Quepos: Animal Magic & Other Stories
By the end of our second day in Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio, we have covered every inch of its trails and hiked to every corner, and had many wonderful close encounters with amazing and exotic creatures. For our third day in the Park, we hire a guide to see if we can dig deeper and see things which our untrained eyes may have missed.
But first, that second unguided day is truly magical. It really is very hard to put into words the unbridled joy of seeing exotic wildlife at close quarters, and marvelling not just at this wonderful, environmentally conscious country, but also at the magnificence of nature. In fact, words really can’t do it justice, so we’ll let our photos do the talking:
Our guide, like the park itself, is named Manuel. As we expected, he has the sharpest eyes and ears, acute senses and real in-depth knowledge of the creatures in his territory, but in addition to this, Manuel’s ability to explain the history and evolution of this place is extraordinary. Which species are truly indigenous; which are introduced and how they came to be here; the position of everything in the food chain; those which are beneficial to the ecology, those which are a threat.
We learn which plants to eat if we ever get lost in the jungle, not to mention which plants, and animals, might kill us. We learn the diet of many creatures, and how the prey tries to avoid the predator: maybe a frog using camouflage, maybe monkeys which have a special call to warn of the presence of a snake, maybe the Jesus Christ Lizard, so named because it can run across water on its hind legs to make its escape.
Jesus Christ Lizard 
Deadly Viper
Manuel is rightly proud of his country’s record on conservation and awareness, and in particular the education programmes designed to make each generation more savvy than the last, and is acutely aware of the delicate balance which enables tourism to fund conservation. And fund his living.
Hoffman’s Two-Toed Sloth 
Bats
Crabs love coconut 
Beach Crab
Our three days walking every inch of the trails in the Park have been absolutely stimulating. To be able to complete each of those three days with some time on one of the paradise beaches which are the stuff of dreams, swimming in the cooling Pacific and feeling the powder soft sand between our toes, has been just a perfect ending, each time.
Christmas Eve brings with it the first day in a while where we’re not committed to an early start: it’s advisable to rise early if you want to catch the best of the wildlife and our Quepos story so far is one of early starts and early finishes, we haven’t exactly burnt the midnight oil! We’d planned a night hike for Christmas night but circumstances work against us and it gets called off, so note to selves to add it to the list for later.
On our first day here, there was a chirruping in our kitchen which we assumed was a cricket or similar. To our surprise it turned out to be a small gecko, we had no idea that geckos had such a loud call – and apparently it’s usually a male mating call. Why this fella thinks he’ll find a girlfriend by lurking behind our fridge is beyond us. Two days later, there’s two of them. Shows you how much we know about dating.
One of our Geckos 
Our resident Iguana
You know, one of the inescapable truths you regularly meet when travelling is inequality: it’s a regular feature of life across the world, however unpalatable it may be. Kolkata was one of our most extreme, but there have been others, and Quepos has its own ripped backsides too.
Towards the northern end of Quepos seafront, across the swirling creek on a rusting raft of a ferry, lies Isla Damas, tucked away on a lengthy peninsula and home to a shanty town housing the town’s less affluent. Corrugated houses line the back of the beach of hard sand and mangrove silt, some of the ramshackle houses surrounded by sandbags as protection against the rising tides.
The strand line is strewn with litter, coconut shells and palm debris, stray dogs lay on the sand or sniff amongst the flotsam, and several times the peace is shattered as young men drive pick-up trucks or motor bikes at breakneck speed along the sand, their own private racetrack. A man sleeps in a makeshift hammock tied between his home and a tree; a child wades barefoot through the deep puddles left by recent storms. As if to complete this desolate scene, a large flock of vultures descend to where a huge fish corpse rolls in the surf.
The community of Isla Damas looks directly from their corrugated shack houses across the bay to Quepos marina, where, just a mile away, private boats are moored and diners spend money in restaurants. Life was and ever will be thus, we guess. Like it or not.
With our time in Quepos drawing to a close, we award ourselves some beach time at Manuel Antonio after our exciting hikes and before we head to our next destination which will no doubt be equally demanding. The Pacific swirls in rip currents, the sun beats down and palm trees line each paradise beach, whilst strung along the seafront road are cool shaded restaurants serving exquisite fresh fish and amazing seafood.
Marlin Restaurant Manuel Antonio 
Grilled Fish 
Fried Fish
Fish Tacos 
Fish Ceviche
Some guide books are not too complimentary about this village: we actually can’t fathom why that is. Yes it’s popular, yes there are plenty of American tourists, but we think it’s a great little beach town. When I take a comfort break at the end of a delicious fish lunch, I am followed into the Gents by one of the bogus officials in bogus uniform, who brazenly tries to sell me drugs without batting an eyelid. Of course, we know this is commonplace in parts of Costa Rica, but I have never previously thought of myself as looking remotely like a potential customer for dealers!
