Costa Rica Paragliding Tour

13-28 January 2017

Welcome to the land of PURA VIDA (airport banner)
All photos can be seen larger by clicking on the photo

It was probably at Oceanside or maybe at the Awards Banquet in 2016 that we had talked to Brad Hill and Maren Ludwig of Discover Paragliding about the flying trip they run each year to Costa Rica. But it wasn’t until we got an email invitation from them while we were at the fall 2016 board meeting that we seriously considered joining them. Part of the draw was a four-day “Pura Vida” tour before the flying part of the tour. That would give us a chance to get over any jetlag and begin to acclimate to the sun and heat at latitude 9 north. It didn’t quite work out that way, but we got a lot of flying at three new sites and we visited a couple of national parks, a cacao plantation and saw nearly a hundred miles of the Costa Rican Pacific coast. The ocean water was very warm, the local food was good, plentiful and inexpensive (if you ate in the Tico sodas and avoided the many tourist bars and restaurants), and our air-conditioned condo units right on the beach were comfortable. We’re glad we went and had the experience.

13 Jan, Fri – We got started at 1550 for SEA via the reserved parking lot at Park N Jet #2 NW of the airport. It took almost an hour including the slow, near rush-hour traffic on I-405. I had already paid the $98 (including a $5 discount from AirportParking.com, a deal at $5.15/day). We left the car in the self-park area and the shuttle picked us up almost immediately. At the airport we secured a Smartcarte and got our three checked bags and two carry-ons (plus our small backpacks) to Delta baggage drop. I had already printed out our boarding passes but they weren’t valid because we needed a get a passport check. Then we sailed through the security and settled down for a long wait until our flight to LAX left at 1930. It was a Compass commuter flight using a Brazilian-made jet. We got a nice surprise when the beverage service included the alcoholic stuff and a bag of fruits, nuts and seeds, Brain Food. We arrived around 2130 and found our gate in the same terminal. By the time we decided to get something to eat, most of the nearby eating places were closed. We ended up with a shared ham-salami-cheese sandwich on a ciabatta roll and a bottle of ginger beer at Farmer’s Market (which closed as we sat there eating). At the gate we ran into Pete Reagan who was going to be part of our group. We had flown with Pete back when Steve Roti lived near him in Portland.  And later, Scott Ruyle found us and introduced himself.

14 Jan, Sat – C.J. and I asked to have our seats changed so we could sit together and were placed in one of the exit rows. We didn’t know that those seats did not recline and that the thinner door would radiate cold on C.J. all night. It was a 5+ hour trip and I couldn’t seem to get comfortable enough to sleep. We saw some of the high mountains in Guatemala as we passed over the volcanoes and got a good view of the barrier bar of Puntarenas with a cruise ship at the pier. After some rough air we landed at SJO around 0835 (CST) where the air temp was pretty comfortable [When Brad and Maren picked us up they said they were “freezing” in the cold mountain air]. We had no problem clearing immigration and customs but I balked at paying $40 for the “Tourist Chip” SIM card from ICE/Kolgi. There was only one ATM and it was too busy so we exited the airport and went down the street about 150 ft to a restaurant where Brad and Maren were supposed to meet us. I went back into the airport to the ticketing floor to get money and punched the wrong ATM button and got 100 USD instead of $100-worth of colones. I finally decided to go to the foreign exchange booth and got only 48 thousand some odd (instead of the 54 thousand that my exchange app calculated). Anyway, now we had some local cash so I went back to the restaurant where everyone was waiting for me. We split up into the two SUVs and started driving down the scenic route to Jaco (rather than the expressway which was in the central valley). We stopped to buy some drinks at a Maxi Pali (Walmart family) in Atenas and then at La Casita del Café, a crowded roadside restaurant with a great view down to the Pacific Ocean. I had a beef burrito with a good side of mixed greens and chopped fresh tomatoes. C.J. had a meat quesadilla , and we

Tres Regalos pool area

 shared a batido mixtas frutas. We stopped again just before the Taracoles River where Brad and Maren treated us to “pipa fria”, ice cold coconut water in the shell. Then we walked across the crowded bridge so we could look at the crocodiles again (We had stopped here on our zip-line tour in 2012). We moved on to Maren’s favorite organic food store where I got a banana-cacao-raw milk smoothie (2450). Our last stop before the condo was up the hill outside Jaco to see the local launch, Las Terrazzas. There were quite a few local (San Jose) pilots there, but most were doing tandems and it was barely soarable. At the condo we got moved in and Brad and Maren went back out intending to return to the Jaco launch while we unpacked and

View  toward beach

rested. It was a nice surprise to be upgraded to the king suite in the condo with our own bathroom. C.J. napped while Scott and I went down to the beach to watch the sun set. When Brad and Maren returned after 1830, they told us that light rain had kept them from returning to launch. We all went out to eat at Pura Vida #3, a buffet place downtown; the food was pretty good and there were enough choices to make it interesting. All the restaurants we ate in were open-air: roof but no walls, no chilly air conditioning. Afterward we walked through town to a grocery store where we bought supplies for breakfast and lunch (the SIM card desk was not open). We stopped at a bank with a not-busy ATM and I took out another 100,000 colones. Sunday will be too crowded at Manuel Antonio National Park so we plan on meeting at 0900 to go flying locally, or getting up in the dark and taking an early hike around the Herradura peninsula.

