Los encontramos!! We went to Parque Nacional with one main goal in mind: to find the monkeys, and find them we did. No, but seriously, we went there primarily for the beach and the sun, but the monkeys were definately a priority.

We took about a 4 hour bus ride to Puntarenas. There we got off, got breakfast, and met some interesting people (and one animal). There was a man who was on the bus with us to Puntarenas, looked like in his late forties, and he had been in Monteverde to have a job interview. He was from Vermont, so it seemed like a good match. In the restuarant where we ate breakfast, we were served by a man from Indiana who had moved there 2 or 4 years eariler. He introduced us to the parrot who's cage was in the back of the restuarant. The parrot could laugh and say things in Spanish, but I could not really understand what he was saying. I guess you have to know to know...

So, we got on the bus for Manuel Antonio (Quepos) and about 3 hours or so later, arrived to our cabinas in Manuel Antonio. That evening, we reunited with one of our friends from Monteverde, Wes, and had some dinner and walked out on to (and tried not to step on crabs) the beach. The next day, we visited the park. Estaba un monton de gente , pero, pura vida, verdad? A ton of people were there, but it was fine, right? It was like a tourist magnet. Tour groups and everything. But we managed to find some howlers (a type of monkey) and white faced monkeys. One white faced monkeys was so close, that after a while, he started to show his teeth, and I do not think that he was smiling. Mari got to see her monkeys after all.

That afternoon, we chilled on the beach and I was totally wiped out by one wave. I was merely at the start of the water and was pushed back by the waves. Not really a fun experience. The waves were very strong there. At 5:00, we left for San Jose and reached Alajuela at around 9:30pm.
Overall, a good combination of playa and national park.