Our third morning in Costa Rica we woke up on the Caribbean side of the country and traveled to the Pacific side.  It’s only about 170 miles from Tortuguero to Quepos near Manual Antonio park, but without a major highway connecting the two points it would have taken us nearly all day to make the trip by bus.  So we flew from Torgtuguero to San Jose and then drove from San Jose to Quepos.

Our day started very early!  We met in our hotel lobby shortly before 6am to catch our boat to the airport for our 7:30am flight.  Certainly, a fun way to travel to the airport!

River boat at Mawamba Lodge. Tortuguero Costa Rica
River boat docked at the Tortuguero airport

We arrived at the airport as the sun was rising.  To be honest, this was the one part of our trip that I was not looking forward to.  I was nervous about the small 12-person passenger plane and the fact that each of our suitcases needed to be under 40-pounds.  We have definitely become more efficient packers over the last year, but we still travel with many essentials that can be hard to come by especially when traveling abroad (like sunscreen, over the counter medicines, a first aid kit) and tend to add a bit of heft to our bags.  I had carefully weighed out each bag before we left home, but each time we repacked the bags the contents would shift around and I worried my careful packing plan would be ruined.  We usually travel with a portable luggage scale, but I had accidentally left that at home.

Waiting for our flight along the landing strip in Tortuguero. Costa Rica
Waiting for our flight along the landing strip in Tortuguero

The Tortuguero airport was just a landing strip.  The “airport” was the green building below which was abandoned.  There was an airport employee sitting outside at a card table full of paperwork where we checked in.  He had a small bathroom scale where he weighed each of our bags (they all passed!) and then he weighed each of us!

An old abandoned building serves as the "airport" Tortuguero Costa Rica
An old abandoned building serves as the “airport”

We were told to arrive early because sometimes the planes land earlier than scheduled and if so they turn around and depart quickly.  If we weren’t there they might leave without us, even before our schedued departure time!  Luckily the beach was just steps from the landing strip so the kids played there while we waited for our plane.

Enjoying the sunrise as we wait for our morning flight to arrive. Tortuguero Costa Rica
Enjoying the sunrise as we wait for our morning flight to arrive

We were supposed to depart on the first of the three planes that arrived, but we ended up being assigned to the last plane to depart for San Jose.  None of us was really sure how they were assigning the planes, but luckily they kept our whole group together!  The flight was only about 20 minutes and it was extremely smooth which I was so thankful for.  The views were amazing and we were able to track the road on which we had traveled through the mountains from San Jose to Tortuguero just days before.

Boarding our flight back to San Jose. Tortuguero Costa Rica
Boarding our flight back to San Jose

Once back in San Jose, we boarded our bus and drove straight towards Manuel Antonio Park.  Our first stop was a canopy tour just outside the park.  This was a fun one with monkeys scurrying around in the trees above us and sloths hanging from branches.  At the very end of the course, we got to do some repelling and then a free-fall swing.  The swing was the highlight for our 11-year-old who snuck back for another turn and dazzled everyone by hanging upside down as she swung back & forth.

Getting ready to zipline through the Costa Rica jungle! Manuel Antonio Park
Getting ready to zipline through the Costa Rica jungle!

Next we headed into Manuel Antonio Park for a much needed lunch at Anaconda which had open air seating and beautiful views of the ocean.  One of our favorite dishes in Costa Rica was Arroz con Pollo (rice with chicken and vegetables mixed in) and this restaurant delivered!  The best part about the restaurant was the large fuselage that sat perched in the trees right next to the outdoor dining area.  The kids loved climbing up through the tail and exploring the empty fuselage.  I found it to be a little bit eery, but the views were spectacular.

Admiring the Pacific from an old fuselage perched high on a hill. Anaconda Restaurant. Manuel Antonio Park, Costa Rica
Admiring the Pacific from an old fuselage perched high on a hill
Descending out of the fuselage. Anaconda Restaurant. Manuel Antonio Park, Costa Rica
Descending from the fuselage

Finally, after a very long day, we checked in to our hotel where we got a chance to relax in the pool and enjoy the sunset over the Pacific Ocean before dinner.

Enjoying the view of the Pacific sunset from the pool. Parador Hotel. Manuel Antonio Park, Costa Rica
Enjoying the view of the Pacific sunset from the pool

On paper, our Thomson itinerary didn’t look like our days were packed, but in reality, we were always doing something and felt like we got the most out of our days.  That’s not to say we were always running around doing an activity (though there was plenty of that) – there was definitely enough time to enjoy a quiet moment and really appreciate where we were!

Want more Costa Rica?  Read about our first days in Tortuguero here and here or about our time in Peninsula Papagayo here.

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