100 Steps to a Private Beach Vacation

This mobile I made today is simple and small... little blue discs the color of the ocean, one deeper and darker than the rest, one sand colored disc at the bottom. I was telling some friends about a trip I took to Costa Rica years ago... and this story about a villa I found in Manuel Antonio inspired this little creation... the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean...
Heres the story: my 100 steps to paradise.

I was in Costa Rica, it was the rainy season and I was traveling alone. I had no agenda to my travel plans, and even less money to spend on travel expenses. I took a bus from Quepos to Manuel Antonio 3 times (back and forth) looking for a hotel that was both wonderful and affordable - finally walked up the same road for the 4th time and found this place. It was a beautiful resort with a hotel on the beach and grand villas up on the cliff. The place was nearly empty, 3 or 4 families were staying in the hotel so I inquired about the villas. They offered me a great deal, but warned me to check it out before I paid. Sure enough, the lazy American tourists had opted to stay in the hotel because it was on flat land right next to the beach - the villas were incredible but up endless flights of steps. This picture shows one section of the steps, each time you turned a corner there were more steps, and then more. :)

I was in heaven. There were about 100 steps and I gladly took them each time I wanted to go down to the beach or head out to find food. I was walking distance from the Park of Manuel Antonio and my view was something you'd see on a post-card. For a few precious days I was the only person staying in these villas. There was a security guard who would patrol the whole grounds just for me, stopping to speak Spanish with me when I was around. Monkeys would stalk my breakfast and iguanas that would lounge on the stone steps. I was convinced I had the nicest villa (in my mind it was the honeymoon suite) because the biggest of the iguanas (the iguana king I called him) seemed to live on my roof. I could hear him up there, his huge claws scraping at the tiles, and one day I climbed around above my villa to catch a view of him. He was huge.

So thats the story. It was a great set of steps. An amazing view of the beach. And it didn't rain once the entire time I was there. Off season rates and good exercise to boot. I say take the stairs!