Call of the wild!!

Spent a couple days anchored at Bahia Nacascolo.  Discovered capuchin monkeys and white nosed coatis right on the beach.

Took our bikes to shore and, after the obligatory maintenance and swearing session, we spent hours exploring a huge private development of The Ritz Carlton estate homes and an adjoining Four Seasons resort. It had a couple of gated communities as well. Because we entered from the beach there were no guards to stop us. Had no idea what it was initially. Just knew that it was a magnificent area with a golf course to rival Pebble Beach.  For the very first time we discovered hills that even our electric bikes can’t handle.  Had a wonderful lunch and very expensive cocktails ($18) before meeting up with friends who went into the marina several miles away. They rented a car for a few days and invited us to go provision at the Discount Italian Store.  Yummy cheeses, fresh ravioli and wines.  We stocked up!  

Found ourselves on the wrong end of the fetch one too many times so we moved across the bay to a more protected anchorage and then explored several bays to the south over the following week. 

Discovered that we are now able to see the southern cross in the night sky!  Cue the song….

Found a couple of beachside resorts that allowed us to have drinks and some even let you use their pool. Spent several days doing the never ending boat maintenance. But on the upside we did finally get our new and larger inverter installed, fixed our dinghy boarding ladder, and also relocated the valves for our water maker so John no longer has to go up to the sail locker at the beginning and end of every water making session.

We knew that most of the marinas in Costa Rica are unfriendly to cruisers, charge ridiculously expensive rates and won’t even let you tie up a dinghy to shop in their stores.  We were able to explore Marina Flamingo one afternoon as no one said anything.  Best chandlery since West Marine in California and Tess bought a dress at a surf shop.  The next day, we tried to go back to the chandlery and security stopped us and, after checking with the office, said we’d have to pay $50 to tie up!  We knew they had demanded $100 from others but still said no.  Took the dink around the breakwater and walked in from the beach.  I made sure that guy saw me too!  

A few days ago we rounded the big peninsula in the northwest of Costa Rica and entered the Gulf of Nicoya. During the rainy season it is famous for its floating trees and other debris that washes out from the many rivers. The guidebook actually says it’s unsafe to move the boat in the dark during this time of year. We figured out that most of the debris is visible in the changing current lines and so Tess would go up to the bow and give me directions to steer through the larger stuff.

Explored several anchorages and various islands in this area. On Isla Tortuga there are a couple of day use resorts. We got to the beach about 4 PM as most of the tourist boats had left for the day. We were able to enjoy the place and scored a couple of coconuts with rum poured into the top and then noticed a few wild pigs! We followed them to one end of the beach where the workers carried buckets of leftover pineapple bits and hollowed out coconuts (from all the tourist drinks). They dumped this stuff behind their bar and about 30 wild pigs materialized out of the jungle.  They went absolutely crazy eating it all. Of course a few of them had to stop for a quick mating session and the pigs had vultures to contend with as well.  

We had a fabulous meal at the Isla Chiquita Glamping Resort on Isla Jesusita (Baby Jesus Island). Lots of howler monkeys can be heard in all of these places.  All have incredibly picturesque beaches but there is a lot of driftwood constantly washing up and a few of them seem to collect an inordinate amount of trash.

Today we moved across the gulf to Bahia Herradura and were greeted with two water spouts and a powerful rain storm that literally hit 30 seconds after we had secured the anchor.  Bella is not much of a fan of thunder but the noise of rain no longer bothers her.