Guess what?
We almost had a new crew member, but common sense prevailed. It was a very near thing however. While in Bahia Ballena we met a Canadian couple (Kimberly and Mike) who were renting a house right on the beach. They let us use their shower and fill up water jugs, all we really need I suppose, and we offered to take them out sailing on Willow for the day, which we did. The morning I went to pick them up they had this kitten crawling all over the place. It seemed homeless and they did not want to leave it alone until they could find a home for it. So, we took the critter out to Willow for the daysail. She was a bit put off a first, but was soon cruising all over down below, finally settleing on top of our guitars as a good spot. Kimberly is trying to pull the little guy down.
Below are Mike and Kimberly. They were good fun to have out with us and seemed to really enjoy the experience of sailing a junk rigged boat. Thanks a lot you two, hope to see you in the future.
Another great couple we met were the owners of s/v Swagman II. Dominic and (…). We made some music together several nights and did a lot of laughing. Will need to find some pictures of them.
After taking our ease for about a week in Bahia Ballena, we made the 20 mile sail across the Gulf of Nicoya into Bahia Herradura, entrance to the very swank marina/resort of Los Suenos. We did not stay in the marina. I do not know what it would cost to put Willow their for a day, but it would have cost $50 to tie up our little dingy “Jake” for the day. Needless-to-say, we stayed clear of that spot. It was very handy to get a few cans of diesel and water in the dingy’s, so that was a chore for the morning.
One thing of interest about this bay was what appeared to be a very big surf break on the south side. Bonnie and I headed over to check it out and see what it looked like close up.
Bonnie here, looking beautiful in her anti-sunburn garb, surf behind.
From where we were anchored it did not seem very big, but as we got up to in the the skiff we realized it was a rather large break after all. As it turns out, this spot only breaks and is ridable about a dozen times a year, this was the first time this year that it did.
So, why were we not out there? Well, that was the intention. Unfortunatlely, Ben and Nikki were off on an epic journey by bus, foot, bicycle and taxi to get their propane bottles filled. We were their ride back to Tara, so we waited a bit to see if they would show. In the meantime, word got out that the wave was pumping I guess. Before we knew it there were over 50 people out there. We are just getting into the sport. That kind of crowd, mainly locals I later learned, was not for me. Then there was the issue of the big boulders sticking up to dampen my enthusiasm. Oh well, I am sorry Scott and Liz, we are trying to live up to your standards, but falling short I am afraid.
Well, the wave quit that night and off we went. Next stop, Quepos, below. It is a nice town, but we did not stay very long as we were anxious to get to the anchorage just aroung the corner in Manuel Antonio Natinal Park, and it was well worth the visit.
We have finally made it into rain forest latitudes and they are beautiful places. Huge trees, monkeys, sloths, lizards of all sizes and shapes, birds all the colors of the rainbow, oh, and hundreds and hundreds of large, white and burnt red North American tourists on the quick tour. Never fear, we got up and into the park by 6am, and saw virtually no one until we emerged at the end of our walk.
We did the best we could to get some good pictures of the creatures all around us, here are some of the better shots.
As I have mention before, Ben has an affinity for all creatures, particularly lizards, snakes and other critters you may find under a rock or in a dark hole. He grabbed this little guy at the start of our hike and the cold blooded creature rode on top of Bens head for the rest of the morning. Obviously it was sucking the heat generated in Ben’s brain caused by thinking…… har..
This one is for Bonnies mom, Linda. There are many beautiful flowers out here, even in the dry season.
It is always starteling to see such large iguanas just sitting around right next to you, unseen until they move. This one was a bit more in the open as it warmed up in the early morning sun.
Then of course their were the monkeys. We came across a whole gang of them right along the trail. They were not in the least put off by us. In fact, I had set my little camera bag down at my feet in the trail and what do you know. One little guy lopes out towards us, two feet away, just staring at us. Then, a quick snatch and it was off into the trees with the bag. No big loss, just a ziplock and padded sack, I thought. As I watched them all gather around to divide the spoiles I suppose, I noticed one of them tentatively biting on something colorful. “Shit, the monkey is eating my money,” I exclaimed (or something like that) and off Ben and I were to retrieve the stolen goods. We got it all back, it not being very tasty I suppose.
At this time the camera battery died, leaving us with these two mediocre pictures. Sorry!
