running, rain and many a monkey

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i have been here for less than 24 hours and it feels like a week. i heart vacation.

i arrived last night around 930 to my friendly little hostel perched on a hill called vista serena. it is so peaceful and relaxing. upon throwing down my luggage, i was greeted by a lizard and a few other bugs that i dont know the names of. then i was greeted by my lovely swedish suitemates. we are sharing a cabina meaning we each have our own rooms but share a living room, kitchen, bathroom and the porch. they are very nice and pointed out a green and white speckled tree frog that lives on our porch, or seems to as its been there for two days. maybe it just hangs out there around the same time every night, or perhaps it just likes the attention and has decided to soak it up and not leave.

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today i woke up and finally got to see the amazing view of ocean, jungle and cow pasture since it was dark when i arrived. i also woke up to the sound of a rooster which for some reason i love to wake up to when im on vacation.

after a quick bite of free breakfast, i put on my running attire and headed down manuel antonio road towards the public beach. this is not a long run but it is all downhill, very hot, and the roads are a bit slick with green moss. it was worth is as i saw a sloth and its babies. i also enjoyed all of the wierd comments, a high five, and some encouragement as i ran. i didnt see any other runners today.

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then i took off my sneakers, waded in the water, chatted with an expat tour guide from florida, and took the public bus back to the hotel.

after that, i checked my email, got some pizza and then headed out on a boat tour of the mangroves with other people from my hostel. the tour only costs 25 dollars and lasted three hours. our guide pointed out the different mangroves and helped us spot lots of birds, snakes and other animals i cant remember. they also called called out for monkeys are were very successful in their calls. i think having bananas helped. i asked lots of questions about the harm of feeding them and the tour guide seemed to think bananas were ok. people feed monkeys doritos at the park and that is not ok he said. once we started feeding them, they got very close and also jumped on my head. i didnt feed them but took lots of photos. the guides also gave the monkeys pineapple which they tipped their heads back as they ate them to suck up the juice. it was very funny to watch.

after all of this activity, i walked up to the market in the pouring rain to get stuff for dinner. then i proceeded to curl up in the hammock to watch the lightening and read a book.