“Travel makes one modest. You see what a tiny place you occupy in the world.” —Gustav Flaubert
The main tourist attraction in this area of Costa Rica is Manuel Antonio National Park. It's popular for a reason...it has lush jungle, abundant wildlife and exquisite beaches. Visitors can enjoy a relaxing day on one of four pristine beaches or hike through the vibrant, green rainforest. From tide pools alive with crustaceans to endangered monkey species to stunning scenic vistas, the park is a spectacular destination.
The park was established in 1972, to preserve one of the most beautiful and bio-diverse areas in the world. It's Costa Rica's smallest national park, but it's the most visited due to its varied fauna...109 species of mammals and 184 different birds. The park’s mangroves, lagoons and beach-lined rainforests shelter howler, white-faced and squirrel monkeys. We were fortunate enough to see all three varieties of monkeys today. The white-faced monkeys will steal anything that is left unattended.
We hired a guide that gave us a private tour of the park. Beatrice spent over two hours with us...pointing out monkeys, sloths, insects, lizards and snakes. Most of these we wouldn't have seen without her and her powerful spotting scope. She also shared a lot of information about the things we saw and the park itself. I only wish I could remember everything she told us. It was definitely worth having her with us. After our tour we enjoyed watching the monkeys play around the main beach as we relaxed awhile and then we did a little hiking. The monkeys were by far my favorite part of the park...they are so entertaining.
Our guide Beatrice
Some of the smaller creatures we saw through the scope
A three toe sloth...can you see his face?
A white-faced monkey with a baby on her back.
White-faced monkeys playing near the beach
A squirrel monkey
The Beaches
Sunset picture of the day
Watching the monkeys play
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