Bahias Cocos & Ballena, Costa Rica April 26, 2008

On the way to Cocos, we passed "King Kong Rock". Amazingly, it really DID look like King Kong!

In Cocos, Ralph went for a dive with Dan and Lorraine. He enjoyed himself, but said he saw almost as much snorkelling.

On to Bahia Ballena. It was not at all what we expected. We had heard how beautiful it was, but we didn't find it so. We were in this bay, in 2000, when we did a tour of Costa Rica. The last week was at an all-inclusive here. Maybe that's the problem, no all-inclusive...just boat grub and no pool!

We anchored out front of the "Yacht Club", a very loose use of those words. Alongside were the fishermens' shanties. A great photo-op, but not very inviting.

Bahia Huevos, Costa Rica April 22, 2008

On the way to Bahia Huevos we saw this arch. We've seen a few since arriving in Costa Rica.

We loved this bay!!! It was warm at 28.5 degrees and the water was clear. We headed off for snorkeling around the "egg" islands for which the bay is named.

This is a giant hawkfish that Ralph saw.

More colourful reef fish.

If you look REALLY HARD you can see octopus tentacles in the middle of this shot!! No kid'n'!!

What an attractive couple!! This is Dan and Lorraine enjoying the snorkeling too! That's the good thing about being the editor of the blog...I get to censor any photos of myself and include anything I want of everybody else!!

Here fishy fishy!!

These are beautiful fish and about 8 to 12 inches across!

This photo doesn't do this fish justice. He was a beautiful teal blue.

We beached the dinghy on one of the islands and had a look for shells. Nothing really at all.

There was a mangrove swamp and river at the end of the bay. We took a little trip up to see what we could see.

We saw a parrot, but no photo op. It was kinda spooky in there as the sun was pretty low by the time the tide was high enough to enter.

This, we've been told, is a termites' nest. We've seen many of these. You can't tell by the photo, but they are maybe 2 feet long!

In this bay, as in other places in Costa Rica, the frangipani (plumeria) flowers are growing wild on the hillsides surrounding the bay. This is the flower that Hawaiians use to make their leis.

Beautiful to look at and even better to smell!

Ralph brought some back to the boat, but we didn't take them aboard because it was impossible to get rid of all the ants in the branches and flowers. So, we put them in the water beside the boat.

Bahia Santa Elena, Costa Rica - April 19, 2008

We left Puesta del Sol Nicaragua for our overnight sail into Costa Rican waters. It was NOT a comfortable passage. We had gusty Papagayos winds all night! Too much sail, not enough sail, motor awhile $#$%%^&&;**!! and ***!!#$!!

Doesn't look like much...but looks are deceiving!! That's the wave coming from behind...or is it beside, or is it over!!! Our nicely cleaned boat (that I'd slaved for many hours washing) was caked with salt.

It was rough enough to take some spray over the dodger! Did I mention @@##!!!&;&;**!!

At anchor in Bahia Santa Elena at the northern end of Costa Rica.

Here we met up with two other cruising boats, Harmony and Renaissance. So, we had a little appie and drink thing on the rocky beach.

Fortuitous patiently awaiting our return.

And, Zephyrus doing the same.

We didn't enjoy the bay much as the water was 22 degrees and had a red tide. So, we went off for a recommended hike to a waterfall. Here I am, trying to look sure-footed. I did manage to fall as my stepping stone rolled into the water. It's hard on your body to fall when you're this old!!

Dan, the explorer, with his walking stick! I fell because he wouldn't lend it to me! That's my story and I'm sticking with it!

We saw this bird on our journey up to the pool. Not sure what it is, but we're going with "rare" eagle!

Dan and Lorraine enjoying the pool. The waterfall is just behind Dan's head...not all that big, is it??...the waterfall, I mean!

There wasn't as much stream or waterfall as there was supposed to be, but we did enjoy swimming in the pool. Look, kids, my hair is wet!!

Here we are all enjoying the cool water. It was lovely and clear with little fishes and even crayfish!

Ahhh, too bad we have to go back on that long hot walk to return to the dinghy! By the time we got back, we were all hot and sweaty! By the time we got back to the boat, we were all salty too as the wind had come up on the bay!

Nacaragua, April 12, 2008

We left Barillas for a two day trip to the Puesta del Sol Marina in Nicaragua. We stopped overnight in Amapala and arrived in Puesta del Sol late afternoon.
These are the large fishing boats you see as you pass down the coast.

They are covered with birds, as you can see, and are rusty old hulks although it is hard to see that from these shots.

Puesta del Sol is also up in the mangroves. We'd see these rough-hewn dug-outs every day. This is one of the better ones.

Here we are in the marina. That is Zephyrus on the opposite side of the finger from us.

This is the view from the "not quite infinity" pool. It was meant to be that, but the water wasn't filled to the edge and overflowing...I know, I know...whine, whine, whine!! Actually, the part I found the most difficult was the fact that you couldn't see your feet so, I'm guessing, they didn't really keep up the chemicals. However, it was so hot there that we used the pool and I tried not to think about it!

This is another view, including the restaurant. We had a couple of hamburgers here...but nothing was cheap!! We brought our own drinks to the pool.

While staying in the marina, we bit the bullet and took the $20 van ride into the town of Chinandego. We were very glad we did. It was quite different from anywhere else we'd been.

They had hundreds of these little rickshaws. So, since we had about an hour to kill we rented one (for $3) and he gave us a tour of the town. Since we were in a rickshaw, we decided to have chinese food for lunch after the tour.
Everyone seems to use these as their means of transportation. They cost about 25 cents a ride, normally, I think.

On the tour, he peddled us down through the market area. It is always a very interesting place to visit.

They seem to love the big plantain bananas in all of Central America...even the small bananas are very beaten-up!

Garlic anyone??

We stopped at the local "Bomberos" (firemen) to see if we could buy a couple of T-shirts for our kids. No luck getting anything in their size, but we got a couple of crests for sewing on shirts.

Amazingly, we always see the firemen smoking here...what's that all about anyway??

It is certainly one of the more third world countries we have been to, it appears, as we saw lots of carts, some with oxen, and many with wooden wheels.

They were digging up the road here, but our rickshaw made it through. We thought this was a great shot.

Not sure who this little guy is waiting for??