Wednesday morning, we checked out of our dreamy treehouse and drove to Manuel Antonio. We checked in to My Casa’s B&B. Maybe it’s not as fancy as our Hidden Canopy Treehouses, but we like it. Owner Carlos is chipper and enthusiastic about his home and this region. He has lots of tips for where to go and when and how to park, etc.
Our room is up umpty-jillion steps in another type of treehouse with privacy and tranquility … that is, until the monkeys have a party on the roof at about 6 a.m. each morning. I don’t really mind. We’re morning people.
The main house, where Carlos lives with his wife and two kids.
When we first arrived, we realized our B&B is located mid-way between Quepos, a small town down the hill, and Manuel Antonio, the nature reserve up and over the hill. Missing our tea time at Hidden Canopy, we popped into a Quepos restaurant for beers and snacks around 5 p.m. Not quite the same.
After breakfast yesterday, Carlos recommended that we walk up the hill and follow a trail along the creek to a waterfall, so that’s what we did. It wasn’t so much of a “trail” as a “bunch of tree roots and/or rocks that line the banks of the creek.” So, since we didn’t have machetes to hack our way through the jungle, we had to cross the creek several times to find the easiest path.
During one attempt to cross the creek, I slipped on a moss-covered rock and fell flat on my bootie, crushing my iPhone, which was in my back pocket. The screen cracked, and I jammed a finger. Otherwise, no major casualties.
The walk was particularly fantastic because you couldn’t think of anything except where to put your next footstep, so it was like a really long meditation.
When we finally reached the waterfall, it was about 30 feet to the pool below. Carlos had encouraged us to jump in, but we knew before leaving the B&B that we wouldn’t be doing that. A rope tied to a tree tempted us to rappel down, but the tree looked a little gaunt. Instead, we sat at the top, enjoyed the sound of water plunging to the pond below, and reminded ourselves that we were sitting at a waterfall in Costa Rica. How cool is that?
By the time we returned to our room, we were dripping with sweat. Just outside our door, we spotted this little guy, a black and green poison dart frog. I like to call him Mr. Mint Chocolate Chip.
After a quick shower, we drove to lunch at La Lambretta, a pizza place overlooking the coast. Perfecto.
After lunch, it started to rain like nobody’s business. We hunkered down in our room, watched a bunch of Netflix (presently obsessed with “Glow”), ate peanutbutter sandwiches on our terrace, and finally crashed. Not a bad first day in this neck of the woods.