costa rica honeymoon part IV

After getting back from Esterillos on the 6th night, I am pretty sure we just went back to our hotel and crashed. We were pretty exhausted, and a week of non-stop fun and adventure was starting to catch up to us. While I took a nap, Jacob went to talk to Esteban (one of the friendly hotel staff at La Posada) about check-out, returning our rental car, booking a hotel closer to the airport in San Jose, confirming our zipline tour for the next morning, etc. However, he also asked Esteban about a special place he could take me for dinner, since it was our last night in Manuel Antonio. Esteban recommended the restaurant at the fancy Hotel Makanda.

When we got in the car for dinner, Jacob wouldn't tell me where we were going. We passed many of the popular restaurants in town until we got to a strange, dark road that was very steep and curving downward. It looked like we were driving straight into the jungle! Soon we got to a gate. Jacob told the man we were there for dinner, and he ushered us in. We then walked down a long path of white stairs to get to a beautiful poolside restaurant. There were purple tents set up everywhere with lights, candles, tables, tablecloths, and all the fancy dinnerware set out for us. Again, we were literally the only ones there! It was extremely romantic.

The picture really doesn't do it any justice, but this place was so cool and fancy. I couldn't believe how beautifully it was all set up, and with only me and Jacob there! When we got there, they were playing some "clubby" pop music that was a little obnoxious. Jacob asked our waiter if they could put on something a little more soft and romantic, and he did gladly. The mood was so strange and lovely. I told Jacob, "I feel like you are going to propose to me or something! But you already did!" Jacob laughed, "Me too!" I think there was just a lot magic in the air.

And then the food came! And it was like "WHOA" good. I ordered the red pepper and fetta stuffed chicken, and Jacob ordered an amazing tenderloin in a portobello mushroom sauce. And you can see for yourself that the presentation was beautiful. Probably one of the best dinners I have ever had. And we couldn't leave without having some cheesecake-- Jacob's favorite.

My dish.

I seriously start salivating every time I think about that chicken. So amazing.

A little jungle frog came and joined us for dinner.

It was a beautiful dinner and a night to remember.

The next morning, we decided to end our trip with a BANG. We had scheduled a zipline canopy tour for 7 am, but unfortunately it rained really hard all night and our tour was cancelled due to flooded rivers that made the roads a little dangerous. We were a little bummed, but the hotel staff told us that if a later tour opened up, they would let us know.

Luckily, another tour did open up later, and because this tour was having a special discount that day-- it was WAY cheaper than the one we had originally signed up for.  Before we knew it, we were in a tour van headed for the ziplines!

In the van headed for the Titi Canopy Tour.

All strapped up and ready to go!

Awww yeah. . .

As we hiked the trail to get to the platforms, we saw a ton of wildlife!

poison dart frog!

Don't touch! These guys are deadly!

One of two sloths that we saw on the trail.

(I think we woke this one up. He' s nocturnal)

Getting ready to go!



 One of our canopy guides kept saying "rock n' roll baby!" the whole time to get us pumped, so I picked it up pretty quick.

Time to sail through the canopies!

 Here comes jacob!

The first time I went down the zipline, I was so exhilirated that I forgot to break at the end. I ran right into the poor little costa rican guy who was there to catch me at the end. Oops! But I always have to do something mildly embarrassing and somewhat dangerous. It's kinda "my thing."

It was so cool to literally be soaring through the jungle. It felt like some cross between Tarzan and Superman.

The views were awesome at this place.

Not a great picture (we had to take Jacob's cheapie camera becasue my strap broke), but we saw a ton of monkeys! All the squirrel monkeys were fighting with the white-faced monkeys. They were jumping and soaring all through the trees. Pretty entertaining.

The path to one of the platforms was a suspension bridge! Scary!

In this picture is a guy from our hotel-- the friendly and sassy Mike from Tennessee.

This line was the best. It was SO LONG!! You could not even see where it ended!

I always asked for an extra push, so I could go extra fast.

Can you hear me screaming in the vid? It is so faint as I disappear into the treetops.

We loved the tour, and we were so glad it all worked out-- despite the heavy rain from the night before. It was great to end our honeymoon with a little adventure.

When we got back to La Posada, we found out that it just happened to be "National Park Day" and entrance to Manuel Antonio was free for the whole day. We didn't have a lot of time left before we had to catch our bus to San Jose, but we bought a few souvenirs and decided to take one final stroll through the park.

We came across a little jungle deer! I was scared to get close to it, thinking it might get spooked and kick  me or something, but Jacob egged me on.

It didn't seem phased at all, so I went ahead to pet it.

Still not phased. In fact, it seemed to like me!

It gave me lots of kisses! So cute!

At this pont, Jacob's camera started to get a little funky. It pretty much stopped adjusting properly, so these pics are a little wacky. Oh welll. Here we are in front of the Manuel Antonio entrance.

Saying goodbye to Esteban, our friend at La Posada.

I loved how he, like many Costa Ricans always said "Pura Vida!" or "pure life." It is kind of their little catch phrase over there, which is obviously why they seem so laid back and happy all the time.

"Bye Esteban!"

"Pura Vida!"

Saying adios to "Blancita" the friendly hotel dog.

And that was basiacally it! We got on the bus and took a crazy drive back to San Jose-- we were literally driving this giant bus through little villages and shanties out in the middle of nowhere. Some of the places we stopped at were a little questionable, but hey, we slept through most of it. We finally made it to our little hotel near the airport-- and when I say little, I mean our room was barely big enough for our bed! But it was actually really cozy, the hotel staff was very helpful, and they made us a pretty nice dinner-- so we can't complain!

Jacob on the airplane. No one loves SkyMall more than this guy! He was so mesmerized by everything. 

The whole way back, I just kept saying to Jacob, "I don't wanna go back to the US! Can't we just stay in Costa Rica??" If only. We definitely plan to go back someday-- hopefully not too far in the future. But for now, it is back to real life. real jobs. real school. real responsibilities. *huff!*. . .

But don't get me wrong, the honeymoon isn't over :) 

PURA VIDA!!!