Beaches. Hostels. Fun People. (a.k.a., My Time in Manuel Antonio)
As much as my body probably could have used the entirety of fall break to rest, Friday morning I re-packed my backpack and headed down to the National Theatre to meet up with some of my friends to head to Manuel Antonio- a beach on the Pacific coast- for four wonderful days of what I hoped would be a wonderful time. After wandering around San José for a bit looking for the correct bus station, we bought our tickets for the noon bus and soon were on our way. We got into the Quepos-Manuel Antonio area around 3:45, and soon enough we were walking into our hostel.
Let me tell you a little bit about the Vista Serena Hostel. 1) It’s awesome. 2) It’s cheap. 3) It has a big-ol’ ocean view (the website actually advertises it a bit differently, but I don’t think that the folks at MVNU would really appreciate if I used the actual word.) 4) You should stay there if you are ever in Manuel Antonio. 
Oh, so now for some actual details. The hostel is run by a guy named Conrad- his mom opened it up several years ago and now he runs it with the help of 2, maybe 3 other people. He is possibly the most chill guy in the world, though I suppose you would have to be to operate a place like that. It’s almost at the highest point of the ridge that overlooks the ocean, and therefore it does indeed have an INCREDIBLE view of the ocean.
Sunset view from the hostel lodge porch.
We rented out a dorm room with 14 beds, so each of us only had to pay $9 per night. The room had a little fridge and a bathroom (which was a bit difficult, but no big deal), and they provided towels. They also provided coffee and toast with butter and jelly for breakfast. Oh, and did I mention that there was a porch full of hammocks overlooking the ocean? Yeah, I’d say that it was definitely worth the $9 a night.
Friday night we bought some pasta, made a simple dinner, and just hung out around the lodge area of the site, meeting some of the other cool people who were staying there. The first person we met was Dan, who was from New Zealand. We took the opportunity to hear a little bit about his other travels and listen to his perspective on stereotypes about people from the US. We also met Kyle and Zach, a couple of 20-something guys from Delaware who were down there to live it up and get away for a bit. Ali was an Iranian-American (I’m pretty sure he was born in the states) who had been to Vista Serena several times and had spent a lot of time traveling outside the states- sadly, despite his great number of experiences in other cultures, he still seemed to have a very self-centered perspective. That might be putting nicely my thoughts about him. Aled and Chris were a pair of guys from Cardiff, Wales, who were enjoying the last of their four weeks of travels in the CR, and there were also two other guys whose names I can’t remember- one from Italy and another- Pao, I think- who was of Asian descent. There was a couple from Minnesota there, and a few other people, too. It was really interesting getting to know some of them.
Saturday morning, McCall, Jared, Alicia and I got up early to hike around Manuel Antonio National Park. It was a lot of fun, though I really wish I had worn sandals; tennis shoes don’t do so well for crossing creeks. I actually elected to go barefoot most of the time. The different beaches there were absolutely incredible, and we got to see a lot of the sweet wildlife of the region. We saw LOTS of monkeys (including one that jumped on Alicia’s bag), raccoons, sloths, a toucan, a coatimundi, and another animal which may have been a tayra.
We also enjoyed some time fighting the super-intense waves on the beach. After being in the water for just a few minutes I understood how people get carried out by the riptide so easily. We also had to fend off the raccoons and monkeys that kept trying to open our bags.
Saturday night was another pretty chill night of relaxing on the porch and meeting people. McCall and I made some fajitas for the crew, and they were delicious, if I do say so myself. I’m definitely going to be investing in some Lizano- a wonderful sauce that is commonly used here- to bring back home. Honestly though, Saturday night there ended up being SO many people on the hostel porch that it was kinda crazy, and I had to make my way out of there and went to sleep at a fairly decent hour.
Sunday was dedicated solely to the public beach. As nice as the national park is and as beautiful as it’s beaches are, most of them aren’t swimming beaches. But the Manuel Antonio public beach had plenty of white sand and plenty of bright hot sun for us to enjoy. I actually may have enjoyed it a little too much; I was pretty toasted once we got back to the hostel that afternoon.
After showering up back in our dorm at the hostel, we headed down to the lodge to relax a little and (hopefully) check out the sunset. When we were down there, we got to meet a new arriver to the Hostel- a guy by the name of Sam who turned out to be a VERY interesting fellow. Sam lives a pretty free-flowing lifestyle. He’s sorta just traveling on a whim right now, and has been to Costa Rica several times. He actually grew up as a missionary kid in Peru, before moving to Georgia when he was 11 or 12. It was really cool just talking with him, hearing his perspectives from within and outside of the church. To question and think through issues and understand why his views are what they are. To share stories. To simply be. I got to chat with Aled that afternoon as well, and it turns out that we have a little bit in common. He was a sports journalism major and is a little over a year out of college; ultimately, he wants to work as a television sportscaster, but right now he’s working as a plasterer. We got to chat a bit about dreams, ambitions, why we enjoy the sports we do, and life as well. He’s a pretty cool dude, and I hope things work out for him.
Sam went to dinner with us that evening, where we continued to here a bit more about each other’s lives, and then we went back to the hostel and chatted with him until late in the evening. He’s possibly one of the most open people I’ve met, and it was refreshing to hear someone so freely explain their thoughts and their reasoning for thinking them, especially concerning matters of faith.
The morning saw us preparing to head back to the central valley. We packed up our crap and headed down to Quepos- the bigger town about 3 miles away from the beaches- to buy our bus tickets. Unfortunately, they had none left for the noon bus, so we were all relegated to taking the 2:30 bus. We wandered around the town for a while, ate some lunch, ate more ice cream (let’s just say that I ate a LOT of ice cream throughout our trip. Maybe more than I care to admit), and finally piled on the bus to come back to San José.
It was a great weekend. I didn’t really want it to end. At the same time I’m pumped to be back in my home in San José with my family here. I guess God really knows what we need and when we need it. And I can say that I had a more awesome fall break than anyone else up at MVNU.
