My uncle arrived in San Jose from D.C. Saturday afternoon and his friend Larry and I picked him up and drove down to Quepos, where Larry has a Home and Garden Magazine worthy place overlooking the harbor. When we arrived, I had to remind myself that yes, I was indeed spending the weekend here and no, it wasn't a prank. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves: http://www.casaconchita-cr.com/general/gallery.htm.
Manuel Antonio is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Costa Rica and when you get there, it's obvious why. It's a gorgeous national park filled with monkeys and other wildlife set along some amazing beaches. It’s tough to take a bad picture of the place. I didn't get to see too much of it but I plan on going back a couple of times. There's a large ex-pat community in Quepos and Manuel Antonio which means there's wonderful restaurants but also expensive prices. The secret is definitely out about this place and gringos have been snatching up land left and right, thereby inflating property values. A trend throughout Costa Rica. So much so that many ex-pat retirees are buying property in Nicaragua because they’ve been priced out of Costa Rica. Quite a few of the housing developments and high end hotels in Costa Rica look like they belong in Miami or Punta del Este.
The highlight of the weekend was renting a body board and catching 8-10 foot waves alongside the surfers. Next time I’ll have to make sure I have photographic evidence so everyone doesn’t think I’m full of it.
I flew back instead of driving and it's unbelievable how much faster it is. The drive to Quepos took 4.5 hours. There needs to be a unit of distance called the Costa Rican Kilometer (CRKM) to adequately capture the Costa Rican driving experience. Just like there's a nautical mile that is different from a regular mile, the CRKM would equal 3km and take 5-10 minutes to drive through, depending on the conditions (stuck behind a truck on a one lane bridge, navigating treacherous potholes, getting lost, blinding rain). The flight back literally took 15 minutes. I was the only one on the 12 seater so I managed to sit next to the pilots and watch them fly. Without the pilot/passenger divide the mystery of flying is reduced and the pilots are just a couple of guys that could be driving a truck which makes it scarier. I’ve also included a picture of Larry’s golden retriever Dolly and of his friend's place which is also pimpastic.
Pura Vida!
2 comments:
Everytime I view your blog it makes me want to cancel my National Geographic subscription. Let me rephrase, it makes me want to subscribe to National Geographic then turn around and cancel my subscription. I actually hum the theme song from the show when I look at the pictures. I encourage others to do the same (if only one other person does it, its worth it)
Those beaches are beautiful and so is the wild life. All you need is an Indiana Jones hat, a whip and a small statue.
en realidad quería hacer el comentario en esta parte, así que me repito, buenas fotos y textos, seguí así
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