I am pretty sure I can guess how I would act on many TV reality shows. On the Bachelor, I would be the drunk girl, who empathizes with all the drunk girls and cries with them as they complain that they can’t find love. On the Challenge, I would be the girl who tries to get along with everyone, play a little dumb and then BAM! Wins Trivia games and challenges. (Thanks FamJam for all our Trivia Pursuit game nights!) But I know where I would shine. On the Amazing Race. I have a partner picked out (my brother) and we would crush it. Mostly because we are both very competitive. Where is this going you ask? Well. When we were in Manual Antonio National Park, we came face to face with my dream. We were in an episode of Amazing Race!
LOOK HOW HAPPY I AM!
Before I dive into talking about Manuel Antonio, I just want to point out this jacket. I bought this jacket with my little brother, who hates it. He thinks it is too bright. My reasoning to buy it? “Jo, if I get stuck on a volcano that erupts, the helicopter will see me in this jacket and I will be rescued.” When we found Amazing Race, I said, “Holy Shit! They will for sure see my jacket on the show!! There is no way to edit this out.”
The beach
We jumped on a bus that brought us to Quepos. This is a bigger ptown than Manuel Antonio and it’s about a ten minute cab ride. We walked up and down the streets before deciding that we wanted to stay in Manuel Antonio. So we took a taxi and ended up at Backpackers Hostel Manuel Antonio. It was fairly nice and had a large swimming pool in the middle of the grounds. The best part was the location. A few steps from the Manuel Antonio park itself, a few blocks from the beach. We made our way through the maze of streets that had been turned into small markets, selling souvenirs.
I think we had tried to make plans to go on a boat cruise, but the weather turned out really yucky. In fact, it was really the worst day we had. So we spent it at the park and SO LUCKY WE DID!
Our first clue
So, as we are going through the park (and being creeps, following along tours so we can hear what they are saying) we noticed couples racing down the path with a camera man in tow. We wondered at this strange site before we clued in. It was Amazing Race! We followed the Amazing Race signs (you know the ones I mean!) and made our way down to the beach, where they performed a challenge. It was amazing to watch!
Follow these signs!
The challenge!
A camera guy leaving the water – I believe they had to swim to the bottom and pick up something, then place it on a scale and have a certain amount before they could be considered done
Reading the next clue
Finally, we made our way back to the hostel. We hung out at the beach. Very relaxing. The next day, Julia left to go on her own adventure. She was heading to San Jose to link up with a tour group as she was making her way all through Central America. It was sad to lose our third member of our little group. But we wished her well and had a last evening of debauchery.
A sloth!
We partied in Quepos. Hung out at a bar. And witnessed a cocaine drug bust on the water! WHAT?? Ya, apparently the whole town just sat near the port and watched the Coast Guard pull over a boat, search it and arrest those on board. So that was pretty cool.
Always a Canadian bar somewhere
And then our last day came. Since we were flying out so early, we made the economical decision to just sleep at the airport. But to get there required a 7 or 8 hour bus drive. Oh my, it was beautiful! Stunning. The scenery in Costa Rica is just so surreal. Mountains and jungles and ocean and cute little houses. It was just a perfect way to see the country on our way home.
Our flights I believe were on time and we headed home, tanned, happy and a little tired. I was happy I had been to Costa Rica. I had been happy with everything we saw. I think I discovered a bit more about my travel habits and how I wish to travel. And that really just meant, I would love to travel alone. i met so many women who were and I was just really inspired by them. And I had a new destination in mind: Nicaragua! Everyone raved about it and having relived my Costa Rica trip here and my Nicaragua trip as well, I can see why people would rave about the Land of Lakes and Volcanoes.
Just chilling