Quepos
Days Five & Six - Costa Rica - 2025
Two final days in Costa Rica in the oceanside town of Quepos, home to Manuel Antonio National Park.
1. On the Road to Quepos
The following morning, we undertook the long drive between Monteverde and Quepos. It was a fairly uneventful drive besides some occasional spots of traffic. One stop of note was at the so-called “Crocodile Bridge” near Carcoles where there were, well, crocodiles underneath a bridge.
We arrived in the early afternoon at the Wide Mouth Frog Hotel in Quepos, easily the stand-out hotel of the trip in my opinion. The majority of the group opted to go to the beach, while myself and four others headed into the nearby mangrove swamps to do some kayaking.
2. Quepos Kayaking #1
The flat run where the Río Cotos meets the Pacific Ocean is ideal growing ground for vast mangrove swamps.
The current at the launch was pretty gentle, and -despite having four novice paddlers along- we soon made our way into the mangrove swamps for our guided wildlife tour. Photography on a kayak is always a challenge since you need to orient the boat, remove your camera from a dry bag, then take the photo; thankfully, I had plenty of experience photographing birds of prey from the river in my neighborhood, so I “had a system.”
3. Quepos Kayaking #2
The prothonotary warbler is so named because its yellow color is similar to the colored robes once worn by papal clerks (prothonotaries).
The wildlife encounters in the mangrove swamp were plentiful; there were even groups of scarlet macaws swooping overhead for much of the journey! The tranquility of the swamp was occasionally interrupted by power boat tours; while some would be respectful and proceed at low idle, others would power through, creating wake for us while disrupting the animals with frankly unnecessary animal calls. For his part, our guide (whose name I can’t recall, unfortunately; he looked like a Costa Rican version of a young Mickey Rourke) took videos of these hooligans and said he makes reports when the boat drivers do things like that. Good on him! Naturally, I thought back to the man in Monteverde and here was a perfect example of it not being the time and place for such ebullience; that said, if they were hooting-and-hollering along the main channel of the river, I don’t think I’d care one iota.
4. Quepos Kayaking #3
Jesus Christ lizards are so named due to their ability to run on water.
Once the idiot motorboats were gone, we were able to learn about the mangroves and all the animals that lived there. It was another highlight of the tour for me for sure.
5. Quepos Kayaking #4
You need to watch out for the monkeys here …
6. Quepos Kayaking #5
… As, without warning, they will push giant nuts into the water!
7. Quepos Kayaking #6
The giant kiskadee is a flycatcher named for the distinctive sound it makes.
8. Quepos Kayaking #7
Despite its name, green iguanas’ heads can take on a striking red appearance during mating season.
9. Quepos Kayaking #8
10. Quepos Kayaking #9
(I just know this one is planning to unleash some kinda nonsense….)
11. Quepos Kayaking #10
12. Quepos Kayaking #11
In Costa Rica, the little blue heron is a migratory species, traveling abroad to breed.
Once we finished our lap in the mangrove swamp, the Río Cotos had swollen considerably and our guide made the call to have a boat come collect us and return us to shore.
13. Quepos Kayaking #12
Given how fast the river was moving at this point, that was definitely the right decision!
The tour included an amazing late lunch / early dinner (linner?), and I opted for the tuna which was seriously 10 out of 10.
Some in the group decided to join the others at the beach for sunset; I opted instead to return back to the hotel where I enjoyed the soaking pool before joining the rest of the group for dinner at a nearby restaurant.
14. Manuel Antonio National Park #1
Smooth headed iguanas can change colors as a form of camouflage, similar to chameleons.
The following morning we had a group visit to nearby Manuel Antonio National Park. We took the public bus to get there, an entertaining experience with a very forgiving group of locals.
Once at the park, we had three choices: we could self-explore, go with our CEO on a quasi-guided tour, or we could opt to hire a naturalist guide to increase our chances of wildlife encounters. I opted for the third option, naturally, but- alas- I was the only one to do so. The guide I was paired up with took on three additional Francophone clients (I totally understood why he did that) who -for better or worse- were not the most agile bunch.
15. Manuel Antonio National Park #2
American white ibis can live in Costa Rica year-round.
We moved very, very slowly through the park which -if nothing else- gave me the opportunity to take my time composing each shot.
16. Manuel Antonio National Park #3
17. Manuel Antonio National Park #4
Agouti have a tremendous sense of smell, believed to exceed that of dogs.
18. Manuel Antonio National Park #5
19. Manuel Antonio National Park #6
Thankfully, the slow pace wasn’t a massive issue as Manuel Antonio isn’t a large park. As it had begun to rain, I would get ahead of the rest of the group and hang out underneath large tree canopies out of respect for my camera equipment.
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20. Sloth Encounter #1
As I awaited underneath one such tree waiting for my group to catch up, my tour guide came up to me and asked if I was comfortable with the pace, particularly given the rain. I said that I was fine with it and we waited for the remainder of the group to catch up. The guide looked behind me and whooped - only a few meters away in the nearby trees was a three-toed sloth!
