for some of the animals, mostly frogs, that are happy to find refuge and stay there as humans are building up the area. Fincas Naturales also has butterflies that can be visited during the day. The 2 hour walk with the guide uncovered very interesting frogs, some of them poisonous. We also saw (in a fenced in area) some crocodiles and caymans saved from some zoos and 3 huge boas. The only bothersome thing on this tour was the fact that they had too many people (about 8 or 10) with only one guide, on narrow trails. Unless you were next to the guide you could not hear what he was saying.
Day 3- Manuel Antonio:
We had a reservation with Juan Luis Brennes (Aquilla Tours) for a guided 2-3 hour tour in the MA National Park ($45/person). He picked us up at the hotel. He already purchased the park entrance tickets for the group of 10 people and took us to a back entry not used by others. The walk first took us on the local beaches. They are very nice but one has to pay attention to warnings, some not obviously posted. There are dangerous rip tides and no coast guards. And there are manzanillo trees that have a sap that can cause blindness. People who are not familiar with these trees seek shade under them and can get very unpleasant rashes. Mid-way we were offered by Juan and his partner fruits and cold drinks that they carried for all. The major attraction in the park are the white faced monkeys that are fed by tourists. They are known for stealing backpacks in search for lunch. We also saw sloths and many different kinds of birds using the special telescope brought by Juan’s helper. Juan Brennes was one the most professional and knowledgeable guides we had on our trip. He always made sure that his explanations could be heard by all and took pictures for us with his telescope. He can be contacted at: juan luis brenes alvarado [email protected].
On this tour we met tourists who told us about the unexpected storm that hit the North of Costa Rica as of the day of our arrival. We were told that hurricane force winds downed trees and power lines, ripped of roofs in some places; it was cold and it rained very heavily for days. Most locals mentioned that they have never experienced this kind of weather. Those who headed to Arenal and Monteverde on the same day we headed to Manuel Antonio were caught by the storm and could not enjoy any activities. Those whom we met left before they planned their paid-off hotels in Arenal and Monteverde to escape the cold and the bad weather.
After the return to the hotel we decided to just take it easy and enjoy the pool while watching the “resident” iguanas. It was a memorable afternoon. Then by 5pm we went up to the conference area in an open sided building at the top of Section A to watch the sunset. This place is one of the best places to watch the sunset in MA.
We had dinner at Cantina as we didn’t think it was worth taking cabs to go to Quepos. It was just too nice where we were.
We didn’t have negative experiences with the hotel’s staff (as others reported); on the very few occasions when we needed help or information we got it. When we checked out we heard a guest screaming as he could not get a receipt of payment until he threatened to complain in many places… But we had no problems.
We had a great time in Manuel Antonio.
Link to part I:
http://www.fodors.com/community/lati...rde-arenal.cfm
Intro
We have made the great majority of choices and reservations for planned activities before leaving NY. The guided tours were all good and the guides were knowledgeable. However the best guides were those (very few) that took 4 or less people and for which the guide was able to “talk” bird or monkey language. On these tours we saw a lot more birds and animals. Also if at all possible seek out tours where they group tourists separately by language (Spanish vs. English) or they have two guides that can explain in each language.
One more generic piece of advice: at check-out from hotels don’t forget to ask for a receipt of payment if you pay with cash and don’t forget to retrieve the blank, signed copy of your card if you provided that to be able to charge to your room.
All our hotels had a safe, hair drier and we never had any problems with the hot water. None had alarm clocks so it is handy to have one. While we followed advice and shook our shoes and slippers before use and looked under the pillows, we were lucky enough not to find scorpions in our hotel rooms.
Day 1- trip from New York to Manuel Antonio
Other than the early wake up, the departure was uneventful. We were lucky to leave in between snow storms. Continental’s non-stop from EWR arrived 15 minutes ahead of schedule. During landing we thought that we might have had a beginner pilot as the plane was wildly swinging, dropping, etc., but as it turns out a storm was just arriving with very strong winds. After we landed, I made the silly decision to look for a bathroom before the customs. By the time I got out 4 more planes landed and the quick stop cost us about 45 minutes of waiting in a very long line.
After exchanging some money at the bank located in the building across the street (first floor, international departures), we took off with our very helpful driver, Fran Gallegos (Coach Costa Rica) for Manuel Antonio. The weather was very nice all along and the roads we were on were very good for the whole 3.5 hour trip. Fran picked a Soda where we had a good lunch and sampled some of the local sweets. The owner of the place (who knows Fran well) treated us with a freshly baked corn based pudding. We stopped at the “crocodile bridge” in Tarcoles and crossed the bridge while watching the huge and lazy crocodiles (supposedly fed by the locals). In Manuel Antonio we stopped at a supermarket and bought bottled water. We arrived to the hotel, Costa Verde, in time for the sunset.
