We woke up early on our first day in Costa Rica. My body clock never fully adjusted to the 2 hour time change. Below is a picture of our first glimpse of the mountains! We were on our way to breakfast when Steve realized he had left his camera in the room. I shot this pic while I waited for him to go and grab it.
One of the many doorways at the Marriott Hotel in San Jose:
Open air everything! This wasn't your everyday Marriott.
After some fresh fruit and arguably the best coffee we had throughout the entire trip, we checked out and started the drive out of San Jose en route to the Buena Vista Bungalows in Manual Antonio. A road trip in Costa Rica is very different than a road trip in the US. We learned quickly that the directions we had printed out were not going to get us very far. There were no street signs in Costa Rica. Not one. Each location is measured by it's proximity to other landmarks. Crazy. Steve whipped out his plastic compass and we managed to get out of San Jose pretty easily. On our drive we passed a sign for a waterfall, "5KM up." The morning had been relaxed and we had the whole afternoon to make the trip to our second hotel so, we decided to venture up the mountain to see this waterfall. After we parked, we were quickly greeted by an english speaking woman in a long dress who owned, operated and maintained this, "park." She welcomed us to paradise and explained how she danced and practiced yoga in the rainforest and how the waterfall we were going to see would be magical! 
We paid the park attendant who was stationed in this small hut.
Then, we picked up our map and were on our way.
Super-size leaves!
It was a long hike and at times an unsettling one. Even in the middle of the day, the rainforest can be a very unwelcoming place. It's hot, humid and alive with creatures. 
The rain kept up for a hour or two during our drive. It was kind of fun to see it rain so hard! We were in Costa Rica during their wet season. We expected some rain but, the thought of this kind of rain lasting for the duration of our trip was setting in. Thankfully, the rain slowed down and finally stopped by the time we reached Manual Antonio. We finally arrived at our sleepy little hotel on a hill. It was cloudy and quiet. No one was at the pool or out taking walks.
This little bungalow was nestled into the side of a mountain. The wrap around view was outstanding!
We had dinner that night at El Avion. Their bar is made up of an old C-129 plane that crash landed in Panama years ago. Neat! The air was toasty warm that night.
At one point, we stopped in our tracks when we heard a rustling in the trees. There was a creature hidden behind the leaves and it didn't want us to come ANY closer. We were warned with a hiss. We stood there for a moment and then after I asked Steve what it was, (he didn't know) I ran. Not the smartest move as I could have put Steve's life in danger but, I couldn't just STAND there. Steve followed. Yes, we were running through the rainforest away from a creature that we had threatened. We never saw the waterfall. We knew there would be other waterfalls to see that didn't require such intimate exchanges with jungle creatures. As soon as we got back to the parking area we hopped in the air conditioned SUV and drank lots of water. A storm was rolling in and we had gotten out of the rainforest just in time.
The view from the parking lot:
The rain kept up for a hour or two during our drive. It was kind of fun to see it rain so hard! We were in Costa Rica during their wet season. We expected some rain but, the thought of this kind of rain lasting for the duration of our trip was setting in. Thankfully, the rain slowed down and finally stopped by the time we reached Manual Antonio. We finally arrived at our sleepy little hotel on a hill. It was cloudy and quiet. No one was at the pool or out taking walks.
This little bungalow was nestled into the side of a mountain. The wrap around view was outstanding!
We headed down to see our hotel's beach. Not a soul in sight that afternoon. But, we did see countless crabs!!
Steve spent some time wrestling with a coconut. Finally, he cracked it!
Me, on the beach:
The view from the bungalow:
Flowers and more flowers!
We had dinner that night at El Avion. Their bar is made up of an old C-129 plane that crash landed in Panama years ago. Neat! The air was toasty warm that night. 
Even though the sun had set and I couldn't see much more than the heat lightning in the distance, I still had the sensation that the restaurant was perched way up high! After dinner, my eyelids felt heavy. Bedtime always came early for me on this trip. In Costa Rica, the tree frogs don't sleep in.
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