26 December 2005
Central Costa RicaOur holiday amazed us with memories we could not have anticipated.
Although we missed our family and friends back in North America and Europe, we did not miss the stress of the season or the cold weather. Sorry, to hear that some of you caught cold viruses and chilly woes associated with those cold winters in the USA and Canada.
The obvious aspects of cruising life that we never have to contend with are holiday traffic jams or guest staying with us, 24/7. Cruise boats came to us, in Bahia Huevos, a nearly perfect arrangement for "guest" visitation. No one arrived stressed from traffic commutes or suffering from shopping exhaustion. And when after intense hours of visiting, chatting and laughing, weary from the wit and wise cracks, one can retire to your own home, just a dingy ride away.
To our delight, our friends on s/v Our Tern, a family boat, traveled four days and nights, over four hundred miles, from the remote islands of Panama to northern Costa Rica, to spend the holidays with us. As well, our friends on s/v Carina, who spent time with us in El Salvador, reconnected with us by sailing back north 10 miles (for those on land, a 10 mile sail can be a ride that might take a half days travel, of course wind dependent. Unlike a car, we travel at about 4 miles/hour or less.) And to our delight, the family on s/v Soy Libre and our friend, Royce, s/v Rdreamz, moved with us from Playa Panama in Bahia de Culebra to Bahia Huevos, so we could spend the holidays together.
We chose Bahia Huevos, as it is a remote anchorage with two-egg shaped islands that promised beautiful sunsets, calm waters and safe shelter (if a papagayos decided to blow through the area. We are in the peak papagayo season, so we must be mindful of the potential northeasterly, 50 mph winds that might blast for days.) Among the dry tropical forest that rises from the water's edge are stands of evergreen hardwood trees: Kapok (Ceiba) and Mahogany (Swietenia) as well as scatterings of coconut palms, bamboo and cactus. The Gourd trees (Creescentia), Guanacaste trees (like the ones you see in the movie: Out of Africa) or Ear Fruit tree (Enterolobium) and Frangipani are part of the semi-deciduous forest. John nudges me, whispering for me to breathe in the faint sweet scent of the last of the frangipanin/plumeria flowers that hang from the leafless tree. Below this tree canopy is the dense shrub layer, making hiking a bit of a challenge, but offering a wealth of bird life to wa
tch in the early morning and late afternoon.Each time we returned to Bahia Huevos, we observe the movements of a favorite masked laughing falcon perched on the branches of a Guanacaste tree. He sits majestically, on the hilltop, as he surveyed his territory and range. Once we watched him fly back and forth, back and forth, a fish in his beak as he climbed the thermals, ultimately reaching the ridge with his prey.
Everyday, the five boats gathered to socialize, to share stories and woes. Since s/v Our Tern had already been to the Galapagos, Panama and Ecuador, we all learned a great deal from them about their adventures. They saw a volcano spew lava during their month long stay in the Galapagos Islands, transited by train and bus to Colon, Panama, identified the best shopping street in Panama City (Calle Cinco de Mayo) and caught two large dorados while underway to reach us. Together we cooked, made holiday cookies, and ate and ate and ate.
On the Christmas Eve, the s/v Our Tern and Encanto composed our own version to the traditional, 'On the Twelfth Night of Christmas', which after a round of practice, we took our show "on the road". (See Website Entry, 24 December 2005). We jumped into one dingy. Then, all eight of us motored in the moonless night, singing harmoniously the traditional Christmas carols (e.g. Jingle Bells and Wish you a Merry Christmas ). When we reached our friends on s/v Carina, s/v Soy Libre, and s/v Rdreamz, we belted out our version of 'On the Twelfth Night of Christmas'. We had many laughs as we sang, cajoled and motored from boat to boat. Caroling on water was a first for us. To our disappointment, but not to our surprise, cookies and hot chocolate, did come as a reward for the quality of our caroling.
On Christmas Day, we celebrated with a big brunch on Encanto. Christmas music emulated from the boom box. Everyone brought side dishes while the chef on board flipped off warm stacks of crepes from the stove, as Costa Rican Expressos and Latte's flowing out of the galley. It was a day that ended with a swim in the warm waters of the beach and beach combing for perfect cowry shells. We also checked on the six newly made turtle nests and hoped they survived the challenge of the life that lay before them.
For the next few days, we enjoyed life with friends in this beautiful anchorage, playing rounds of Scattergories, baking cookies, swimming. One day we even did a joint school session with Danielle and Brooke, s/v Our Tern. We spent four hours going over Language Arts lessons, reviewing the parts of speech and easy methods for diagramming sentences. It was a fun alternative way to conduct the school program.
Anticipating that our departure was near, our Captain took the scrapper to the hull and scrubbed the barnacles off the bottom of the boat, a thankless but, essential job. He came up from the depth of the sea with little tiny shrimp crawling on his lycra suit and face. It gave me the hebbie- jebbies, but he just ran a shower and soon they were gone. Not a job for those squeamish to creepy crawlers.
As time grew closer for all of us to go our separate ways, one by one we ventured south to reprovision in the nearby towns of Cocos and Liberia.