We got help with our luggage which we needed as the small buildings are up a steep hill. Our room (A5) was in section A and had partial ocean view from a nice patio. We had perfect privacy. The first evening we took a short walk towards Quepos until we had a sidewalk, got somewhat familiar with the surroundings and had dinner at the Cantina (one of the restaurants that belongs to the hotel) while enjoying the live music they had on site. The food was good and the place was pleasant. No mosquitoes bothered us. Then we found the Internet at the gift shop (about $2/half hour).
While our room was not too far from the main road, it didn’t bother us as the hum of the A/C that functioned extremely well covered outside noises and the traffic was not too heavy. We were very pleased with the room and the bathroom, which were clean and met all our standards.
Day 2- Manuel Antonio
We woke up very early, rested and happy to have the patio to enjoy the birds chirping. There were no clouds; it was a glorious, refreshing morning, with the temperature probably around 70. We saw no monkeys on the property, only heard monkeys in the distance (the howlers). They do not visit on demand. After a breakfast at Cantina on the open air patio with very nice views, we “inspected” the property itself. Situated in between trees and on very well maintained grounds, the property (which is quite big), is one of the nicest ones that we stayed at. Some of the buildings are on the other side of the main road (section D), we didn’t walk over to see them. Costa Verde II, a new, taller building for adults only doesn’t have air conditioning but screened open windows with very nice surround views. We would have not liked it as I don’t believe we could have slept without the A/C.
There are 3 pools on the property. We loved the one in our section as it had a shaded side and resident iguanas that we enjoyed watching. Costa Verde II has its own pool (no shade but great views and a bar) and there is also a pool for children someplace downstairs (we didn’t visit it). The hotel has some private trails but they didn’t appear to be well maintained so we didn’t go on them. There is also a plane converted into a hotel suite, it’s interesting but it appeared to be empty.
People who have trouble going up on stairs or on steeper walkways might have problems with this hotel (in sections other than Costa Verde II).
The local bus stops (if flagged down) in front of the hotel.
The room we had had a refrigerator, TV, a phone, a range and some dishes. Those who want to do some shopping can have a very nice breakfast on the patio. We experienced no musty odors anywhere (a complaint I read from others).
While the closure of the patio door and windows was far from tight, we had no undesired “guests” (scorpions, mosquitoes and such). Probably they did not like the cold temperature in the room.
We had a tentative reservation for a boat tour on Damas Island with Safari Mangrove Tours ($65/person, one of the most expensive tours we took). They picked us up at the hotel and drove us to the boat, about 15 minutes away. The boat accommodated about 15 people and had a cover that protected us from direct sun. For about 2 hours we went in between the mangroves and enjoyed birds and monkeys, with good explanations provided by the guide. The white faced monkeys are familiar with the boats and they know that some food is coming (the locals brought with them small palm nuts). One of the monkeys decided to go to the bathroom over the head of one of the tourists who was not exactly delighted about it.
The monkey feeding is a sensitive topic in Costa Rica. Tourists want to see monkeys. The locals want to attract tourists and please them. The wild animals do not show up when tourists want to see them unless they are fed. In fact as we learned, monkeys will not touch bananas in the wild but they get accustomed to them when fed by humans. They become “spoiled” just like the black bears in the Rocky Mountains and after a while expect to be fed, which is not a good thing. I am sure that Costa Ricans, who are very proud of their country and love it very much, will figure out how to strike a balance between protecting the nature that brings the tourists.
We had a tourist in the boat who went on the same boat tour 2 years ago. The guide remembered him. On the prior trip, this tourist noticed a snake on a tree and insisted on catching it. The snake bit him but luckily it was not a venomous one…
After the boat tour we went to a local small restaurant where we had “tipico” food. And then we were dropped at the hotel. The boat trip was overall enjoyable.
We had dinner at Anaconda, the second restaurant that Costa Verde has, also on the property and then walked to Fincas Naturales (where we had a reservation for a night tour, $35/person) across from Si Como No. While the walk from the hotel was not long, we had to cross a few times the main road from one side to the other, as the side walk is not contiguous. Finas Naturales attempts to preserve the natural habitat for some of the animals, mostly frogs, that are happy to find refuge and stay there as humans are building up the area. Fincas Naturales also has butterflies that can be visited during the day. The 2 hour walk with the guide uncovered very interesting frogs, some of them poisonous. We also saw (in a fenced in area) some crocodiles and caymans saved from some zoos and 3 huge boas. The only bothersome thing on this tour was the fact that they had too many people (about 8 or 10) with only one guide, on narrow trails. Unless you were next to the guide you could not hear what he was saying.
