Si Como No

A view of Si Como No from the El Avion (the restaurant around the bend)

Is the name of our Manuel Antonio resort, and we fell in love with the idea of it long before we fell in love with the actual resort.  What a clever name for a resort located in the land of Pura Vida.  Owned by a man from California, Si Como No (roughly translated as "yes, why not?") was one of the first and most successful of the eco-lodges in Costa Rica.  These hotels earn special ratings for their sensitivity to the environment, which includes everything from their housekeeping practices to the way they "give back" to the community. 

Regardless, "Si como no" has definitely been our mantra this past week, as we embarked on difficult hikes, wild zip line rides and dining on comida tipica (the favorite saying here, though none of us quite "gets" why advertising your food as "typical" should make it seem particularly alluring).

We have been relaxing at the resort now for just about a day and a half.  I write this blog at 6:30 on Friday morning.  We took the long and bumpy ride from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio on Wednesday morning, arriving here at nearly 1:00, at which point we ate lunch overlooking the Pacific ocean, took a quick swim, then settled into our room as a massive rain storm came through that lasted the entire afternoon and night.  Since this is the third of our resorts without a television (something that is more wonderful in practice than I ever would have anticipated :), we all settled in with our books.  Maddie and I finished off The Art of Racing in the Rain, and we made our way (with the umbrellas they provide) to the on site seafood restaurant for dinner.  Since Maddie was developing a cold, and my stomach was off (from the bumpy drive or something else, I wasn't sure), we decided to exchange our early morning "difficult" white water rafting tour for a Friday afternoon "easy" mangrove boat tour.  What a great decision that was!

More congos in the trees on the way from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio

This was a playful and aggressive group; here one is about to launch a surprise attack

 

Their sounds were particularly fascinating :)

 

 

(Daniel feeds the iguana a banana)

We woke yesterday morning to a glorious sunny day, and we were actually able to enjoy it from lounge chairs and hot tubs!!  We even got to interact with wild life, as a HUGE iguana decided to park himself right next to our lounge chairs.  We only ventured out at 2:00 to take the shuttle to the Manuel Antonio park, where we enjoyed (for too short a time, as the park closes at 4:00!) a secluded beach and witnessed a sloth in action (well, "action" might be overstating it, but he moved enough for us to see him as something other than a giant ball in the tree, which is the usual sloth sighting).  The shuttle driver dropped us off at El Avion, a restaurant recommended by our good friend, Brian (who, you'll remember, we met on our zip lining excursion), where we enjoyed good food and a glorious sunset - and a view of Si Como No, just up the road/coast.

Daniel performing a magic trick in front of our "villa"

 

 

Enjoying "diez minutos mas" at la playa at Manuel Antonio National Park

The sloth making his move in the tree above

The kids in front of el avion that earns the restaurant its name

All in all - a perfect day.