By telling us your country of residence we are able to provide you with the most relevant travel insurance information.
Please note that not all content is translated or available to residents of all countries. Contact us for full details.
Shares
The woman sitting next to me on the airplane exclaimed how excited she was to finally see a sloth in the wild. She was so determined to see one that she said she would cancel her return flight if she didn’t and we hadn’t even arrived yet. I responded with a mention to her that my friend had sent me a video clip of a sloth climbing on a telephone wire a couple days ago. I was sure she wouldn’t need to change her flight. Besides, in my mind I felt like I had already technically seen a sloth so I was most excited about seeing the monkeys. There was a long standing inside joke of sorts amongst a few of my friends. We were always monkeying around and finding new monkeys to sneak into each other’s pockets and/or houses. One day I came home to discover a giant blow up monkey holding a banana standing in my shower. It was hilarious but none of those monkeys were alive and I was ready for the real deal. A trip to Manuel Antonio National Park was planned after reading a few online blogs from people with personal monkey experience and a few key warnings. I love travel blogs! We found parking and avoided the common tourist traps by going straight to the Official entrance. We met some locals in line and hit it off immediately. As we walked into the park we practiced our Spanish and English with each other enjoying the friendly exchange. We arrived at the most gorgeous sandy beach with turquoise waters curling into a beckoning wave. We took turns swimming and sitting beneath the shade of a tree. The Tree had a sign, “Manzanilla de la Playa”... with a warning “Toxic Tree”. I didn’t think much of it until later. We wandered along the path and I squealed when we spotted the first Capuchin Monkeys. They were just hanging out in the trees and going about their business. One handsome fellow enjoyed the attention and gave us his best modeling poses. The scenery was fantastic as we wandered around with the local wildlife. Another tree labeled “TOXIC” got my attention. I didn’t have WiFi or cell service or I would have looked it up right then. We continued our adventure and when we arrived back at the Tierra Sagrada Retreat Center where we were staying I had to look up the tree right away. Something about it was nagging at me. I didn’t expect to find out that we had been sitting beneath one of the World’s most dangerous trees. “Manzanilla de la playa” roughly translates as “Little Beach Apple” but this tree is also known as “Manzanilla de la muerte” or “Little Apple of Death”. This tree is so toxic that you don’t want to even touch the sap from the bark or sit beneath it when it rains. I hope I never experience the blistering that can occur from even touching this harmless looking beach Apple tree. It was another good reminder to always respect unknown plants in new places. These trees provide shade and prevent beach soil erosion but come with a hefty price for the unaware traveler. I’m just grateful it wasn’t raining while we sat in the trees shade. Costa Rica is a spectacular place to visit, with magical waterfalls, gorgeous sandy beaches with warm ocean waves, fresh green coconuts and super friendly locals. I fell in love with the jungle and the giant insects too. There really is a Grasshopper the size of a small lobster! Oh and those brilliant beaks of the Toucans are something that appear to be straight out of a dream.