Manuel Antonio Banderas

With two days of "R and R" given to us by Glenn and Saul, the whole group decided to head to Manuel Antonio (MA), a generally touristy beach town.

Everyone was ready to go on time (except for Beth and Sam) when we found that Ronald and our Benz Bus were not taking us to MA. Instead, we were treated to a more compact, green bus (probably from the 70s). With our cramped seating, napping was not an option, alot of time was spent with the ipod and playing the what's your favorite game. On the way we made two stops one for food (I had a delicious queso empanada) and we stopped at a river were we saw aligators and cows, but they did not mingle.

We made it to MA to find that it was raining, but I could tell why MA would attract tourists. There was plenty of beach, bars/restaurants, hotels, shopping, etc. After a tour down the only real road in the town we checked in to the Coco Beach Hotel. I lucked out to be staying in what I feel was the nicest room available. There was a great view and my roomates and I had the only room with a bathtub (did not get used though). We walked back down to town and had some lunch. I had one of the best cheeseburgers I have had in awhile. It was a bacon-cheeseburger with onions, lettuce, guacamole, and hot sauce. After waiting 30 minutes, I fully digested my food, changed, and headed to the beach.

It was pretty cloudy, but the water was warm and I had tons o fun. Alot of unsucessful attempts to body surf and games of jackpot were had, but happy hour started at 4:30 at the Marlin Resttaurant so everyone was ready to head over. Alot of fun was had and I enjoyed another good meal. After that we headed to a maranga/salsa bar where I learned how to dance maranga from a mom from Jersey. After all of that a few of us went to another club that was fun, but I was asking alot of myself. A highlight though was watching a lingerie fashion show from two extremely hot locals.

The next morning a handful of us went to MA national park. The previous night left me lacking total enthusiasm, but I'm glad I went. I got to see some great views, a couple of monkeys, and I almost got hit by a falling tree. Good experience overall.

Pumped for white-water rafting and heading to the Osa over the next couple of days.