Pura Vida
Sliding into the Costa Rican way of Life
We left Mexico just 5 days after my mom passed away. It was quite intense with all of the things that I needed to attend to before getting myself back across the country, and through customs in Mexico City with all the boat parts I was bringing back. To say I felt stressed was an understatement. Peter had a driver waiting for me at the airport to help alleviate some of the stress. It definitely helped.
I came back to a very hot boat inside with a guest we had on board who was going to help us with our passage. I took my time in my cabin to collect myself before having dinner. Peter had most things set so he only needed to finalize the paperwork we needed to checkout of Mexico, and to finish any last minute details. This included having a dog come on board to sniff out all our illegal drugs. Grinch (the dog) was a good boy, and very friendly, and seemed much more interested in the treats at the end of the tunnel, than in paying much attention to our boat. Once we had Grinch’s sniff of approval, we were told by the officials that we needed to leave the marina immediately.
Off we sailed. All of that stress started to melt away once we were underway. The weather was in our favor and the sea was calm, which was very fortunate because this particular passage can be very challenging. Leaving Chiapas, the southernmost port in Mexico on the Pacific, we needed to sail past Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and the Gulf of Papagayo in Costa Rica, known for seasonal forty to fifty knot offshore winds. We chose our weather window wisely, however, and the infamous gulf was calm for us.
A calm and open sea gave me the chance to process some of my feelings surrounding my mom and the complexity of my family dynamics that had already started to take shape. It helped to have dolphins come visit us during a beautiful sunset. They always make me feel joy no matter what is happening in the world.
Our passage to Costa Rica turned out to be quite smooth except for the boobies. Before you get too excited, realize that blue- and brown-footed boobies are large seabirds, and they decided to hitch a ride along with us. At first they landed on the spreaders, but their steady diet of fish and calamari all ends up having to go somewhere, and they must be voracious birds, judging by the prodigious quantities of poop they liked to rain down on the boat in their more relaxing moments.
Cleaning these surprisingly large, half-digested gobbets of fish meal off the deck after it had seen a couple days in the sun wasn’t always possible, and after I got sprinkled, Peter made a serious effort to get them off our spreaders. They really wanted to come along though, and kept returning, until we all managed to come to an uneasy truce, with about seven of them all huddled up on our bow pulpit for most of the journey. So went the great boobie party of 2023. The foredeck wasn’t really clean again for several weeks, even after being pressure washed.
One part of the trip that wasn’t smooth was during one of my morning watches when we were closest to Costa Rica. A storm was brewing and it was the first time we came across a squall. There wasn’t a whole lot to do about it except to bring the sails in and pray for the best. Luckily there wasn’t lightning during this squall and it eventually dissipated. I let out a sigh of relief. I had no idea yet how much lightning squalls were going to be a thing in Costa Rica.
Our crew member was a man who Peter helped deliver a couple of boats with. His name is Arnstein and he is also a teacher at a sailing school called Club Nautique in the Bay area. It felt good to have him on board with us as it meant less for Peter and I to do. Also he volunteered to take the middle watch (0000 to 0400), and having a third person enabled each of us to get eight hours sleep every day. He is a very experienced captain who puts safety above all else. He always gets the boat to its destination without a lot of drama.
It’s always nice getting a slip after a long passage. Our passage lasted three nights and three days which was the longest I had experienced to date. We had to check into the country and put our boat back together, while also making sure we ate a solid meal, celebrated, and got a good nights sleep. We did all of that and we felt relaxed knowing we didn’t also have to worry about our anchor dragging or getting our dinghy inflated again. We could get off the boat and take a long shower if we wanted or go to the pool.
I really enjoyed the weather so far. We had a nice breeze off the water and it was relatively flat. There were also places to go for a walk, which is always delightful after being cooped up on a boat for so long.
Since we had to wait a couple of weeks to go to my mom’s funeral, we decided to rent a car to take up to Lake Arenal. We wanted a SUV so we could include our friends Bev and Rolf, and their dog Sophie. We got lucky with our taxi driver. Peter got into a conversation with the driver, as he usually does to practice his Spanish, and somehow it fell out that he knew the organizer of the Panama Posse. Not only that, but he had an SUV that he rented for quite a bit less than the rental agencies. A stroke of luck!
