Manuel Antonio National Park, Costa Rica
Our first morning began in Manuel Antonio National Park, in the Central Pacific area of Costa Rica. As we approached our anchorage spot, the sun raised slowly shrouded in red, orange and yellow hues. This is one of the best known and most visited parks in the system as it offers opportunities to swim in wonderfully warm waters with white sandy beaches, and can almost guarantee phenomenal wildlife sightings.
As we disembarked onto the frothy beach, we were properly prepared for everything, especially for photographic opportunities. We split into groups for a long Cathedral point trail, short “sloth-valley” trail or photography oriented groups and we all headed out with the hope and energy of the first day. The on board ship and local guides headed out with their respective groups, ready for anything. We all came back from our chosen walks very, very satisfied. An explosion of wildlife gave our walks satisfaction: large groups of white throated capuchin monkeys, several solitary agoutis, ctenosaurs, a very cute family of raccoons, raintrees, stinking-toe trees, cecropia trees, many species of birds and more.
The conditions at the beach were the icing on the cake. The waves calmed down during the couple of hours our hikes took, and the water was warm and flat as a pool. Everyone took advantage of it, and in we went to cool down our hot and sweaty selves. Particularly for those coming from up north, the water temperature was a pleasant surprise!! Back on board after a well deserved dip, we had lunch and headed down south towards tomorrow’s destination.
During our afternoon hours, we had our mandatory boat drill, snorkeling and kayaking briefings and an introductory presentation on photography. We reached our spot for the night and those hard-core Super Bowl fans had a chance to watch their match while the rest of us had dinner on board. A calm starry night led us directly to a good night’s sleep.
