Manuel Antonio
April 4th, 2003
Manuel antonio017.jpgAs it was so cold at Monteverde and we are really chilly persons and we had seen hardly any animals, we decided to go the last few days to a warmer place. We had not seen yet any black spiny-tailed iguanas, which we had seen plenty at Manuel Antonio 4 years ago, next to many monkeys and sloth's. So the choice was easy. At 6.00 AM we took a direct bus to Puntarenas, from there a normal bus to Manuel Antonio where we arrived in the afternoon. In the garden of our hotel we saw already many basciliscus basciliscus and several young black spiny-tailed iguanas (ctenosaura similis). As the park already would close at 4 pm, we just walked a little around, sitting at an terrace at the beach and watching all the lizards and people passing by. And a lovely temperature.
April 5th, 2003
Manuel antonio023.jpgHere at Manuel Antonio there is nothing to do, early in the morning. The park opens at 7 AM, we wanted to have breakfast in advance, but the most restaurants opened at 8 AM. Fortunately we had still some muesli bars with us, so we went into the park without breakfast. It was really full with black spiny-tailed iguanas, every few meters we saw one, also many basciliscus basciliscus and ameivas. We still wanted some close-up pictures of the white-faced capuchin monkey, but also here you found them only high in the trees. We also saw several sloth's, from one we got beautifully close-ups, a small branch just broke down as I was taking a picture. I just had said, amazingly that he can hang at such a tiny branch, he must be quite heavy and 10 seconds later, the branch broke and he felt down, just grabbing himself at another branch just above the ground. He tried to climb up fast, but sloth's are not that fast, so some nice pictures. Manuel antonio009.jpgAgain he chose tiny branches to hang on. At 3.30 AM everywhere in the park you saw rangers and policemen whistling and sending everyone out of the park. The white-faced capuchin monkeys had just become more active and were climbing down, we were waiting to photograph them, but we had to come with a ranger. Unfortunately our holiday is already coming to an end, tomorrow afternoon we have a direct bus to the airport, we just booked a hotel close by the airport. In the morning we still can visit the park and Monday we will fly back home.