Photos by Nanci Blog

We say goodbye to the  Hotel San Bada  and  Manuel Antonio Park . Today is a final full day in Costa Rica. We pack up our bags, enjoy a buffet breakfast listening to the howler monkeys and birds and soaking in the colors of the beautiful flowers that surround us. Goodbye Pacific Ocean; not sure when I'll get to swim again in the Pacific but this view is burned into my memory bank. After breakfast, we all climb into the van; we have about an hour and half ride to our final Costa Rican adventure-a crocodile river boat cruise. We leave Quepos for Tarcoles, traffic is a little heavy, we're on the coast highway, which is just two lanes, that runs along Pacific Coast to the Gulf of Nicoya. This area of the country has large Palm plantations and we pass a few palm oil processing plants. We stop at Plaza Herradura for a quick bit to eat (empanadas and ice cream!) then off we go. We'll be cruising on the River Tarcoles that is basically the border between the Alajuela and San Jose...

Three-toed sloth in Manuel Antonio National Park, Quepos, Costa Rica BRUTAL! Our suitcases need to be outside our door at 5:30 a.m.! And we need to be ready to leave the Crown Plaza Coribici at 6:20 a.m. It will take us about 3 hours to get to Manuel Antonio Park .  It's a beautiful day and many people will be headed to the beach, Manuel Antonio and Quepos have lots of beaches so traffic down there should be fun. We head to the Pacific Coast once again and stop in the town of Jacó to stretch our legs and take a few photos. Jacó has beautiful black sand beaches and is loved by surfers. It's about five minutes away from Hermosa Beach which has pipes and beach breaks for experienced surfers only. We travel another hour and a half and reach Quepos. Passing through the town we see the public beach and end up at our hotel, the  Hotel San Bada . It's located right next to the  Manuel Antonio Park   entrance. Our rooms won't be ready until later in the afternoon and w...