15 Jan, Sun – We didn’t do the early hike – not sure if anyone did. We had bowls of fresh pineapple and mango with a handful of granola for breakfast. Then Keith shared some of his eggs and potatoes with us, so we were really well-fed. At 0900 we met and decided that the conditions looked pretty

Las Terrazzas (Jaco) Launch

good for flying even though it was already somewhat late for the Jaco site on a normal day. What made the difference was that the dry season had not yet fully developed. So, even though the clouds developed and the wind was crossing from the right of launch, it was flyable (at least after the wind direction came around). We were glad to see that there was a layer of gravel covering the red dirt that the launch was built on. Three of our pilots launched and had mostly fly-downs. Same for me when I got off the 800-ft launch (:04). When we got back up sometime after noon, the local pilots began to show up. C.J. launched after a couple of people had begun to soar and got to 1700 ft and flew for 1hr05min. I launched for my second flight when there were already a number of people flying around and above the launch. Since I didn’t like the crowd, I flew farther west on the ridge getting to over 1100 ft in some bumpy air. When I started sinking I returned to the face below launch and climbed back up. But the lift wasn’t working as well on the ridge and I ended up sinking out landing near the unshaded “Y LZ” (:12). Scott landed shortly after me and we got picked up pretty quickly by Maren. Both times I stuffed my wing and harness in the new Sol cinch sack. When we got back to launch Brad was flying. David, Pete and Keith were either

Macaw (roosting) Tree

at the beach or getting close to it. I drove one of the vehicles down behind Maren as we went to pick up C.J. who had landed about halfway to the beach. Brad landed in the fields just west of Maxi Pali. Back at the condo we had some bread and cheese for lunch then went out to the beach. C.J. wanted to cross the river to the Herradura side but the tide was coming in and causing a strong upstream current. I didn’t want to get partway across and have to swim in the current so we returned to the ocean beach and spotted Brad, Pete and Keith just beyond the breakers. We swam and waded out to them on the mostly gentle-sloping bottom. I was okay for a while but after a few big waves I had trouble slowing my heart rate and we returned to the shore. Pete and Keith were up for taking another flight and so was C.J. I was ambivalent and Scott wasn’t going to fly again. We went back to the condo area for a shower (I finally figured out that the faucet needed to rotate
clockwise for hot water) and to get dressed for flying around 1530. But Maren vetoed the plan because it was too late. As an alternative we drove out to the “macaw tree” in the valley

Macaws in tree

below launch. We had to drive across a shallow stream to reach the very tall seemingly dead tree. As we arrived we could see pairs of macaws flying in to roost for the night. They had looong tails and when they flared for landing their bright tails spread dramatically. We took some pictures but the birds were far away in the tall tree. [Pete probably has good pics from his long lens.] We made a stop at Mas X Menos (“more for less”) but the cell phone booth was not open again. We grabbed some sunscreen (Nivea, expensive), oatmeal, tea and yogurt then went for dinner at Soda Marea Baja, another buffet restaurant. This time there were more choices and maybe better stuff, or maybe we were just more accustomed to choosing from among the various dishes. The 6000 colones for two (less than $12) included a salad bar and drink as well as a fully heaped plate. After dinner we returned to the condo and I caught up on my journal and C.J. did some editing.

16 Jan, Mon – After a breakfast of overnight oatmeal, we all met at 0845 and Brad and Maren said that the light east winds and few clouds indicated a good day for flying. We went up the hill to the Jaco launch and quickly got ready to fly. There were no locals around but Maren went right up as soon as she launched. I followed her and also got to climb in pretty mellow thermals. A few more people launched and then there was a cry on the radio from Dave (I think) that a pilot was down.