We leave Quepos on Day 14 of this trip. It’s been absolutely stunning, yet even more spectacular places are ahead. Next stop Monteverde.
24 Comments
mochatruffalo
Love the animals! Joe has been contemplating on going to Costa Rica for a BJJ seminar in Feb. The sloth photos are enough for me to push for that trip ✌🏼
Phil & Michaela
It would be well worth it. So far, it’s a wonderful country.
Heyjude
Such an interesting post, and such a stunning sunset to end on. The disparity between the haves and have nots is something I struggle with when travelling. It makes me somewhat uncomfortable. India in particular. I look forward to the next stage in your journey and what discoveries you might make there.
Annie Berger
I enjoyed reading how you both chose to explore the park your first two days and then hire Manuel to point point out what you may have missed initially and also educate you on Costa Rica’s environmental progress. I’m sure our first thought would have been to do the reverse order! Fantastic photos and description of the economic realities you experienced first hand.
Phil & Michaela
Thanks Annie. We wanted to get a real feel for the area and get a feeling for what we wanted to see, followed then by a guided tour to join the dots…but of course that was just our choice, anything is good! We haven’t seen any posts from you lately…have we lost a connection or are you in a pause from posting?
Annie Berger
Thanks for asking why you haven’t heard from us lately. We were in Europe for 2.5 months until November 21st, flew home for 9 days for American Thanksgiving, and flew out on the 30th for three weeks in French Polynesia on a flight that was postponed from last year. Few back to the US via San Francisco and spent Christmas with our son and his young family there.
The internet everywhere in French Polynesia was the worst we’d experienced anywhere in the world. Couldn’t even upload any photos so have the daunting task of lots of fun trips to write about going forward!
I hope you both have a wonderful rest of your trip to Costa Rica’ and also seeing your daughter in LA. Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year and fun travels in 2022.
Phil & Michaela
Ah I see. I think the last one I read and responded to was in Italy.
Phil & Michaela
Thanks Jude, yes India is extreme and it’s always something which lingers in the mind after travelling. We do what we can to try to put money into the local economy, which is about all we can do.
Lookoom
Great photos, in addition to the difficulty of seeing the animals, there is the difficulty of photographing them with distance and camouflage.
leightontravels
Absolutely stunning wildlife photos. And oh the food…. wish I could grab those fish tacos off the screen. What a Christmas Day sunset! Looks like you’re having an exceptional trip, what a world away it all is from Gate C4 here at Belgrade International Airport ha ha.
Phil & Michaela
Ah you’re on your way…have a great trip “home”!
wetanddustyroads
I love your sloth photo’s! Didn’t know it would be so easy to photograph them! And love your Christmas Day sunset … it turns out to be a great holiday (not that I ever doubted it would be)!
Phil & Michaela
It certainly is, so far. Well of course sloths don’t move much, so once you’ve spotted one, you have time to zoom in, safe in the knowledge they’re not going to run away!
Toonsarah
Like everyone else I love your photos of the sloths, and also that sleeping howler monkey! Sounds like hiring a guide is really worthwhile, as in allowing some slack in the schedule for simply chilling on the beach 🙂 The food looks great too! I’ve always had Costa Rica high on my wish-list and all of this is simply confirming my wish to visit some day soon!
Phil & Michaela
Thanks Sarah – our experience so far tells us this is a wonderful country, highly recommended! We’re on the move to new parts today…long bus journey ahead.
Latitude Adjustment: A Tale of Two Wanderers
Beautiful photos bring back great memoties for us. Thank you!
WanderingCanadians
Sounds like you’re having a wonderful trip so far. That sunset looks spectacular. I never get tired of looking at pictures of sloths. Enjoy the rest of your holidays.
Jyothi
Lovely captures Michaela! What a great trip!! Enjoy!!
MrsWayfarer
What an adventure, and good photos of the animals, well done! Sunsets are always beautiful and unique, I always think of it as a new painting to cap off each day. Hope you have a wonderful rest of your trip!
Phil & Michaela
Thank you!
normareadtalktalknet
What an incredible place, you certainly seem to know how to choose where to go next and I’m sure a lot of work and prep goes into that between trips… and crikey how it pays off ..
Phil & Michaela
The prep and planning is all part of the fun, for us !
grandmisadventures
your beach pictures are so stunning! So interesting to see this part of the world through your eyes 🙂
Phil & Michaela
Thank you – it’s very special