Unofficially in Costa Rica
We have now been in Costa Rica for 9 days and yet to have full tourist status.
Since beginning this journey, we have followed the wisdom of those that have gone before us. We have found that guide books are just GUIDES. It is the opinion of the authors at the time they visited the area, if they even visited the area. Boaters also have their opinions based on their own experiences. Sometimes you are told to skip a bay because our fellow boater found it too bumpy; too buggy etc, only to find when you get there it is one of the best bays you have visited. Ken and I have decided along time ago that we will make our own evaluations, and keep an open mind.
The first week was spent in Bahia Santa Elena. In the guide books this bay is described as the most beautiful bay in Costa Rica. The bay is well protected from the winds. The natural scenery and wildlife are the reasons people visit here. You can hear the Howler monkeys, see whales, scarlet macaws etc, etc. Well we heard the HOWLING winds. For 7 days we were boat bound. We sustained winds of 20 – 35 knots with gusts 50 and occasionally 60 knots. Luckily there was no fetch so the waves were just wavelets. It did sound like a freight train running through the boat at times. It was a weird sensation, you first heard the winds coming through the jungle hitting the water then reaching the boat. It came in gusts, not a constant wind. The only damage was some stitching on the bimini zippers that will have to be fixed when we find a canvas guy in our travels.
Time was passed by the crew sleeping and playing Mexican Train. The boat became cramped with the time having to be spent inside due to the strong winds. We all came out of it unscaved. Still talking to each other.
We anticipated the weather to be bad as we went around Cape Santa Elena however I think someone above maybe thought we had enough wind for awhile. The seas were tranquil and wonderful.
We are now anchored in Playa del Coco (Coconut Beach) which is the bay on the outside of Bahia Culebra (Bay of Snakes). This bay is rightfully named. Sea snakes there are and I am not going swimming off the boat here. Watching them from the boat is as close as I want to get to them.
We are being ferried by panga into the beach by a family that has managed to keep their home on the beach not giving in to tourism.
We arrived on Friday at 1400 hrs. We quickly changed into our Sunday best so we could make our mandatory visit to the Port Captain; only to find out that we could not get the Customs out the same day and as it was a weekend they would be closed. This would change our check in procedures slightly. We went to immigration and checked in receiving the much needed paper to ensure we won’t get arrested. On Monday a trip by bus into Liberia to report to customs, then return to the Port Captains office with the paper work from customs and immigration will have to be made. We are allowed to go into the land but we are not to take the boat out of the bay.
Playa del Coco is a beautiful horseshoe shaped beach with steep hills and impressive cliffs dotted with upscale resorts. We have met many Canadian here. We find it rather ironic that people of Central America think all Canadians speak French because of the strong Quebec presence here. We are doing our best to set things straight. The fact is that there are more Chinese. East Indians, etc. than French in our country.
We will be moving to the marina on Tuesday so that we can travel inland to visit the jungle and see how the people of this country live, not how the tourists recreate.