When I turned back toward launch, I could see C.J.’s wing in the trees just below. Brad and Keith Dawson (an Air Force emergency medical tech) went down and found C.J. unhurt but stuck on a steep slope. She was able to reach the ground but had to remain hooked in so that she didn’t slide any farther down into the jungle. Meanwhile, I was checking out the top-landing options and finally chose to land on a large bulldozed clearing just west of launch (0:20). When I reached launch (with Maren right behind me) Brad and Keith had returned to launch and moved a car down to the edge to serve as an anchor for a rope that Keith was rappelling down to a point above C.J. where he could lower her down. Once they got C.J. to a rough road it was relatively straightforward to return her to launch where I had been waiting [Both C.J. and Brad told me not to go down the steep slope]. Pete, Scott, Keith, David and Brad (who had driven in to town to buy a saw, machete and a couple of pruners) worked on the wing removal. It took quite a while to get the wing down without damaging it. Fortunately, the sun was obscured by the clouds and there was a good breeze from the west at our level. [While hacking at the vegetation with my SOG Paratool , Pete got a pretty deep cut on his palm and later had to have it stitched.] Once C.J. and wing were reunited, we all drove down and headed for a shower and some lunch. Later C.J., Scott and I went with Maren to the big Auto Mercado in Herradura. She also drove us down to Herradura Bay where the busy beach looked sort of familiar from our tour stop there on the Panama Canal cruise. We bought some bananas, mangos, ciabatta bread, cheese, ham lunch meat, yogurt, cookies and a sweet cream-cheese bread. We made a stop on the way back at the organic food shop. Once there was some shade between the
pool and the beach, we unstuffed C.J.’s glider and shook out as much of the leaves and other debris as possible. The risers had been removed to get the wing out of the tree so we and Keith cleared the lines and got them ready to be put back together when Brad returned from the clinic with Pete. Brad did the C’s, then B’s and A’s and then did the brakes. After Pete and I watched Brad we were able to do the other side of the wing. [We did not use a wrench to tighten the maillons. (Did that later)] Then Brad took the wing out to the beach to check it by kiting. He thought that the lines might have shrunk so when we brought it back to the condo, he stretched all the lines The A’s had shrunk less than the D’s, which is typical, I guess. Then he showed C.J. an efficient way to pack her wing in her concertina bag by rosetting it from the leading edge side. Later Keith and Scott shared dinner with us – smoked trout from the organic food store, eggs and avocado served on corn tortillas. We worked with Scott for a bit to try to get his Flymaster GPS SD to a point where he could use it. Brad dropped in to get us ready to go to Manuel Antonio National Park leaving at 0600.

17 Jan, Tue – Up at 0500 to make the 0600 leave time. When we checked

"Bright jungle flower"

 in at the other condo, Brad was still eating breakfast. So, we didn’t leave until 0630 and learned a little about “Pura Vida time”. It was about an hour and a half drive to the parking areas at Manuel Antonio National Park. We got a shady place not far from the entrance and fended off the persistent guides-for-hire ($20/person). Then we had to stand in a line to get our tickets ($32) and stand in another, longer line to get in the gate. Our backpacks were checked and Scott’s nuts and chips were confiscated since they looked to the officials like monkey food. C.J. and I left our fins and snorkels in the car but I carried in my mask in case there looked like some good snorkeling. We walked in along the main trail up to the Y where we took the left fork toward the catarata, waterfall, looking for animals in

Sloth (from a sign photo)

the lowland humid forest. We spotted a couple of critters, probably sloths, but they were far off and obscured by foliage. The waterfall was less than exciting and just made a good place to turn around. Back at the Y we continued a short distance in the hot and humid weather to a side trail that paralleled the dirt road we had been following. We saw the small red land crabs off to the side of the elevated boardwalk that comprised most of the trail. At one point we were lucky enough to spot a two-toed (?) sloth up in a tree who was feeding in the slow manner typical of sloths. When we hit the trail junction with the road we stopped for a bathroom break (this was the first park rest rooms we saw), then headed steeply down the hill to the Manuel Antonio Beach. The turtle trap, an archeological feature supposedly

Iguana

used by early Ticos to trap fish (?) on the low tide, was located on the far north end of the beautiful beach. We headed across the narrow isthmus to another scenic beach, Playa Espadilla Sur, and stayed on the trail. As we passed the main area, we ran into a bunch of white-faced Capuchin monkeys and then several raccoon-like coatis crossed the trail. At the beach we left our clothes and packs in the shade and splashed into the gentle waves and warm water. It was nice to get wet and sort of cooled down. I used my mask but there wasn’t anything to see although the water was pretty clear. We

Capuchin monkey

got dressed, even though there were showers back at the main beach, and walked back up the hill and then took the road back toward the park entrance. We saw another sloth and heard the racket from two groups of howler monkeys. Just outside the gate we were sitting around waiting for something and a doe and two fawns wandered right through the area. We returned to the car and Brad called to check on the timing for our next activity, a tour of a cacao plantation. He determined that we had time to get lunch so we headed for Emils, a recommended restaurant in Quepos. It was

At Playa Espadilla Sur

closed on Tuesdays but there was the Falafel Bar just down the street which sounded good. And it was. C.J. and I had a falafel plate, a schwarma plate and two interesting smoothies (guanabana-papaya and mango-ginger?). From there we drove north a ways and turned off the highway and drove a long ways on a bumpy unpaved road. Finally we found our way up a side road to the cacao operation. We were perhaps the first tour ($20) although the owner had held several magic, healing cacao ceremonies there. We got to drink some unsweetened hot cacao first and then learned how the beans were harvested from the