21. Sloth Encounter #2
I crouched down at the edge of the path and watched this sloth make its way closer and closer to the road. Was it descending?
22. Sloth Encounter #3
Before long, a group had congregated but I had had the best seat in the house!
23. Sloth Encounter #4
24. Sloth Encounter #5
25. Sloth Encounter #6
26. Sloth Encounter #7
When it became obvious that the sloth was coming onto the ground -something they rarely do- the nature guides asked the now congregating crowd to make a path. By this point, about 10 minutes had passed and I was squatting the whole time. My knees were on fire, but I didn’t want to stand up to block the view of the dozen or so people standing behind me.
27. Sloth Encounter #8
28. Sloth Encounter #9
29. Sloth Encounter #10
As the sloth reached the edge of the forest, it turned to the crowd and gave what felt like a knowing smile as if to say, “look at me - I’m the star of the show!”
30. Sloth Encounter #11
31. Sloth Encounter #12
32. Sloth Encounter #13
33. Sloth Encounter #14
34. Sloth Encounter #15
After about twenty minutes of waiting, she was finally ready to make her way across the road!
35. Sloth Encounter #16
What an incredible encounter! I immediately considered the sequence of events which, if altered, wouldn’t have allowed me to see this event:
If anyone from my G Adventures group had opted for the wildlife guide, he probably wouldn’t have recruited the Francophones, and I probably would have missed it,
If the Francophones were a bit more agile, I probably would have missed it,
If it hadn’t been raining, and, if I hadn’t been standing underneath that very tree, I probably would have missed it.
In that moment, I felt pretty damn lucky!
I regrouped with most of the tour group at the in-park restaurant during a torrential downpour. After a short follow-on walk to the park’s underwhelming waterfall (sorry to say…) and a quick bite to eat, it was time for the finale of the trip: the catamaran trip!
36. Quepos Catamaran #1
Our catamaran departed Quepos a couple of hours before sunset, and not long after departing we encountered some dolphins in the harbor. I promised myself I wasn’t going to take any photos from the boat, but I just couldn’t help it in this case! Otherwise, I was pretty true to my word - I even skipped catching the glorious sunset (I did snag a few pictures with my cellphone, however….)
Instead, I did what I should probably do more often on vacation … actually relax! The vibes were good, the weather beautiful, the ocean nice and warm (I did bob around for a bit, something I never, ever do!), the food tasty, and the drinks strong. I should note the company of my tour group was excellent, as well, and I think by the end of our float everyone was feeling pretty good about life!
37. Quepos Catamaran #2
Following a group dinner (and the stirring conclusion of my week’s long search for an envelope), it was sleepy time. Between the drinks and the sun, I crashed out hard!
The next morning, we were actually able to sleep in a bit; I spent the morning on the newly-discovered covered patio on the hotel’s second floor, occasionally sneaking away to nip coffee from the hotel’s kitchen (was that wrong of me?) Around mid-day, we made our way back to San José for the traditional G Adventures farewell dinner.
I had a shit night at the hotel (I’ll save that for the review), but -thankfully- had a later flight the next morning, which allowed me to ease into my day. A short hop back to the East Coast of the United States later and I was a mere 12-hours away from needing to be at work. A sobering thing when that happens….
So what were my impressions of Costa Rica? I’ll save most of my thoughts about the tour itself (pacing, hotels, day tour offerings, etc.) for the tour review, so I’ll just speak more nebulously about those elements not within G Adventures’ control here.
Overall, I had a really great time! Costa Rica has a lot to offer, whether you are into adventure activities, wildlife excursions, or beach-going. Even though I didn’t achieve all of my objectives (never did see a quetzal), I felt incredibly accomplished.
On a little bit of a downside, Costa Rica is not a cheap country by any means. I’d say meals are comparable in price to those I have in my large East Coast American city. Souvenirs, coffee, and day tour costs are super, super inflated. I can’t help but wonder if this is just a consequence of traveling only to tourism-oriented cities? Regardless, I sincerely hope for the sake of the residents of those places that we pay some sort of “gringo tax.”
I will say I was impressed how well oiled the machine of tourism is in Costa Rica. I traveled during shoulder season, so perhaps it is more frenetic during its peak, but everything always seemed really under control. None of the places we visited seemed overcrowded, the hotels were never obnoxiously large, the hospitality workers didn’t look like they worked in a persistent hellish state … heck, even the hundreds-plus person security line at the airport moved at an incredibly brisk pace. This is not to suggest that there is much room for slack, mind you; rather, it is just refreshing to visit a place where you don’t constantly feel like you’re only moving from one line to another.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t drop a shout-out to the tour group I traveled with: I’ve said this before, but thank you for being such a great group (and thank you for putting up with me for nine days!)
In short, I can certainly see myself returning to Costa Rica one day to do more wildlife photography … but perhaps at that point in my life, I’ll also consider tapping into the country’s more leisure-oriented activities. Such a strange thought….
