In the jungle

March 1, 2007 Thursday
It turns out that we had a very successful flamenco performance while we were at Bahia Ballena. The French couple on the next boat had children in the luxury hotel business and they set us up with a show on short notice. It went surprisingly well. We totally winged it. Neither of us bothered to practice at all and so we just got up and had fun.... just the way I like it. Andrea was happy, too. I think she is awesome when she just lets herself dance without thinking about choreography and routines. And my guitar playing seems to have jumped up to a new plateau. Not bad for no practice.
Then we started moving South. We visited Isla Cedros further into the Gulf of Nicoya just to see how it was. It is the dry season in Costa Rica and things get kinda brown. Cedros was OK, but we started thinking about Panama and getting ourselves scheduled for the canal, so after a day at Cedros, we sailed to Bahia Leona on the other side of the Gulf. It was only about 15 miles and we got to sail fast the whole way across. Wonderful. Bahia Leona had a luxury hotel there which reportedly welcomed cruisers, so long as they spent some money in the restaurant or bar. Well, those were the good old days. Now, they want $20/person for a day pass - then you get to spend money in the bar. But it was a really nice hotel with lots of wildlife around. We saw some macaws that must have been 3 feet long!
This morning, we got up at 2AM and caught the ebb tide to get a boost as we left the Gulf of Nicoya. 71 miles later, we are anchored at Bahia Uvita, our first real jungle anchorage. The jungle begins just below Bahia Leona and will continue all the way through Panama. It is much greener and very lush. Unfortunately, the humidity is very high and there are some big thunder clouds forming above the peaks just in from the shore. We say lightning last night, very far away. But tonight, we might see some a lot closer. Lightning is one of the cruiser's worst nightmares, because if lightning strikes the boat, there is a very good probability that it will wipe out all the electronic devices aboard. The cost of that is staggering - one of the main reasons why I pay for insurance.
Early this morning before it was too hot, Andi cooked up some new recipe that she got from a Costa Rican book. You would be amazed at how well we eat on this trip. Yesterday she made chicken mole with a chicken we bought at a little local market. 20 minutes in a pressure cooker and it was falling off the bones. Yum. The only thing we are missing is really good wine. We've gone through our stocks and now we are having to drink what is in the stores. They have some good wines, but very pricey.
In a few days, we will be in Golfito, where we are going to stay for a while and travel inland. There are marinas there and we are looking forward to not being on the anchor for a while. We haven't been in a marina with docks since Barra de Navidad, Mexico. They are expensive here, but I'm looking forward to plugging in and running the air conditioner. We have fans everywhere, but not the same.
Don't forget to write. Pictures later when we have internet.