Roasting cacao beans

Separating the seed coat

Mixing cacao with oil, sweetner

Enjoying the chocolates

cacao fruit on the tree, removed from the fruit and placed in bags to ferment, then roasted so that the seed coat could be removed by pounding in a large wooden mortar. Afterward, the farm manager mixed some warmed cacao with coconut oil, molasses and some flavorings and poured it into candy molds to make 75% cacao chocolate candy. Later we went out again to see some of the fruit trees, turmeric plants (the roots are ground for the spice turmeric), and a cacao tree. Most of the trees were located nearby in the farm manager’s family grove. [Black rot had decimated most of the

Turmeric plant roots

 cacao trees in CR and they had been almost all cut down. Most of the commercial chocolate now comes from Africa. The growing area is typically between latitudes 20N and 20S.] C.J. bought a bag of guanabana tea and a half pound of cacao powder. It was almost dark when we left around 1800 for the long drive on the unpaved roads back to the highway to Jaco. We stopped at Playa Hermosa to take advantage of the dark sky conditions to try to see the Southern Cross. But there were too many clouds to get a good view of the whole sky. We returned to the condo without stopping for any dinner since we were pretty full from lunch and all the chocolate samples. I’m not sure what we’ll be doing on Wed since Brad needs to go to SJO to pick up the final member of our flying group.

18 Jan, Wed – C.J. worked hard on editing most of the day. Around 1100 I walked up the beach into town to the Mas X Menos where I bought some raisins, yogurt, mango and a pineapple. Then I bought two SIM cards and had the cashier put an additional 4000cc on each phone. It was hot on the walk back and I stopped to sit in the shade to see if the phones actually worked. I also took out another 50,000 colones from an ATM attached to a bank. I got back sometime after 1300 and C.J. and I ate the bread and cheese we had not eaten on Tues. Brad got back from the airport with Daren. Around 1515 we loaded up the cars to go flying at Jaco. Conditions were light but Pete managed to maintain at or near launch level for quite a long time. No one else could stay up. I was the next to last to launch and since Pete had left the lift band to land, I enjoyed a good scratch for 16 minutes. A memorable moment was when I was flying along the ridge away from launch to the west and passed closely by a tree where a large, yellow toucan had just landed. C.J. launched after me and had a short flight (08:55) after an abort in light conditions, as did Pete on his second flight. We went back up but there was no point in flying again. Scott and Keith tried flying straight away from launch toward the west and came close to reaching the highway. After flying we went back to Marea Baja for another big dinner. Later we had to pack up our gear that we had stuffed in cinch sacks. It wasn’t bad doing it on the very short grass outside of our condo. The plan for Thurs is to go to Dominical, a couple of hours to the south, beyond Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park, leaving at 0830.

19 Jan, Thu – We met at the cars around 0830 and got going on the long drive to Dominical. About 4 km beyond the hippie enclave of Dominical, we turned off on a road to the quiet beach called Playa

Dominical Launch

Dominicalito, our primary LZ. We also stopped at a soccer field a little closer to the mountain ridge that could be used as a bail-out LZ. Then we headed up a very steep road, some of it paved, to the top of the ridge where we turned onto a narrower road that followed the profile of the ridge up and down. Launch is located on private land owned by a Canadian and the caretaker had us sign a waiver and pay the site fee (8000cc for two) (The elevation of launch is about 1700 ft, but my GPS showed closer to 2000). There were already a dozen or more paraglider pilots on launch, many of them part of Nick Crane’s tour group, others were presumably locals (maybe with Zion Paragliding). We had a site briefing and watched a few pilots take off and soar. Pete took off first in our group and I launched pretty soon after that. There

Dominicalito Beach in distance

was plenty of lift to both the right and left but the cloudbase was not very high. So, when I got up a few hundred feet, I was already in the wispies. Still, I could see south to Uvita Point which looks like the shape of a whale’s tail. Keeping out of the buzzing gaggle, I probably got too far away from the lift-generating ridge and got below launch level. I headed for the beach but I was not making much of a glide slope and was concerned that I was going to have to use the bailout soccer field. But as I got closer I could see that I had enough height to cross the highway and make at least one turn before I landed on the sandy beach (:26). I moved to the shade and started folding up and soon C.J. joined me (:36). Daren, Scot and Keith had landed at Dominicalito, also, while Pete, Maren and David managed to reach the beach at Dominical. Brad picked us up and drove us back to launch to see if it was still looking good (no one still flying and stronger wind) and retrieve the other car which I drove down. We all met at the shop and restaurant area at the north end of Dominical. The fish tacos and fish

