Cahuita, Quepos, and Manuel Antonio.

Cahuita Beach.

A little over one week has past since I last wrote, and it has been an eventful week indeed; my good friend Amy arrived in San Jose on Saturday evening, and since then we have travelled to both the Carribean and Pacific Coasts.

This past Monday we headed to Cahuita, a small laid back town on the Carribean coast with a very rasta vibe. Amy and I stayed in a little hotel very close to the entrance to the nation park, Parque Nacional Cahuita (which has a gorgeous beach). We had our own little kitchen there, which was great because we could save money by self catering. We stayed in Cahuita for three nights, and spent most of our days just relaxing on the beach.

Amy cooking up something tasty.

One day we decided to take advantage of the coral reef (which is one of the last living in Costa Rica) and go snorkleing, which I had never done before. We really lucked out because the conditions were perfect: the water was clear, there was virtually no wind, and there were TONS of fish. Our guide said it was one of the best days he had seen in years. I wish I had had an underwater camera to get some pictures of all of the fish I saw! After we finished snorkleing we took a quick walk through the park and saw a few monkeys, and even a lovely yellow snake (yikes!).

Getting all ready to snorkle. I am a dork.

Amy on the boat.

I am such a tree hugger.

On Thursday morning we headed to our next location, Quepos. Quepos is on the central Pacific coast, and most travellers end up staying here because of its proximity to Manuel Antonio National Park. Amy and I are here for three nights for that very reason, and we got a chance to visit the park yesterday. The park is one of the smallest in Costa Rica, however it is one of the most visited because of the high number of animal sightings. We saw more monkeys than I can count and heard a couple of howler monkeys (they are so loud!), and many other animals which I unfortunately don't know the names of ... After walking some of the trails in the park we were exhausted from the heat (32 degrees celcius) and the humidity, so we headed for the beach to cool off in the water.

Capuchin monkey in Cahuita.

Yellow snake. Apparently very poisinous.

Today we are heading back to the park, this time to check out all of the street vendors, and spend some more time at the beach. Our next stop tomorrow is Montezuma, which is located on the Nicoya Peninsula and is known as a sort of hippie surf spot- So I'll keep you posted!

Pura Vida!

-Amira xo

P.S I was finally able to transfer my photos, so scroll down to my last two posts to see some pictures.