Manuel Antonio...on the beach

Being good stewards of the land is cultural and learned early: There is constant awareness of how our actions impact the land. Costa Ricans are so close to natural resources; having an economy that so heavily depends on those resources for production and for tourism really makes them aware of the importance.

Manuel Antonio National Park is an example of careful protection of the flora and fauna that live in Costa Rica!

Marvin was our guide for the day. We had gotten the advice to hire a guide who has a super powered telescope and can spot things you might not normally see. Our guide Marvin was wonderful. He had studied biology and was very warm and helpful. Below are some of his finds.

A mama bat with her baby up high on a tree.

Green iguana

Monkeys get close to you to see about food. Our guide Marvin said he isn't sure whether the people come to see the monkeys or the monkeys come to see people. 

These monkeys found us while we were on our walk around a point in Manuel Antonio National Park.

Me by the cove at Manuel Antonio National park. The waves were extremely big this weekend...we didn't know any better, but many people commented. I definitely got tossed around by them.

Giant brown grasshopper...this one was about 4 inches long.