At El Pescado Loco

and chips were great and we had iced tea and tamarind juice at El Pescado Loco. After lunch we explored the nearby shops and other eating places. Then we walked to the beach which was maybe 0.25 mi away. In the tree line was a big souvenir market with lots of screen printed towels, wallhangings, bed coverings, bongs, jewelry, etc, etc. The beach was way big enough to land on and the ridge between where we landed and Dominical is usually soarable if you can reach the beginning of it. Brad and Maren picked us up at the market and we drove back through town and under the highway bridge following an unpaved road up the river. A couple of miles along, we forded a sizeable stream and stopped so those who wanted to could swim/splash in the not-very-cool fresh water. Then we headed back to the highway with a stop at a restaurant-bar with a whole Boeing

Pina at Jaco Farmers Market

727 in its parking lot. The next stop was in Jaco at the farmers market where C.J. and I bought two pineapples, a melon and three bananas; we also grabbed four much more expensive avocados. Back at the condo we unpacked enough so that we could charge our instruments and radios. Then we ate the bread, cheese and ham that we had brought for lunch. I made two batches of smoothies – guanabana-pineapple-banana-tamarind and a pineapple-watermelon-banana-tamarind – and shared them with Scott and Keith. Brad dropped in later and discussed options for Fri. Originally we thought that we might go back to Dominical but the drivers were tired, so Caldera, a ridge soaring site with a restaurant on launch, to the north is a possibilityor we might stay at Jaco. The weekend is out for Dominical due to traffic, but Monday might be good since there is a low high tide at 1130 – maybe half the beach we had at noon on Thursday.

20 Jan, Fri – We left after 0915 for Caldera, a 400-ft bluff above the port of Caldera not far from Puntarenas. A rough unpaved track led to a gate and we had to call and wait for someone to unlock it. Jean-Claude greeted us and collected the daily site fee ($10 for both). We found out that the

G in front of Caldera launch

 Nemaclys Restaurant on launch had been closed for five months due to staffing problems [but I wonder if the rough road to get there might limit clientele drastically]. The view was excellent and the launch was smooth. When we got there around 1030 the light wind was from the west which was right-cross on the launch. Still, we started to get set up. Pete was ready first and he managed to stay up and then climb above launch. I went next and found easy soaring conditions. Eventually we were all able to reach the end of the bluff maybe 1.5 km to the left/south and climb to 750 ft there. After an hour I was getting some lower back pain and tried crossing the highway to a separate bluff (Roca de Carballo) (about 1 km from launch)

C.J. flying high above Caldera

right over the ocean. Pete had already done that and then landed. I managed to soar just above the top of the cliff for ten minutes or so before I headed out along the beach to land in some mixed grass and sand (1hr18min, 764 ft). Daren also landed out on the beach and then Brad, too, and joined us as we got a ride back to launch with Maren who had top-landed. We hung out in the shade at launch waiting for C.J., Scott and Keith to land. Pete took off again and, when we drove down and went south along the beach to a

heladeria for smoothies, he met us there landing on the beach near the bridge. It was already after 1500 when we set off for Jaco. Brad detoured to Agujas Beach north of Herradura because it is a possible landing zone if you go XC from Jaco. Maren stopped to shop at the organic food shop, Satori, which took quite a while. I stayed outside and got some photos of a vulture feeding on a roadkill iguana. On the way back to the condo, the pilots in Brad’s car decided to go check out Jaco TO (flydowns for all three) while Daren, C.J. and I continued home with Maren. We took a swim in the ocean and then fixed a dinner of sorts out of our bread, cheese, ham and one of the now-ripe avocados. There was also plenty of fruit from our visit to the farmers market (we didn’t go again at 0730 this morning when Maren went back with a few people). For the weekend it appears that we will be staying around Jaco to avoid traffic along the coast highway.

From Jaco launch to the condos on the beach

21 Jan, Sat – After a fruit bowl with some granola I started working on the 1702 magazine. At 0915 we headed up to Jaco. C.J. got a great flight getting high with Pete and staying up until the clouds

moved closer. Then she was able to push out to the west and finally reach the beach in front of our condo! Brad had said the forecast called for north winds and that we should consider crossing the valley in front of launch and try soaring the higher ridge on that side. Pete made the crossing but did not find much lift over there, returned to the sky above launch and went to the beach. I flew around the launch ridge climbing to 964 from the 800-ft launch. I flew a bit too far north and when I tried to get back to the usual lift spot on the point S of launch I sank out and landed at the Y (:27). I got a ride back up and decided to fly again along with most of the rest of the crew. This time I got to 1200 ft in a thermal above launch but I flew only 13 min before landing at the shade tree near the Macaw Tree. We all went back to the condo and had lunch and I worked on the editing until 1500 when we got a “hurry up” to go flying (We had understood that we were leaving at 1515). There were lots of locals who had been flying and a North American woman who wanted a tandem flight. Maren flew her, but it was a short flight and she was going to try again on Sun. I was slow to get ready in the afternoon heat and the wind was light and crossing from the right by the time I was ready. Nonetheless, when I did get a cycle, it was a good one and I went right up from launch. Naturally, I assumed that conditions would be good all over and I flew out of the good climb (to 1046) and went along the ridge looking for other thermals. There were patches of lift all over but none as good as the first one. I ended up working the launch point and maintaining and sometimes climbing over launch. I milked it for a while but then I got bored and went straight across the valley to the “wedge” of trees on the other side. I found nothing on the way across but there was a weak thermal over the trees and I got in a few turns before I had to turn back to the shade tree and land (0:17). On the way back we drove over to Herradura and bought groceries including an expensive rotisserie chicken at the Auto Mercado. For dinner C.J. made a big salad with lettuce and a variety of tropical fruits, and we ate part of the chicken. Around 1930 a bunch of us went with Brad to a heladeria for some good ice cream cones (choc and café, flan and maracuya). Back at the condo I finished up the editing at 2145.

