Tourists

Yes, you could call Manuel Antonio a slice of paradise. Breath taking views of the clear blue ocean. All sorts of active and beautiful wildlife. White sand beaches lined with palm trees and rain forest, but it's also impossible to ignore the 5-star resorts and luxury condos that infest the area. This is by far the most touristy place I have been thus far. Gringos probably out weigh locals 2 to 1 and I hear more English in the streets than I do Spanish. This is the place in Costa Rica everyone goes. Families, college students, retirees. There are hordes of people everywhere. I will try to get everyone a little something but souvenir shopping is one of my least favorite things to do in life. Trying to work through the crowds of people to look at table after table of the same things. Everyone has the same types of jewelry, pipes and pottery all claiming to be hand made, but not only do I question whether they were massed produced or not (yes), I also come to wonder if they were even made here or most likely by a little child in China.

I'm not saying I don't like it here at all. Of course it is beautiful and that is what has attracted tourists from all over the world to come here. I went into the actual park today and did about 4 hours of walking around on trails and on the beach. We saw monkeys, sloths, crabs and raccoons (those rodents are all over the world!). The monkeys here are overly comfortable with humans and will come right up to you because of all the tourists feed them. Which of course is actually very bad for them for several of reasons, but people care more about getting their close up picture with the monkey rather than the poor thing's health and well-being. I was actually not that excited to see them up close because it almost felt more like a zoo.

I feel like I've seen enough of this place and I am about ready to pack up and leave, but somehow I caught yet another cold. My nose is running like a faucet and I am a sneezing machine. I took a nice 2 hour nap this afternoon and it felt sooo good. I think it will be best for my body just to relax again tomorrow before jumping on another bus. I guess there is supposed to be a secluded beach that is about a 30min walk down through a farm from our hostel so I will probably check that out tomorrow and probably be on my way the following day.