Our Excursion: Part Two

From Puerto Jimenez, we headed north to Quepos, the home of Manuel Antonio, the most visited National Park in Costa Rica. On the way, we stopped at Uvita to visit Parque Nacional Marino Ballena, a rather ignored jewel that stretches for miles, named after the humpback whales that migrate there annually to mate.

After our short stay in Uvita, we stopped by the tiny beach town of Dominical about an hour's drive from Quepos. One of the most appealing aspects of Costa Rica is the remarkable variety of ecological systems such as tropical rain forests, cloud forests, dry Pacific forests, Parmo sub-alpine systems, mangrove forests and intricate coral reefs that one can encounter in a day's drive.

When we arrived in Quepos, we headed up the hill toward Manuel Antonio and checked into our hotel, the Trés Banderas (the three flags). The owner is Polish, his wife is Costa Rican and their son is American:

As it was a long day of driving, a beer was in order; drinking during the day did not seem to be out of the ordinary at Trés Banderas:

Although my Spanish leaves much to be desired, my Polish is outstanding. The sign was clearly an invitation to savour a cool cerveza:"Anyone who is not smashed will not be served."
Manuel Antonio, despite being relatively small by National Park standards, attracts hordes of visitors; it contains four beaches, over 100 species of mammals and countless types of birds.
Perhaps, most unique are its array of herding "Teleskopos Secuutus" who gather in great numbers and in multiple groups all hoping to catch a glimpse of a brown throated three-toed sloth, or even better, a Hoffman's two-toed sloth avoiding discovery in the upper branches of a tree.

One of the simple rules that should be followed when one is in the vicinity of animals is:
Avoid interfering with a mother and her young.
For example:
A mother monkey taking a sip of water with her baby on her back is a very appealing photo opportunity.

However, if you ignore the aforementioned rule like the camera guy next to us did by cooing, "How cute", and attempting to pet the baby, watch your fingers!

And the beaches,