Manuel Antonio

This weekend we went to Manuel Antonio, despite the constant hasseling from everyone who said it would be all flooded from the storm. However, God was gracious and it stopped raining the day we left, on Friday. We rode the bus all the way there, having to stand for about 2 of the 4 hours, which made us pretty queasy. Andy, actually, was on the brink of vomiting that whole time. However, we made it safely and found our hotel, which was right on the edge of Manuel Antonio national park.
On Saturday morning we awoke to the white-faced monkeys playing in the trees. We gave them some bananas, but the alpha male got most of them.




I was also able to pet a deer right outside our hotel, which I don't think I would ever be able to do in Gig Harbor.

After breakfast we headed into the park with a guide, who was amazing. He was able to find each and every little critter in the woods with his telescope. Apparently we went on the perfect day, because it wasn't too hot so all the animals we out. We were able to see tons of iguanas, lizards, sloths, bats, monkeys, spiders, crabs, and crickets.

Monkey

Sloth
These crabs have purple bodies with bright red claws. They live in the woods, but lay their eggs on the beach.

We also saw raccoons (which are actually a different specie than the ones in the states), a turtle, an eel, a deer, and some animal about the size of a cat. He also explained to us the different castes of leaf-cutter ants, which we have seen throughout Costa Rica and showed us how a soldier ant can lift a stick of wood longer than a foot!
We saw this raccoon eating an iguana. Mmm.
This is one of the many huge lizards we saw. This one is about 2 feet long with the tail, but there was one nearby that was even larger! Some are called Jesus Christ lizards because they can walk on water. We saw one of those too.


After the 3 and 1/2 hour tour, we were ready for to swim! This is us at the end of the guided trip: Jane, Jamie, Ryan, Julie, and Andy.
The guys are attempting to body surf, and they end up looking like beached sea lions!
On Sunday afternoon before we left the squirrel monkeys came out to play with us! I was too scared and through my banana to them, even though they should only have a little of the banana because it isn't that good for them, oops! Andy, though, had a good time playing with them!
Jane even had one hanging off of her arm! This was our last trip with Jane as she went home to California early this morning. We will miss her here.