Adventure Time: Beach Weekend

I had a cold the days before this trip. I wasn't fully committed to going until 2 hours before I got on the bus. This was by far the most spontaneous trip we took yet and was also one of the best :)

We took two buses to reach Manuel Antonio and some how managed to find an amazing hostel. It was only $10 a night, clean, had wifi, and a cafe attached. There were giant breakfasts with 2 huge plates of food for only $4. The beach was a minute walk from the hostel and the National Park was a minute walk the other direction. Manuel Antonio is a small lazy beach town, with beautiful beaches.
We spent our whole first day relaxing on the beach. We rented two surf boards and one of our guys attempted to teach us how to surf. It was SO much fun, but I can confidently check surfer off my list of possible future careers. We layed in the sun and explored the coves and rocks around the beach.
The second day our bus left at noon, but we first hiked through the National Park. They have wildlife hidden in the trees and a beautiful beach. The wildlife was really hard to spot and we didn't have a guide with us, but I still managed to see a couple creatures: a lizard, some crabs, toucans, sloths, and some really weird spiders. We also found monkeys outside the park playing in the trees.
Manuel Antonio was truly beautiful and reflected the image I had of Costa Rica in my head. Costa Rica has spots of complete beauty, but at other times it is easy to remember that Costa Rica is still a developing country. In some programs of recycling they are far beyond other countries, but take a drive through the country side and you'll see crops growing with pieces of litter beside them. It is a wonderful marvelous country that is capturing my heart, but there are vastly different sceneries here.