Costa Rica-land or Costa Rica
We love slow travel. We love taking in the culture, the sights, and the sense of place unique to each corner of the world at our own unhurried pace.
This is different than our travels in the past when we could only manage a week or two away from an office, the dogs, and the responsibilities of home ownership. These were what we now think of as our “Disneyland” trips: Hawaii-land, Iceland-land, or even our first visit to Costa Rica-land many years ago. Our Disneyland trips consisted of jamming as many sights into the trip as possible, which generally entails following the well-worn path that many other travelers have followed, taking the same pictures they took, buying the same made-in-China stuff with the name of the country printed on it, all the while wishing we had time to wander off and look behind the curtain. Like most people, we were checking the boxes: the TripAdvisor top 10 things-to-do and the you-can’t-go-here-and-not-see-xyz stuff. Those were the trips that sent us home needing a vacation after our vacation.
We dreamed of a time when we could take our time seeing the must-sees.
These days, we explore not just off the beaten path but take a journey that is uniquely ours. Sometimes we hit the “must-sees”—I'm looking at you Manuel Antonio National Park—but more often our time is spent simply going for a morning walk or hike to observe, indeed absorb, the life around us. Sometimes what we remember best are things like stumbling over the awkward Spanish words while talking to our neighbors about monkeys and singing out “buenos dias” to each other as we pass by.
There is a reason the must-sees are must-sees. They often are amazing experiences. And of course, if you only have a week or two of vacation, what choice do you have? See the must-sees, follow the path, maximize the big chunk of cash you’re plopping down for your vacation! We still do a lot of those things, too, but we have the luxury of going a step further and not wearing ourselves out in the process.
I was warned to expect Manual Antonio National Park to be touristy. Although the area around the entry to the park made us think we were visiting Costa Rica-land instead of a national park—with all the touts selling t-shirts, coconut drinks, snow globes, and the like—the park itself didn’t disappoint. This was one time COVID was a plus! The trails were practically empty with only a few Ticos hanging on the beach and a family or two on the trails, but otherwise, it was just us, our guide, and his fantastic sighting scope. By the way, after using our guide’s scope, I’ve decided I must have a high-end sighting scope. I will give up shoes, shorts, and even my sourdough if it means I can have a good sighting scope! Recommendations welcome for high-quality, lightweight scopes…
In the meantime, enjoy our photos and videos from the must-see attraction that is Manual Antonio National Park!