22 Jan, Sun – We had oatmeal with fruit for breakfast. Around 0925 we left for Jaco TO. Brad had not checked the weather (Maren wasn’t feeling well and he was sort of freaked out thinking that one of his former students had died at Pacifica when he landed on the beach and a wave pulled him into the surf). Conditions were crossed and over the back so after waiting for a while, we left and

Jaco and the beach

went for a drive. We turned off the highway just before Hermosa and drove up the ridge visible from Jaco launch to the south. It was a pretty steep unpaved road along the top of a narrow ridge. There were some view homes surprisingly far up the ridge. We stopped at a potential launch “Tres Marias” at around 2000 ft. It would have been a possibility if the wind had not been so strong since it faced into today’s prevailing north wind. We drove on a bit farther to the abandoned gate to a planned development containing an “enigmatic fountain”.

Abandoned gate near Tres Marias

Maren turned back there (along with the couple who had met us at Jaco TO for a rescheduled tandem. Brad’s car (with us and Scott) continued on a mile or so farther before we turned around. We stopped briefly to examine a yarrow-like plant whose leaflets would close when stroked. When we got back to Jaco Maren had already been to the launch and determined that it was still over the back. So we all returned to the condos for lunch (turkey, cheese, lettuce on ciabatta). The group had decided to give up on flying and go to Carrara national park. At the last moment Keith and Scott decided not to go, so Maren did not have to drive. It was only a short distance beyond Tarcoles to the park ($20). We walked several trails within the park and saw one macaw, one agouti, an iguana and lots of leafcutter ants and jungle trees, lianas and other plants. It was hot even in the shade of the dry, lowland forest. We returned to the car shortly after the closing time for the park, 1600, and the ranger was waiting to close the gate. Brad drove us up the highway a short distance to the bridge over the “crocodile river”, the Rio Grande de Tarcoles, to check out the crocs in the late afternoon light. We thought we got directions to a fish restaurant in Tarcoles, but may have misunderstood, because we turned left toward Tarcolito and wound up several kilometers almost to the Bijaguatal (?) waterfall. The view down to the beach was excellent at a spot that looked like it could be a launch (with the nearest LZ way too far away). Returning to Tarcoles turnoff, we went into the town and drove through but we did not find a restaurant. Finally we chose a touristic (i.e., expensive) restaurant, Vista Mar, along the highway across from a beach. We got to watch the sunset from the covered deck as C.J. and I shared a maracyua margarita, salpicon ceviche appetizer and a fried whole red snapper. We drove home in the dark marveling (aghast) at the slow traffic heading the opposite direction – to San Jose – on Sunday night.

23 Jan, Mon – Up at 0700 for a possible departure time of 0845. But after breakfast the time was pushed to 0900 then to 1000 as the conditions weren’t clear. Caldera might have been good but Jaco was closer and the people who wanted to fly thermals lobbied for Jaco (also known as Las Terazzas). The wind was light and crossing and I waited a long time before getting ready to fly. Two or three people went down before the first person soared (Pete). I took off and got a good climb right away to 1400 ft (from the 800 ft launch). Then I lost it and had to grovel around a lot. When I got up again somewhat over launch I tried crossing to the southeast and got there higher than last time but still too low to work back up again. I landed near the shade tree and packed up (0:30). We went back to the condo and I went out for a swim in the ocean. But first I crossed the shallow (today) river to the north and explored a little bit of the shoreline. There were hundreds of small fish tossed up on the shore by the waves. No idea what caused that. When I got back C.J. had returned from her long duration flight to nearly 1000m. We had some rotisserie chicken and pineapple for lunch. At 1500 we went back up the hill but the wind was really light and again the first people to launch had sledders. I decided to give it a try and lucked into a good launch cycle and climbed above launch far enough to entice Pete and Scott off, and later, C.J. Scott got higher than me on his new wing but eventually he sank out, as did Pete. I did some extreme scratching close to the trees and managed to maintain at about launch level for 21 min. On the way out to land at the Y LZ, I flew over two flying and cawing macaws. I landed kind of hard and felt something “give” in my ankle. It was sore but not swollen the rest of the day and evening. Brad spotted some whales from launch and when he picked us up we went back up on the ridge to see if we could spot them. They were way out, but you could still see when they breached and blew. To get a better view we drove south almost to Hermosa where we found a small bare hill to use for an observation point. Later we drove a bit farther to Playa Hermosa where Brad wanted to see what had happened to the beach to cause a big hole. We returned to the condo to get cleaned up and at 1845 Brad drove everyone but Maren into town to the Green Room Restaurant and Bar. It was a typical tourist joint with okay food and American city prices. C.J. and I shared a bowl of ceviche and a half-pound Caprese burger with a small salad. For dessert we went across the street to El Barco Heladeria again and shared a “copa dos”, two scoops in a cup, of crema chips and chocolate Oreo. I went a short distance south to the bank where I used the ATM to get 100,000 colones as we were just about out of money. Back at the condo we caught up on my journal and reading.

