Mainly Manuel Antonio

Enough with the silent treatment; let's wrap up the Costa Rica story once and for all. From Nosara we drove towards San José once more, to drop off the little one (Pedro) at the airport. Unfortunately, the three-hour drive included an almost four-hour standstill as some fishermen had decided that this particular day was a terrific day for a strike, completely blocking the main artery that Costa Rican traffic depends upon. Consequently, the four of us reached our destination about eight hours after leaving the beach. Fun for the whole family! It's marvellous how everything in this country is just three hours away by car! Marvellous.

Pedro obviously missed his flight, but got up before dawn and managed to get a seat the following day. David, Amelia, and I chilled out in the city, running errands, doing laundry, shopping and being touristy. And we had chocobananas! A lovely kids' treat made by freezing a banana, putting it on a stick, dipping it in chocolate and covering it with crushed peanuts. It looked like crap (literally) but I can certainly recommend it. If nothing else, you'll get a good laugh.

The next day, Amelia and I left David behind and went to Quepos in the province of Puntarenas. This time we decided not to venture on another alleged three-hour road trip and instead boarded a tiny airplane and swoosh! landed at our destination 30 minutes later. Nature, I'm sorry! Like, super sorry.

Ok, bygones; from Quepos we took a shuttle to Manuel Antonio, checked in at a cute hotel by the beach and hopped on a huge boat and spent the afternoon snorkeling, swimming, watching dolphins, having drinks, eating fruit, going down waterslides, socializing, and just generally having a blast.

Those red things? Life vests. We had to wear them like that to be allowed to snorkel close to the "sharp rocks". Sigh. Fortunately, these merbabes can make anything look good.

However, the main attraction was Manuel Antonio National Park, listed by Forbes as one of the world's twelve most beautiful national parks. When David joined us the following day the three of us headed out on a guided tour and spent a couple of hours in the heat walking through the lush, green paradise. It was great, but honestly, without a guide I don't think we would have seen almost any animals. Well, monkeys. Monkeys were everywhere, but the rest were very good at hiding. And to all of you who have asked me, I would like to finally say yes, WE SAW SLOTHS! Both three-toed and two-toed, one even cuddling with a baby. That's right: A BABY SLOTH. Admittedly, they were all hanging out high up in the tree tops, and even though we watched them through a spotting scope it was sometimes tricky to see more than just a big, hairy, greyish lump. But they were sloth lumps! YAY!

This photo was taken through the scope. Hello cutie!

What else did we see? I actually took notes.

• Gladiator tree frog
• Jesus Christ lizards (sic)
• Giant green anole
• Eyelash pit viper
• Squirrel monkeys
• White-faced monkeys
• Black river turtle
• Mexican hairy porcupine
• Black-tailed iguana
• Agoutis
• Blue morpho menelaus butterfly
• White ibis
• Hermit crabs
• Long-nosed bats
• Brown pelicans

Naturally, we did lots of other things during our last days in the country; had fabulous meals at lovely cafés (Milagro!), met interesting people, and enjoyed ourselves immensely. But this story has to end somewhere, and I decide this is the place.

My conclusion after all this: if you ever get the chance to go to Costa Rica, do it. Ok? Ok. Also, don't trust your GPS when it says that your destination is just about three hours away.