Day 3- Manuel Antonio:
We had a reservation with Juan Luis Brennes (Aquilla Tours) for a guided 2-3 hour tour in the MA National Park ($45/person). He picked us up at the hotel. He already purchased the park entrance tickets for the group of 10 people and took us to a back entry not used by others. The walk first took us on the local beaches. They are very nice but one has to pay attention to warnings, some not obviously posted. There are dangerous rip tides and no coast guards. And there are manzanillo trees that have a sap that can cause blindness. People who are not familiar with these trees seek shade under them and can get very unpleasant rashes. Mid-way we were offered by Juan and his partner fruits and cold drinks that they carried for all. The major attraction in the park are the white faced monkeys that are fed by tourists. They are known for stealing backpacks in search for lunch. We also saw sloths and many different kinds of birds using the special telescope brought by Juan’s helper. Juan Brennes was one the most professional and knowledgeable guides we had on our trip. He always made sure that his explanations could be heard by all and took pictures for us with his telescope. He can be contacted at: juan luis brenes alvarado [email protected].
On this tour we met tourists who told us about the unexpected storm that hit the North of Costa Rica as of the day of our arrival. We were told that hurricane force winds downed trees and power lines, ripped of roofs in some places; it was cold and it rained very heavily for days. Most locals mentioned that they have never experienced this kind of weather. Those who headed to Arenal and Monteverde on the same day we headed to Manuel Antonio were caught by the storm and could not enjoy any activities. Those whom we met left before they planned their paid-off hotels in Arenal and Monteverde to escape the cold and the bad weather.
After the return to the hotel we decided to just take it easy and enjoy the pool while watching the “resident” iguanas. It was a memorable afternoon. Then by 5pm we went up to the conference area in an open sided building at the top of Section A to watch the sunset. This place is one of the best places to watch the sunset in MA.
We had dinner at Cantina as we didn’t think it was worth taking cabs to go to Quepos. It was just too nice where we were.
We didn’t have negative experiences with the hotel’s staff (as others reported); on the very few occasions when we needed help or information we got it. When we checked out we heard a guest screaming as he could not get a receipt of payment until he threatened to complain in many places… But we had no problems.
We had a great time in Manuel Antonio.
Link to part I:
http://www.fodors.com/community/lati...rde-arenal.cfm
Feb 23rd, 2009, 05:56 PM
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The monkey feeding is bad, bad, bad. It is not hard to see white-faced monkeys in Costa Rica. It is lazy tour operators who want the wildlife to come to them instead of finding the wildlife.
Very good overall report. We liked Juan very much and agree with your endorsement of him.
Very good overall report. We liked Juan very much and agree with your endorsement of him.
Feb 24th, 2009, 04:27 AM
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Nice report, really enjoying it. We used Juan as our tour guide in MA too (for both the Damas boat trip and the park) and were also quite pleased with his knowledge. When we took the boat tour, we were the only ones on it, so it was nice having a "private" guide for the day!
Feb 24th, 2009, 08:42 AM
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Very interesting to read your report, as we were in Costa Rica for almost the same time (Feb 7-16) and we stayed at Costa Verde from Feb 10-12! We were also happy to have arranged our itinerary the way we did because we started in Malpais then went to MA before going to Monteverde and Arenal where there was inclement weather during the beginning of our trip - we had great weather everywhere except 1 evening in Monteverde and 1 afternoon in Arenal.
We actually managed to see a lot of wildlife right on the Costa Verde grounds - we saw White Faced Monkeys from Anaconda at breakfast, and Howlers on one of the trails just down from the airplane/parking lot (we followed their howls!). We saw White Faced monkeys by the pool and also squirrel monkeys on our last morning there. We also didn't go to Quepos for any of our meals, but we did take the local bus on the way up the hill from the beach because the sidewalks or lake there-of is certainly scary in the dark! Thx for the great report so far! I kind of regret not going to Fincas Naturales now because we didn't really see any poisonous frogs - did you see brightly coloured poison dart frogs?
We actually managed to see a lot of wildlife right on the Costa Verde grounds - we saw White Faced Monkeys from Anaconda at breakfast, and Howlers on one of the trails just down from the airplane/parking lot (we followed their howls!). We saw White Faced monkeys by the pool and also squirrel monkeys on our last morning there. We also didn't go to Quepos for any of our meals, but we did take the local bus on the way up the hill from the beach because the sidewalks or lake there-of is certainly scary in the dark! Thx for the great report so far! I kind of regret not going to Fincas Naturales now because we didn't really see any poisonous frogs - did you see brightly coloured poison dart frogs?
Mar 4th, 2009, 03:56 PM
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Hello Suzanna.
Excellent trip reports, they have very good detail information for a lot of people.
Thank you for your positive review of our tour in Manuel Antonio. I will to see you comeback in the future. NATUREGUIDE
Excellent trip reports, they have very good detail information for a lot of people.
Thank you for your positive review of our tour in Manuel Antonio. I will to see you comeback in the future. NATUREGUIDE
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