It’s hard to believe that flying to Costa Rica from the District of Columbia is easier than traveling to California, but it’s true.

Our two hour flight to Orlando was followed by a three hour flight to San Jose, both on the comfortable and customer service oriented JetBlue airlines.

As soon as we exited customs, we were greeted by a dollar rental car rep and escorted to the shuttle for our off-airport car pick up.

30 minutes later, we were on the road to the pacific coast for our three night stay at Manuel Antonio National Park. It is the country’s smallest national park, but it is frequented by travelers due to its pristine beaches and ample wildlife.

We reached the park at 7:45 am, which was perfect timing, as we had the paths to ourselves and had plenty of opportunity to see monkeys jump through the trees above us and raccoons, lizards, and agouti run along the path before us.

We had a great hike on well designed paths. A gorgeous electric blue butterfly greeted us as we entered the park, and a sloth waived goodbye as we exited.

By 10 am we felt like we had a full and amazing day!