On our way back to the marina we spotted monkeys in the trees! These were Capuchin, or brown-faced, monkeys, and one of them had a baby on her back. Capuchins are one of four different kinds of monkeys in Costa Rica, including howler monkeys, spider monkeys, and squirrel monkeys. This group looked like a complete family, and were really fun to watch. We sat in the car at the side of the road until they disappeared into the bamboo thicket.
At the top of the hill on the road was a beautiful view of our marina. This marina was fairly remote, being on a peninsula that was almost entirely covered by a resort run by the Four Seasons, along with some very high-end private property. It was quite an exclusive area and a bit far from town. Luckily for us, one of the closest stores was the the Discount Italian Store that our friends Michelle and Joe from Soul Rebel told us about. We were able to stock up on really good Italian wine, cheese, pasta, and limoncello. All of it was good, and Peter made us and our friends some great Italian meals, as he was working on making Luciano’s carbonara with the massive piece of guanciale he bought.
Finally, we headed up to Lake Arenal. I found a great little cabin for us to stay in that was at Lake Arenal Eco-lodge. What I liked is our cabin was very simple and inside the rain forest. We had howler monkeys who lived right above us, and howled during the early morning hours.
They also had trails through the forest where we could hear more monkeys and a lot of different bird songs. It was very tropical and all the grounds were super beautiful. The rain was gentle but consistent, and it made for great sleeping.
The price for our cabin included breakfast which we ate every morning. It was next to a bird bath and feeder so we could watch the birds as we ate a huge Costa Rican breakfast that included, eggs, rice and beans, and bread. The coffee was also very good (and strong!) and it was a great way to start the day.
Part of our morning ritual was to go for a walk around the grounds of the property.
It was quite a relaxing stroll.
Later we met up with Bev, Rolf and Sophie and climbed up to Arenal Volcano which was shrouded in clouds but we could still get a sense of its majestic presence.
We found a much longer trail back down to our car. It went past a lake which was not Lake Arenal but still breathtaking to see through the trees.
The smallest frog ever.
A couple of ants along the way.
A bigger frog jumped across our path.
We scouted out the natural hot springs that were open to the public. Coincidently they were across from the entrance to the Tabacon Hot Springs that were exclusive and fancy. We had Sophie so we couldn’t take her there but we liked the idea of going where the locals went. We walked down the muddy path along the river next to the road, found a nice spot, and soaked up all those healthy minerals deposited by the volcano.
The next morning before breakfast we went for our last walk around the grounds of the property and came upon a tropical garden. I’ll let the flowers in these photos speak for themselves.
The gardens were a nice way to top off our stay in Lake Arenal/La Fortuna. We really loved the Eco-Lodge. It was very affordable and got to experience living inside the jungle.
We found this river on the way out of town towards Tenacio Volcano National Park. We chose to take a different way back than the way we came. The water had a powder blue color from the volcanic minerals. It called us in! We pulled over to explore.
We found a more secluded area to hang out away from the others.
We also stopped to experience the Rio Celeste water fall. It was the most beautiful water fall I have ever seen.
We weren’t allowed to swim in the pool of water and they kept all of us pretty far from it which really keeps it pristine.
The cattle came up to where we were sitting to be fed.
We got back to our marina in time for dinner. We ate out at the marina restaurant and we enjoyed the rest of the night.
One of the nights at the marina we decided to go to dinner at a resort which was off the path that meandered around the shore line. They made amazing cocktails and had a great band.
It was time for us to head back to Pennsylvania for my mom’s funeral. There we stayed with lovely friends and gathered everyone for a beautiful celebration of my mom’s life, remembering her big blue eyes, kind smile, and joyful, generous spirit. When we got back we wrapped up our time at the marina and started to head out to explore more of Costa Rica by sea. Stay tuned for Part II of our Costa Rican way of life.
So sorry about your mom. Glad you guys are enjoying Cost Rica. We are on Partida and headed across to La Cruz later this week.
So sorry to hear of your huge loss!! Glad to hear of your soulful journey continuing!!