Monday, December 8, 2008

Weekend #7- Quepos




Thursday morning we took a bus to downtown San Jose to buy bus tickets to Quepos. Quepos is on the Pacific coast by Manuel Antonio National Park known for its beautiful beaches and rain forests. Unfortunately, the 12pm bus had sold out so we had to get tickets for the 2:30pm bus. To kill time we had lunch a John walked around town with the kids while Marcie sat with our stuff- we had 2 backpacks, 2 large duffel bags and 2 boogie boards- we were quite a site in downtown San Jose. The bus ride to Quepos went without a hitch, the kids were wonderful on the 3 and a half hour bus ride. Then the drama unfolded. To set the stage it was pitch dark, very hot and humid, and we were loaded down with luggage. Our task was to find a small cottage in the jungle that the director of Outward Bound had given us the keys to use for the weekend (free housing). So we began walking in the jungle looking for house #74 according to the directions we were given. We could not find house #74, the kids were tired and then Micah slipped and fell, getting all dirty. We were finally able to discern that the house we were looking for was not 74 but 14 and with some help form neighbors, we found the "casita". The overwhelming smell of mold greeted us as we opened the door. Ethan wanted to check out the loft, to see the bedroom, so up the steps he went. Not one minute later he was crying...A bee stung me...and he came flying down the steps crying. John went up to check it out and there he found a colony of hundreds of ants. By this time all three kids are crying that they don't want to sleep here and Marcie, as she looks at the white lumpy mold on the ceiling, says the same thing. The Outward Bound lodge, right next door, was not being used so we put down several camping mats, laid out our sheets, and called it a day.

Friday morning we packed up all our stuff, hiked back to the main road, and made reservations at a hotel for the weekend. The Blue Monkey Hotel (Mono Azuel Hotel) was recommended in one of our travel books and it turned out to be a God send. For $30 a night we had a clean room with one queen bed and 2 bunk beds (no t.v.), 3 different pools to swim in and a very tasty restaurant to eat at. Some of the proceeds go to Children Saving the Rainforest, an non profit organization, which the owners daughter began when she was 8. We spent the day at the beach swimming in the ocean....it was beautiful!

Saturday we went to Manuel Antonio National Park. We hiked through the jungle and swam at two different beaches. While at the second beach, the monkeys came to visit. They wait for people to go swimming, then hop out of the trees to dig through back packs and bags. They grabbed our cookies and wet wipes...Kendal was not happy! We also saw iguanas and raccoons- Kendal did not like those either.

Sunday we swam in the ocean in the morning and then took the bus back to San Jose at noon. The bus ride went well and once back at home it was time for dinner and bed. Although it started a bit rough, the weekend turned out well and we all had a lot of fun!

3 comments:

beth said...

sounds like quite the adventure!!! i'm glad things turned out well :) we missed all of you at the christmas party & were thinking about you lots!

Chris and Julie said...

I am glad that you are all back safe and sound...good thing that the monkeys and iguans didn't get you. Beth is right, we all missed you like crazy. Marcie, I can't believe that you have already bloged about this weekend...you are quite amazing. Go Adventure Girl. Love you all!!!!!!

Joy said...

our only adventures this weekend were driving through snow. : ( I'm glad Kendall survived the animal invasion! Hope you have NO traveling adventures to Panama and we can't wait to see you in January! Miss you and love you all!