Just Back Aug 11 Manuel Antonio Day 1-2
Aug 12th, 2004, 12:01 PM
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Just Back Aug 11 Manuel Antonio Day 1-2
Just returned from CR Aug 11.
Started 7/29 at 10:30 pm at LAX for a 1:15am flight. Thought it would be plenty of time. Barely made the flight. TACA had 3 reps working the counter and it seemed to take about 15 minutes avg per checkin. They actually delayed the flight 1 hour due to the problems with checkin. Plane was AIRBUS 300, newer, friendly crew. Maybe too friendly <g> Even though this is a "red-eye" arriving in SJO at 8:30 the next morning, they seemed to think everyone wanted food at 2:30 am and a movie and a raffle and then a snack and another bev. Sheesh! Lights on, lights off! And they would wake you to ask if you wanted something! Jeepers!
Arrived at SJO and walked over to the SANSA terminal after my first encounter with an ATM machine. First lesson learned; when they ask for an amount in thousands of colones you must enter 100,000 not 100 if you want 10,000 colones. I thought if I did it that way I would get a billion colones, nope.(Just wanted to tell that on myself so that you know what a doofus I felt like after figuring it out.)
Wife and two daughters (19,15) not big fans of small planes. Oh let's just tell the truth, they wanted to strangle me when they saw the size of the plane. The flight to Quepos was pretty uneventful (unless you want the wife and kids opinion) When they go in for the landing approach it is a slow arc over ever closer palm trees until a narrow patch of asphalt that looks like it could handle a MiniCooper appears and we are down on blessed earth once again. I make a feeble effort to cheer up the fam by telling them we only have to do that 2 more times!!
In Manuel Antonio we stayed at Tulemar Bungalows. I was slightly apprehensive before arriving due to some posts I had read (although others did speak highly of the place) We thought it was beautiful. We were originally placed in units 203/303 Premium bungalows. I thought we were too close to the pool (noise)and a little too low on the hill for the best view. We moved to 204/304 the next morning and could not have been happier. Great view and beautiful accomodations. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. They have a decent breakfast(inlcuded) but after the first day we walked over to Cafe Milagro for breakfast. Lots of different coffee drinks, comidas tipicas but also more familiar fare with a Tico touch.
Had our first dinner at Karola's. a short walk from Tulemar (4-5 minutes) Excellent, we loved it. Superb Mahi Mahi. Macadamia Nut Pie yum yum. About $90.
The next morning we went on a
Manuel Antonio Park guided tour. Per Latitude9Lisa's suggestion we did not book a tour through Tulemar (40$per person) Took a cab to the park, 500colones. There was a booth right at the end of the road $15 per person, I said $40 for all, we agreed on $50 (Better than $160!).I just saved more than I paid for dinner at Karolas last night. Me happy! To be fair I still had to pay the entry fee for the park at $7 each. Our guides name was Henry Kissinger, I kid you not. Great guy, excellent english, easy smile. It seemed to me that the guides help each other out so that they all know which tree has the sloths or boa or howlers etc. Which is nice because you get to see a lot, but it does cause some congestion at times. We were walking along a flat road in the park on the return and Henry had just given the dangerous snake speech and that was why he was walking in front when he walked right by a rather long (6-7ft)snake that proceeded to launch itself toward my two daughters that were immediately behind Henry. If the Olympic team needs high jump and sprint replacements I know where to find two. Never saw anything move so fast and I am not talking about the snake. Turned out to be a harmless something or other, but don't try telling that to my kids. Henry was mortified that he missed seeing the snake (but grateful that it was not poisonous) The girls were giving me that look again. Might have been because I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard.
Did a little shopping at the stalls set up by the park. There are some that have grills set up to serve lunch. Man did they smell wonderful. Went back to Tulemar to longe by the pool and have drinks with umbrellas in them. The weather, which was a big concern of mine, was spectacular. Sunny in the morning, a little cloud cover in the late afternoon and a light rain in the early evening. Thunderstorms and rain overnight. Living in LA we do not get many tstorms by the ocean so we loved it.
Walked to Barb Roja's for dinner (right before Karola's) tried the famous nachos. They were big and fine I guess but not our favorite. We had Swordfish and Tuna. Enormous portions and very good quality. Skipped dessert for fear of exploding. Muy sabroso, and about $65.
Staggered back to Tulemar to sleep for tomorrow was Canopy day!
