Doug with His Pet Toucan Dinner

Where did the month of January go?

Time is just flying by. This week our crew consisted of The Bowers from The Airport Yacht Club in Vancouver. We started our journeys by meeting up at a B&B owned by former AYC members; Lyle and Debbie. They own the B&B and a construction related company in San Jose.
We headed towards Volcan Poas following the snake like roads.
I had read up on the Volcano and was quite looking forward to seeing this active volcano.
Botos Lagoon is a filled-up crater in the Parque Nacional Volcan Poas. Its deep blue waters contrast with the dense tropical forest that surround it, making it the perfect spot for the stereotypical Indian sacrifice- throwing a young maiden into the mouth of a crater or a lagoon. Volcan Poas is one of the most visited volcanoes in Costa Rica, because of its proximity to San Jose and because of the luxuriant forest that surrounds the two craters. The park measures 5600 hectares, and this basaltic volcano stands at an altitude of 2708 meters (8,200 feet) above sea level.
We arrived with approximately 200 other tourists from around the world. What did we see? FOG The cloud had just rolled in and we could not see a thing. Not wanting to make this a wasted trip we opted for another tourist attraction in the vicinity. La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This facility is wonderful. The resort rests within the rainforest jungle.
An on-site laboratory is a breeding ground for the countless fluttering species of butterflies. It offers an interesting perspective into the stages of development of the most colorful species in Costa Rica. With over 4,000 of the flighty creatures in the observatory at any one time; one must be careful not to step on the butterflies taking their first steps.
The Hummingbird Garden attracts 24 different species of the birds, more species than any other in Costa Rica and quite possibly the world. Approximately 57 different hummingbirds have been reportedly seen in Costa Rica and it is possible to see over 40% of them here.
I found the snake and frog exhibits to be quite interesting. There are 30 exhibits of the most beautiful and deadly snakes of Costa Rica. The exhibition puts you face to face with such famous snakes as the Bushmaster, Terciopelo, Green Vinesnake, and Golden Eyelash Viper to name just a few. They also have one of the few Serpentariums in the world to host the colorful but venomous sea snake found off the Pacific Coast of Central America. (Yes Gerry the one you were up and personal to).

There are 137 Species of Snakes in Costa Rica. There are 22 Venomous Species in Costa Rica, mostly from the Viper family with a few Coral Snakes and the Sea Snake from the Elapid family. 92% of the Snakes in Costa Rica exist between sea level and 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) in altitude, primarily in the Tropical and Subtropical Forests. There are 15Species of Venomous Snakes on the Pacific side of the country.
This research is done for Gerry. (After the visit of course). Sea Snakes live in the waters off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica (not along the beaches). Although feared for their extremely potent neurotoxic venom, the Sea Snake has very limited ability to bite a human because of its small mouth and rear fangs. Even if one did manage to bite you, there is an 80% chance that this would be a “Dry” bite with no venom introduced.
The frog exhibit had an interpreter giving us information about the frogs. My Spanish is improving because I understood. There are about 190 species of frogs comprising the family Dendrobatidae and living in the rain forests of tropical Central and South America. These amphibians are distinctive owing to their small size (being no larger than 2 inches or 5cm), the majority for their brilliant and beautiful colors, and because some species possess specialized glands in the skin that produce some of the most toxic substances known in the animal kingdom. The function of the poison on their skin is strictly defensive in nature to discourage predators, and these frogs do not possess any type of organ or structure that allows them to inject or transmit the venom. However, this defensive venom would not be effective if it were not immediately recognizable to predators. Therefore, to display their venomous nature to predators these frogs have evolved brilliant color patterns.
We came close to the Toucans on our previous excursion, but not this close! I fed a Toucan while sitting on my arm. They were tame. The scarlet Macaws were quite beautiful.
We followed the hiking trails to the 3 sets of waterfalls. Breathe taking. It was several hours well spent.
The next few days we motored out into the sea again experiencing the Papagallos. We anchored in Bahia Tamarindo for 2 nights. Tamarindo caters to foreign tastes so one can find many different types of restaurants. People come here to surf. The swell and chop can make a dinghy landing exciting so Ken and Doug paid a local to take them into town.
Carlos explained that if we traveled early in the morning, close to shore for 20 miles we would be out of the Papagallo waves and so it was. We had a beautiful cruise to our next port Bahia Carillo.
Bahia Carrillo had long white sandy beaches. The water was a sparkling blue colour. You could see all the way to the bottom. It took Doug about 2 minutes to be in the water. The anchorage was a little rolly so our Mexican Train game was substituted with cards. The girls ruled!
Bahia Ballena was our next destination. This was one of the most tranquil bays we have been in since the Sea of Cortes. It is well protected. We were able to get the sea kayaks wet, something not done since Alanna was with us.
Our week with Doug and Brenda was drawing to an end and we had to get them to a shore that they could catch a bus back to San Jose to get to their flight. Puntarenas would be that shore.
Puntarenas was once a busy commercial port, but now the large pier is used by cruise ships. The locals are trying to get the tourist dollars here. The area is still a fishing community. We were told that this year being an El Nino year, the fishing is not so good.
We arrived here at low tide and had to wait two hours before we could venture up the estuary. This estuary has several rivers dumping into it. It resembles the Fraser River in many ways; muddy and a working river being 2 of the main comparisons.
We said farewell to Brenda and Doug. They added to the memories we will have of this trip and we hope they enjoyed themselves!
We will be here for a couple of days reprovisioning, continuing our National Zarpe and doing much needed boat chores.
We will be heading south towards Golfito where we will pick up our next guests. The Looks.