I had the opportunity to join some friends from back home on their vacation to Manuel Antonio National Park. Over a few days, we took a guided tour along the park's main path, visited the beach, and took a kayak tour through the mangroves. Even though I had been to the park before, I saw a different types animals and observed different things about the geology and botany of the area.
We saw an incredible amount of animals and plants, especially during our guided tour in the national park. The guides are extremely knowledgable about the area, and they carry scopes so that we can see the animals better and take great photos. We saw about five or six perezosos (sloths), including both species that reside in Costa Rica, which are the two-toed sloth and the three-toed sloth. The two-toed sloths appear blonde and look almost pig-like. The three-toed sloths look as if they are always smiling, and have a flatter face. I also saw my first toucan in a tree while we were walking to dinner, and later in the same area we saw two Scarlett Macaws. They were quite beautiful, but made loud screeching noises. Along the banks of the mangroves, we saw many small cangrejos (crabs), common Basilisk lizards (also known as "Jesus Christ Lizards" because they appear to walk on water), and several monkey troops.