Started 7/29 at 10:30 pm at LAX for a 1:15am flight. Thought it would be plenty of time. Barely made the flight. TACA had 3 reps working the counter and it seemed to take about 15 minutes avg per checkin. They actually delayed the flight 1 hour due to the problems with checkin. Plane was AIRBUS 300, newer, friendly crew. Maybe too friendly <g> Even though this is a "red-eye" arriving in SJO at 8:30 the next morning, they seemed to think everyone wanted food at 2:30 am and a movie and a raffle and then a snack and another bev. Sheesh! Lights on, lights off! And they would wake you to ask if you wanted something! Jeepers!
Arrived at SJO and walked over to the SANSA terminal after my first encounter with an ATM machine. First lesson learned; when they ask for an amount in thousands of colones you must enter 100,000 not 100 if you want 10,000 colones. I thought if I did it that way I would get a billion colones, nope.(Just wanted to tell that on myself so that you know what a doofus I felt like after figuring it out.)
Wife and two daughters (19,15) not big fans of small planes. Oh let's just tell the truth, they wanted to strangle me when they saw the size of the plane. The flight to Quepos was pretty uneventful (unless you want the wife and kids opinion) When they go in for the landing approach it is a slow arc over ever closer palm trees until a narrow patch of asphalt that looks like it could handle a MiniCooper appears and we are down on blessed earth once again. I make a feeble effort to cheer up the fam by telling them we only have to do that 2 more times!!
In Manuel Antonio we stayed at Tulemar Bungalows. I was slightly apprehensive before arriving due to some posts I had read (although others did speak highly of the place) We thought it was beautiful. We were originally placed in units 203/303 Premium bungalows. I thought we were too close to the pool (noise)and a little too low on the hill for the best view. We moved to 204/304 the next morning and could not have been happier. Great view and beautiful accomodations. The staff was extremely helpful and friendly. They have a decent breakfast(inlcuded) but after the first day we walked over to Cafe Milagro for breakfast. Lots of different coffee drinks, comidas tipicas but also more familiar fare with a Tico touch.
Had our first dinner at Karola's. a short walk from Tulemar (4-5 minutes) Excellent, we loved it. Superb Mahi Mahi. Macadamia Nut Pie yum yum. About $90.
The next morning we went on a
Manuel Antonio Park guided tour. Per Latitude9Lisa's suggestion we did not book a tour through Tulemar (40$per person) Took a cab to the park, 500colones. There was a booth right at the end of the road $15 per person, I said $40 for all, we agreed on $50 (Better than $160!).I just saved more than I paid for dinner at Karolas last night. Me happy! To be fair I still had to pay the entry fee for the park at $7 each. Our guides name was Henry Kissinger, I kid you not. Great guy, excellent english, easy smile. It seemed to me that the guides help each other out so that they all know which tree has the sloths or boa or howlers etc. Which is nice because you get to see a lot, but it does cause some congestion at times. We were walking along a flat road in the park on the return and Henry had just given the dangerous snake speech and that was why he was walking in front when he walked right by a rather long (6-7ft)snake that proceeded to launch itself toward my two daughters that were immediately behind Henry. If the Olympic team needs high jump and sprint replacements I know where to find two. Never saw anything move so fast and I am not talking about the snake. Turned out to be a harmless something or other, but don't try telling that to my kids. Henry was mortified that he missed seeing the snake (but grateful that it was not poisonous) The girls were giving me that look again. Might have been because I had tears in my eyes I was laughing so hard.
Did a little shopping at the stalls set up by the park. There are some that have grills set up to serve lunch. Man did they smell wonderful. Went back to Tulemar to longe by the pool and have drinks with umbrellas in them. The weather, which was a big concern of mine, was spectacular. Sunny in the morning, a little cloud cover in the late afternoon and a light rain in the early evening. Thunderstorms and rain overnight. Living in LA we do not get many tstorms by the ocean so we loved it.
Walked to Barb Roja's for dinner (right before Karola's) tried the famous nachos. They were big and fine I guess but not our favorite. We had Swordfish and Tuna. Enormous portions and very good quality. Skipped dessert for fear of exploding. Muy sabroso, and about $65.
Staggered back to Tulemar to sleep for tomorrow was Canopy day!
Aug 12th, 2004, 01:53 PM
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Thanks for a very entertaining report so far! I hope I get to read the rest of it before we leave on Sunday. We're taking that same TACA flight. Would it help any if we got to LAX around 10pm? 9:30? Guess we shouldn't count on much sleep.
Keep it coming!
Keep it coming!
Aug 12th, 2004, 09:18 PM
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RE: the TACA flight. I am not sure getting there earlier would help, unless you do not have seat assignments yet. Try to get aisle 4. It is the bulkhead with lots of room to stretch out. Remember the row in front of the exit row does not recline much. If you hope to sleep it might help to have a sign in Spanish to hang around your neck that says "do not disturb, passenger bites", ear plugs and a mask. Or you could heavily self-medicate.
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