Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica

We woke up early on Tuesday, July 14. The plan was to go out on Golfo Dulce in a pontoon boat. Yorens, Sara, Margaret, Kira and I walked downtown Puerto Jiménez to meet the students at the local grocery store. From where we were staying in “Gringolandia” we had to walk around the airport. Instead, Yorens showed us a shortcut under the fence.

Sara took a video while I tried to slide under without putting my back down in the dirt. It was an extreme case of doing the limbo. Good thing that I practiced at so many dances.

The airport is only one short runway at the edge of town. Only really small planes can fly in and out. Luckily, none came while we were crossing the runway.

On the other side of the “airport” is the cemetery. I think that it is rather bizarre that the welcome sign is in the cemetery. It is not exactly a place that I want to be welcomed into.

Sara and I both took pictures around town.

This is doña Rosa’s house, where I stayed last time I was in Costa Rica. She now rents it out and lives at Eric and Yessenia’s house.

Of course, I took pictures of birds- a cute little yellow one and a buzzard.

Here is a nice example of recycling. You see these toucan planters made of old tires frequently in Costa Rica. I love the ingenuity.

We had to wait quite a while for the bus to pick us up. The boat operators must have been working on “la hora tica” or “Costa Rican time” which means that you should expect to see them anywhere from an hour to two hours after they tell you they will be there. Finally the truck showed up.

It was an open truck pulling a trailer- not exactly the type of transportation we see here in the United States. It was a fun ride, but the motor was really loud making it difficult to hear anything. Here we are in town.

Here are some pictures I took along the ride.

I also took some video, but I suggest that you turn off the sound if you plan to watch them. As I said before, the motor was REALLY loud.

After about a half an hour we arrived at the boat. However, the owner took us immediately over to see a mother sloth and her baby in a tree. They were adorable. The mother is a lot bigger and was lower in the tree than the baby.

 

Besides the pontoon boat that we were going out on, they had an old boat that they are planning to renovate. Hopefully, it will be up and running by the next time I visit. I would like a ride on this beauty.

We boarded the pontoon boat in a mangrove. The ride out into the gulf was beautiful.

Then, once out in the gulf, it was even more beautiful.

I just sat there in complete awe, trying to drink in the beauty for days when my life if stressful and overwhelming. I was not the only one.

Our guides were on the lookout for dolphins with their binoculars. It is not permitted to swim with the dolphins off of the boats in the Golfo Dulce, but we were hopeful that we would see some. However, we did not just see “some” – we ran into a huge school of them. They were swimming directly at us, and then the driver turned the boat around and we rode with them for quite a while. It was beautiful.

I did not get great pictures, but Sara made up for that with the video that she captured.

Across the gulf from Puerto Jiménez, we reached Punto Encanto. The buildings that you see are a private residence, but the best thing about Costa Rica is that the beaches are all public. No one can prevent access to the coast or the water off of it, unlike here in the United States.

We put down the anchor and spent the afternoon snorkeling, swimming, sliding and jumping off of the second floor of the boat.

Don’t ask me what the toilet was for.

We also had lunch while in Punto Encanto. The Araya siblings prepared sandwiches, fruit and cookies for us.

All too soon it was time to return to Puerto Jiménez. I would have been content to stay there a lot longer. Sara, Margaret and I sat at the front of the boat drinking in the view as we crossed the gulf.

 

Everyone was contented.

There were storms all along the coast but the sun was shining over the boat. Seeing the heavy rain in concentrated areas reminded me of the dessert in Arizona. I love watching storms from afar.

At one point we were joined by another school of dolphins. This one was smaller with about six. They had a blast riding our wake – jumping and diving along side of the boat. I was to enthralled watching them to take out my camera. Sara did manage to take one picture.

As we were pulling into the mangrove, it started to rain – softly at first but quickly picking up.

Soon it was pouring, and we were trapped on the boat. The owners pulled out sausages and plantains and started cooking for us with Gustavo’s help. There was music and some impromptu dancing.

We spent that evening back at Eric and Yessenia’s watching soccer and looking through photo albums with doña Rosa. I don’t have any pictures of our night, but I did get a couple blurry ones of a gecko back at the house we were staying in. I am not sure if you have ever heard the noises that these little creatures make, but they are loud!

If you have missed any of the previous Costa Rica posts, you can catch up here: Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 and Day 6.

Happy Travels!