Manzanillo Costa Rica to Changuinola Panama

Our New Years trip started on the 2nd. We rented a car and headed to the Caribbean coast, the Province of Limon, in the town of Manzanillo. Manzinillo sits south of Purto Viejo which is a more populated and tourist destination.

We rented a little "house" on the edge of the National Park. The living room and kitchen was an outdoor space, while the bedrooms had doors and mosquito netting over the beds. They even had a netting for Myles' pack-in-play, for which were very thankful! The showers had hot water AND pressure at the same time. It was a nice change of pace. But I think it's fair to say outdoor living is not for me. I was glad to get back to my bug-free environment.

The bugs and wildlife in Manzanillo are no joke. The mosquito bite, the birds make a lot of noise, the monkey are out too. And to top it off, there is no stopping the massive amount of fruit flies and other bugs that are attracted to the food.

On the second day we hit the road early in the morning to complete a boarder crossing to renew our Visas. Unfortunately, this didn't go as smooth as we hoped. There were long lines, it was hot... not too hot thankfully, and we were not aware of the bribing policies. So we walked away with only 60 days, and a few other problem. There were all quickly resolved the next morning, but it didn't go without a little stress.

The interesting part of the trip for me was the actual boarder crossing. I asked Nanc when we got out of the car, "Aren't you glad you have a son that creates opportunities like this for you?" And while in the moment it was stressful, and I wasn't so happy we had to lug Myles through it all, I'm defiantly glad that I have a husband who creates opportunities like this for me. And I have to say, I play a role in it too.

So we crossed the Sixaola bridge. It is well over 100 years old. People cross the bridge all day. they also allow motorcycles, cars, buses, and even semi trucks to use it too. They only let one vehicle at a time cross because they think the stress of more than one might cause it to collapse. It was quite a site to see a huge Semi - pretty much the same width as the bridge cross at 2 miles per hour. We noticed they are in the process of building a new bridge.

(The above pictures were uploaded from Google Images)

All-in-all, the trip was a great success. We checked out the Caribbean Coast, got to see some great landscape on our way there, renewed our visas, and spent some time at the beach.

I have to say, Myles has become quite the little traveler. He did really well with all the time spent in the car and in lines waiting for Visa stuff to get sorted. The lady in front of us said, "I'm amazed at how well he's handling this." And to thank him for all his patience, he got some beach time in. Which I think is officially his favorite thing to do.