In which Layla and Roz find themselves in a gay jungle.

By Layla

A four-hour bus transfer (with a stop to look at a river disconcertingly full of about 20 crocodiles!) brought us to Quepos and Manuel Antonio. With every hour it got hotter and more humid til we found ourselves checking in to a very attractive gay bed and breakfast in what was obviously the tropics. We hopped on the bus going up and down the street and settled down on a breezy patio in a restaurant called Avion, featuring an entire plane which they'd apparently bought from Nicaragua contra activity and turned into a bar - as you do... There were fantastic views over the Pacific Ocean and the jungle, and we sipped fruit juice and ate some lunch and felt excited about our new destination. 

Manuel Antonio is an odd area in some ways - very gay-friendly with several gay bars and clubs, very expensive, very well known for its wildlife (of which we saw a single monkey and an iguana), and the most popular national park in the country. We went down to the beach and rented boogie boards and spent the rest of our first afternoon catching almost every wave, under a brilliant blue sky, and surrounded by jungle. It was a delight. We finished it off with mohitos in a beachside restaurant, and some rather pleasant Thai food, and a peek at a local outdoors film screening of a western in Spanish. 

The next day we were headed into the national park itself. Much busier than Monteverde, we climbed our way over tourists attached to guides with binoculars searching for sloths... And found ourselves very hot indeed. The trail was sandy and leafy and went up and down a lot, but there were some beautiful views and we had a very pleasant morning, before we dashed for the air conditioning of a nearby hotel! Duly cooled, we caught a bus up to Cafe Milago where we ate a vegetable and hummus wrap and had drinks and read books before heading back to the beach for a spot of boogie boarding. After that we leapt onto the bus in our swimsuits for a return to the hotel's hot tub, and then a fancy dinner in La Luna, the restaurant next to our hotel. 

The following day we had booked another tubing adventure, having liked it so much at La Fortuna. We drove out to the river and it was even more fun than last time - whizzing over tiny rapids and floating gently down quieter bits of the river, admiring the scenery and getting burnt legs (and in Roz's case, blisters on her arms from excessively vigorous paddling...). We went into town to buy ice cream and bus tickets, then after popping home to change, settled for a read and a Jenga game and some excellent falafel at the Falafel bar... Then coffee at Cafe Milago... And then, impossible to resist - more boogie boarding! We are getting good! Afterwards we enjoyed more hotel hot tubbing, before going out for pizza at a restaurant with an old train carriage, and then venturing into one of the gay bars where we found ourselves the only ladies, but having forgotten it was St Patrick's Day, Roz was am inadvertent hit in her bright green dress... A surprisingly good gay scene here, if you're a man. And we had a cheerful drink before heading home to sleep. 

Today I'm writing this by the pool after a sunny breakfast. It cannot be true that we go home tomorrow!