When I was researching Costa Rica, one National Park kept coming up over and over again as a must see, and that was Manuel Antonio park. It was known for its beaches, and jungles, but mostly for its plethora of wildlife.
We read from other reviewers to go to the park early to beat crowds, so we booked an 8am tour time and spent the entire day exploring the park! We ended up seeing around 6 or 7 monkeys, 3 sloths, a deer, lots of little lizards and other creeping creatures, 20 + red and blue crabs, several poisonous trees, and lots of beautiful vegetation.
We ended up exploring almost every nook and cranny of the park, hiked every trail, and then had a delicious lunch at the only eating place in the park which served rectangle shaped pizza slices, empanadas, salads, sandwiches, and ice cream.
We also learned the value of give and take. At the park they had the option to book guided tours, but because it would have cost us an additional $210 for our family, we opted against it, which meant we would have to find wildlife on our own. However, every time we did see wildlife we would alert passing tour guides so they could show the people in their tour and because of that, we later had a few guides return the favor and show us cool stuff too! So in the end we felt like we got to see a lot more than we would have! So grateful for nice people! But we loved our time at Manuel Antonio National Park. ❤
