Replying to Anybody been to Costa Rica?

So I'm going to Costa Rica and Nicaragua in a few weeks, and I'm super excited. Two weeks of the trip I will be traveling with a volunteer organization doing lots of spays/neuters of pet and stray dogs as well as working on general livestock care (but should be doing lots of non-vet fun stuff too), and the first week I'll be touring Costa Rica with a couple of friends...just wondering if anyone on here has been there, and if they have any recommendations on things to do, places to go (be it towns, parks, or a really good restaurant/bar/hotel/club/whatever), etc? So far, I'll be hitting Manuel Antonio (beach+rainforest national park,and yes, I'm sold on the large monkey population there) and Monteverde (very famous cloud forest). I'm an outdoorsy and active person, love trying new things and new experiences, speak Spanish well (and am traveling with a fluent speaker), and as I went to Mongolia last summer I'm not afraid to travel the non-resort way in foreign countries.