[Above: Surf's up!]

Journal by Neil Dana

Wow, it is so nice to be back in Manuel Antonio! I spent about 2 1/2 years living here, and it was a spectacular time. To come back and see my old friends and experience the Pura Vida lifestyle of Costa Rica is a treat. I have been able to surf everyday and spend time with some good friends here. And of course, we have gotten some work done here as well.

Today, we awoke and went down to the beach upon sunrise and surfed for a few hours. The waves were small, but fun anyway. It feels so good and refreshing to be back in the water, especially water that is 80 degrees. Adam, Colin, and I surfed for a few hours at a beach called Playitas. It is a small beach at the north end of Manuel Antonio and has some fun waves. The coastline here is very dramatic, with palm trees, mango trees, guayaba, banana, and all kinds of tropical rainforest that literally comes down the mountain and touches the coastline. The palms actually lean over the beach as if they are trying to touch the ocean and drop their fruits right into the sea.

Amongst the rainforest here, the squirrel and howler monkeys come up to the beach as well. It is truly beautiful. You can see sloths, coatamundis, raccoons, anteaters, and all kinds of vibrantly colored birds. There is an abundance of wildlife. The sea-life is wild too, with crocodiles, hammerhead sharks, and many other wonderful sea creatures.

Manuel Antonio is also one of Costa Rica's largest tourist attractions, due to its famous national park and the picturesque location. So in the last few years, I can see huge developments going on around town. The banks are bigger, there are more houses being built, and everything is growing. It is a bit sad to see the pristine environment slowly dwindle away. Manuel Antonio does a much better job at maintaining their environment than many other Costa Rican towns I know, so that is nice.

Anyway, after we surfed in the morning, we went and ate breakfast at a beachfront restaurant called Marlin's, where a bunch of my friends work. One is a good friend of mine, who's name is Willy. I remember teaching him to surf when he was only 14 years old, and now he is 19 and competes and is a fantastic surfer! He is a great kid.

After breakfast, we went to go film a girl named Janine, who is originally from New York, and has lived in Costa Rica since she was four years old. She is now about 16, and when she was 9 years old, she started painting small rocks and other items to sell and save money to help buy and preserve local rainforest. So at 9 years old, she started an organization to help preserve rainforest. Seven years later, she has an office and a sanctuary where they help rehabilitate injured animals. She has also purchased a 5 acre plot of land nearby to set up an education center in the future.

In her sanctuary, she showed us some baby sloths they rescued, and also a squirrel monkey and some raccoons. She has to keep the squirrel monkey for a while, since once a monkey is out of a troop, they are not allowed to enter another. So she will slowly acquire a few more monkeys and form a troop, and then they can all go release into the wild together and live back in their natural environment.

It was really inspiring and sweet to see someone so young who has taken action to help preserve the rainforest. Children back home will hear of her through our education program and hopefully be inspired to do similar things and realize how much influence one person can have in a community, and how you can be any age to go for it!

Now we must all realize something extremely important here, and that is while we are filming and doing other fun things in Manuel Antonio, Nick, Chanda, Rolf and Todd were all locked up in their hotel rooms working on our website and various other writing and technical projects. In fact, the entire 4 days we were in Manuel Antonio, Chanda only saw the beach on the last day we were there. Todd as well, didn't see the beach, nor had desire to go, I guess he is not a beach guy. Justin was also in the internet cafe nonstop dealing with all kinds of public relations and logistical information. These guys are on top of it, and it should go noted that they work and work and work and work!!! It amazes me how focused they all are. Nancy, on the other hand, just drinks Pina Coladas and runs around the beach in her string bikini all the time (ha ha, just kidding, but if that ever does happen, I'll be sure to let you know).

So the rest of the day was spent eating, working, and surfing. It was a great day and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be back in Costa Rica. It is like coming back home in a sense. It is so familiar and was such a large part of my life. I definetely will be spending more time in Central America in the future.

Neil Dana
neil@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 8th
Start: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Finish: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Mileage: Rest day

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