24 Jan, Tue – Up at 0700, ate oatmeal outside on the porch where it was still comfortable. Brad let us know that we were going to Dominical. We arrived at the Dominicalito beach LZ around 1100 or so, checked out the beach (high tide was around 1145) and found adequate room to land safely; in fact, a tandem pilot had just landed. We drove up and found a pretty much empty launch this time, with the tandem guy arriving right behind us. Also Rick Jacobs, an old hang glider that we knew way back when, and his fellow pilot got there before we were set up. He now flies paragliders. Pete was off first then Daren then me. There was enough lift near launch (1900ft) to climb to 2400 ft and fly south past the two radio towers. I came back to launch and then tried going north. I got quite a ways but not far enough to connect with the next, lower ridge. I was down to launch level so I headed out toward the beach. I was really hoping that I could soar the ridge between the LZ and Dominical. I was averaging about 4:1 or a bit better (I could tell because I set a GPS “goto” for the LZ and the required L/D was 4:1 and it never changed most of the way out.) I caught a bump of lift as I approached the south end of the ridge and I turned to fly along the front (SW) of the ridge. There was absolutely nothing going up even though Keith had soared it earlier. I turned back to the LZ and had enough height to get down to the end where Scott, Daren and Keith had landed, make one turn into the wind, and land. (0:27). I packed up in the shade with Daren and he bought me a pipa fria from the local stand. Later we all went to Dominical and had lunch at El Pescado Loco again (fish sandwich, fish and chips, fresh orange juice. The ceviche which we had wanted to try was not ready; it needed more time for marinating). After a leisurely lunch we headed to a local swimming hole, Poza Azul. It was a short drive and then a walk down some stone steps to a natural pool with a 40-ft waterfall. The water wasn’t cold but it was cooler than the ocean, just right for C.J. but too chilly for me. No one else went in except for Keith who joined the local young men on their rope swing. When we had climbed back up to the parking lot, we found that Brad and Pete and Daren had gone off to find a trail to the top of the falls. Eventually we got going toward home and after a stop for gas, a stop for pipa fria, and a stop at a Playa Esterillo Este for Brad to swim at sunset, we got home around 1845. I threw together a dinner of onions, carrots, chicken and pineapple and C.J. added some grated turmeric root and pepper. We had a meeting later to figure out what we were going to do on Wed. I was the only one who wanted to go snorkeling so that isn’t going to happen (C.J. was feeling low on energy and wanted to save herself for flying.) Maren is taking Keith and Pete out early (0600) for SUP.

25 Jan, Wed – Keith, Pete, Dave and Maren got up before 0600 to go paddleboarding on the south end of the Jaco beach. I didn’t even get up until 0730. We had oatmeal with fruit and a sprinkle of granola (good) and I tried pulverizing the cacao in the blender and then mixing in the milk. It worked pretty well with a shaving of cane sugar to make something like hot cocoa. We met at the cars pretty late and we went up with Maren. It was a surprise to find a big dump truck full of dirt and a backhoe/front end loader on launch. I guess Maren and Brad knew since Brad did not bring the rest of the pilots up until a bit later. After the dirt was dumped to fill in some crevasses and extend the runway, three loads of gravel were dumped on the surface and smoothed out so that all the red dirt was covered, all the way up to the parking area. Between loads of gravel, I launched after Maren and some others and we weren’t getting any higher than usual, just barely above launch. Some sank out and C.J. launched; Maren toplanded. I was feeling pretty good about thermalling and managed to snag a good one from just to the right of launch and take it up and back. I was hoping to reach 2400 ft which is the minimum recommended for flying to the beach, but I never got quite that high. At about 1800 ft or so, I headed across to the south side of the valley and pushed pretty far in over the trees toward Tres Marias, the one-time launch. I hit a good climb and got over 2000ft (and within 0.75 mi of Tre Marias) but before Pete and C.J. could join me, the lift petered out. I had a few more climbs but nothing to get me up to the magic 2400 mark. I went out and landed at the shade tree where the rest of the sledders had just been picked up (1:04). C.J. joined me not too much later. We went back to the condo for turkey, cheese and avocado sandwiches. Later I took my snorkel gear and walked across the river and around the rocky point to the north to see if I could find a calm cove to snorkel in. There wasn’t any place that looked safe or had clear water, so I went back to a sandy cove and swam out a ways with mask, fins and snorkel. There must be better places to snorkel for sure. The time to leave for launch had been pushed back a half hour to 1530 and some folks had gone up early to work on clearing a launch that faced more north. On the newly-graveled launch the less experienced pilots launched and did not stay above launch. Pete had taken a short flight earlier to 1000ft and squeaked in for a toplanding. After a long wait someone decided that we would not fly. On the way down the hill we drove to the possible NW-facing launch that Pete and the others had worked on. Then we went to the organic food store and waited for Maren to get her food and socialize. Maren drove us to the Auto Mercador where C.J. and I and Scott bought groceries. Back at the condo we waited until 1855 when we were going to meet, but we didn’t get going until Brad showed up at 1915. The place we were headed for (Casa Rustico) closed at 1930 so we started off for Marea Baja. On the way we spotted Marea Alta and decided to try it. We got a gringo menu which was pretty extensive. C.J. had the calamari with garlic and I had sea bass and shrimp in “vainilla sauce” and a fruta (mixed fruit) jugo. Everything was quite good, even so, we went back to El Barco for ice cream for dessert. We shared a copa dos with chocolate/peanut and Nutella ice creams. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Caldera where Daren wants to fly since it his and Pete’s last day.

