Pura Vida in Costa Rica!

June 23rd, 24th, 25th, 2022

Jackson, WY > Denver, CO > San Jose, Costa Rica > Quepos, Costa Rica

They say pura vida is a way of life in Costa Rica, no worries, simple life. I think I understand why! What‘s there to be worried about here? It’s beautiful, warm, sunny, the food is amazing, the people are kind, and everywhere you look is a luscious, green jungle filled with cute sloths, colorful birds, and pesky monkeys.

And what a journey to get here. I started out on Thursday in the Grand Tetons, drove the 9 hour drive to Denver through rural Wyoming, got on a bus, got on a plane, got in a car, popped the tire on the rental car within the first 10 minutes of my arrival into the country, fixed the tire, and drove 3 hours from the city to a little beach town called Quepos.

The view driving to Denver wasn’t half bad though.

June 25th, 2022

Today was wonderful. Although last night we popped the tire on our rental car- very common with the potholes here- this morning we managed to make it to Quepos, which is the gateway town to Manuel Antonio National Park. We didn’t get to the park today but we will tomorrow with a guided tour. Today we went to Playa Biesanz, in the town of Quepos, you park by a big hotel and walk down the road a little until you find the trail to the beach. At the beach there‘s a vendor that rents kayaks and paddle-boards for $10 a person for 2 hours. We paddle-boarded around the bay until we got seasick from the choppy waves, but the water was perfect for a swim. We saw a sloth hanging out upside down in a tree! My first sloth in the wild!

After the beach, we went to Agua Azul for dinner. Wow- we ordered calamari, red snapper, plantains, green papaya, margs, and lime pie for dessert. I love the food here because it is all so fresh and light and tastes homemade and healthy. And it’s cheap.

Also can’t recommend enough the Hotel Plinio. It’s a hostel but they have a great pool, staff, and rooms. Also very cheap. So many of the hostels here are awesome and affordable.

Manuel Antonio is a bit confusing to plan for- the National Park requires you to buy tickets beforehand for a timed entry, and you have to park outside of the park, but there’s often people trying to get you to buy their “services” or park in their lots on the way but those are scams, so beware. We reserved a guided tour- so we meet them at the entrance station to start the tour. The entrance fee to the park wasn’t included- they have private tours that will pick you up and that also include the entrance fee in the cost, but we thought driving and parking would be fine. We booked a tour on Airbnb from a guide there- lots of reviews and 4.98 stars, so we’ll see! I am loving Costa Rica and it’s day 1!