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Totally Wonderful Punta Catedral Trail, Manuel Antonio National Park

The morning sun was just peaking trees as I laced up my boots, and got ready for my magical nature walk through the Manuel Antonio national park.

The air was so thick with humidity, a real life Costa Rican Rainforest at its finest. It was early, and the heat was coming on quickly but Pacific sea salt lingered sharp in the air like a palette cleanser; bold yet not overpowering. My awaited adventure was the hike on to Punta Catedral trail in Manuel Antonio National Park.

It was a special oasis with emerald jungle and forest that I had never encountered. Space to get away from the hustle of regular life and just breath a gigh of relief and relaxation. It became an unofficial tradition to hit up a new trail everyplace I went and Punta Catedral had been taunting me for the good views, nice looking wildlife.

As I stepped onto the trail I saw Manuel Antonio with its flora and fauna, which apparently too was waking up all around me. From the forest canopy, bellows of Capuchin  monkeys rang out — as did raspy chirps from brightly coloured small birds darting in and out through giant trees.The Park was awake with  with sloths, and monkeys other fluffy creatures.

Punta Catedral hiking trail - Manuel Antonio exotic wild life sloth

  • A gentle climb

Most of the path was an easy climb and it began in some thick jungle. The flora and the spreading foliage of those trees standing tall around them. Some trees were so thick, it felt impossible that any of us would wrap our arms around them. Ferns tickling my shins on the walk, I felt so lucky to experience this feeling.

It was magical nature walk, I slowed down my steps to hear the sounds: feet shuffling on dirt, crunching leaves under my step. Wind coming and going with a whisper through the lazy canopy above, waves lapping against boulders nearby.

The path turned into a tougher climb and I came to the tree line. Turqouise blue water glistened and in a way took my breath. Near the top, I found a tree fallen over so I took a seat and stood still to take it all in.

  • The wild of the rainforest

I realized that this is what brought me here. It felt appropriate that such a mix of wildlife and green, would bring me piece.  Peering down, I could see tiny beaches in the distance with craggy rock formations and brilliant white sandy beaches. This was literally the paradise I sought to find, better than the postcards ever portrayed.

We kept walking and the trail got skinnier, steeper and more challenging, but every 5 minutes my eyes would flick back out towards the ocean and the beaches that astounded me was the seamless running together of shades from tight band of blue to a gradually to greenish-blue, fading into the  to coastal curve of the pacific ocean.

As I was coming down the trail and a group of hikers were on their way up. Their faces tinged red but glowing with the same wonder and inner piece. That one moment, to ponder our existence and know our place in this world.

My route along the mountain ridge to access Punta Catedral circled back into forest for a stretch. I sat down and enjoyed  shade of the high canopy . I searched  the trees and heard a scrape over my head. Above them in the treetop, a band of white-Faced Capuchin monkeys. They scurried around, pinging from one branch to another as if gravity did not exist for them. A few of the youngsters hung upside down from vines, curiously watching every movement i made. I studied them, loving how young and carefree they seemed.

Punta Catedral hiking trail - monkeys

  • Beauty all around me

I hunched on a worn rock and fetched my water bottle from  my rucksack. Sipping  and seeing all that nature in its perfection had to offer.  All of the cares and burdens that we had brought back with us from our journey home seemed absolutely minuscule. I just wanted to put this feeling in my backpack and never lose it.

The butterflies were with me, I was not alone. Broad sprawling wings on either size, luminescent with a sapphire sheen under the dappled sunlight. I watched it gliding though  in air, then away into the wooded privacy beyond. These were some of those times when nature had just presented itself perfectly unexpected.

  • The way back

The way back down the trail was just as fun, but required me to focus a little more. Smooth rocks in the moisture, particularly where it became steeper, I walked carefully on my descent through these sections. But even then, I was stopping again and again because it did not seem right to walk away from here at that time. It felt like a goodbye with every step I took.

At the end of our walk, I spotted what I truly came to see –  a sloth napping at the top of an extremely high tree. What gave it away would be its cautious methodical motion. One of its two very long arms was in the process of reaching down for a leaf, extend overly slowly — probably because whatever energy it had left after already having eaten an awful lot.  Sloths had sparked my curiosity for some time, a creature truly beyond mesmerizing and all that is super slow motion..

Manuel Antonio National Park has a way of doing that to me, making me feel so minute and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things but more alive than ever. It was a feeling that I would store in my brain for years to come.