26 Jan, Thu – Around 0930 we left for Caldera arriving at the gate about 1030. Conditions already looked good but no one was in a rush to be the first off. I spent a little time getting people’s photos and contact information before deciding to give it a try. I didn’t rush but I started getting ready and then so did Pete. I launched and found lift down the ridge to the left. The best lift was all the way down at the southern bluff where I reached almost 1000 ft above the ocean. Pete took off and then Daren (who sunk out on his first round but had an excellent second flight, his best free-flight to date). A little later the lift band extended out quite a ways, almost to the ocean. After more than an hour I really needed to land and go to the bathroom. I left the launch (390 ft) area at around 500 ft and made it easily across the valley to the sea cliff to the northwest. I soared around it for a while before heading back toward launch and then down to land in the LZ (where I told people on the radio, “The baño is free in the bailout LZ.”) (1:40) Pete landed shortly having gone back to near launch and gotten back up. Maren picked us up and drove us back to launch so we could get the other car since Brad had chosen to fly. Everyone else landed on the beach near the river to the south of the ridge. We ran across the busy highway for batidos/smoothie before hitting the road. Brad tried to take us to a beach at Caldera but had to turn around when the gate guard for the cruise port told him that there was no longer a road but you had to take a trail. So we headed back south making a longish stop at a fruit stand for huge pipas frias. Back at the condo, C.J. and I went out to play in the waves until I got tired. Then we went to the barely salty condo pool and relaxed in the warm water. After a shower, I checked out the photos I had taken and copied some to Daren’s 32GB SD card. At 1845 Brad took most of us (except Scott) to Jaco Rustico, another local buffet-style eating place, lots of choices but maybe not a great idea to go there just a half hour before they closed. Back at the condo again I said goodbye to Pete and Daren and caught up on this journal.

27 Jan, Fri – 0930 (actually 0945) we headed up to Jaco (Las Terazzas). Conditions looked good so we didn’t wait around very long. Scott launched and sank out, then Maren took off and after scratching low for a while got up and soared. I took off and found some punchy lift but I was on the ground with Scott shortly (0:09). We bundled our wings and squeezed them into back of the vehicle which Keith had driven down. Maren had toplanded by the time we got back up. When I launched again I had better luck and was able to work thermals, some with C.J. to 1600 (?) but then it got rougher and there may have been a down cycle because I followed Scott and Keith to the ground at the shade tree (0:28). While packing up I found my knife loose in my harness and when I checked my pocket I noted that I was missing my chapstick and condo keys. We all searched around where I had landed and Keith found my chapstick, but no keys. Maren picked us up and we drove back to the condo. Everyone had decided that we had flown our last CR flight and we all spent time packing our wings for travel. Luckily I found the condo keys in the recesses of the harness. Later C.J. and I had a big lunch of avocado, chicken, lettuce and sun-warmed bread to use up as much of our food as possible. I made another “chocolate-banana shake” with the almond chocolate milk and a frozen banana. Around 1615 Brad and Maren took us out for a little four-wheeling into the hills to the east. We reached the high point on a narrow rough road and walked up through tall, coarse grass to what used to be a launch at one time at about 2580 ft, Fila Negra. The sun set while we were on the way up but it didn’t matter since we were in the clouds and didn’t have much of a view. We got down in the dark with birds and moths/butterflies flying through our headlight beams. We went back to Marea Alta and I had a casados plate with a pork chop and C.J., who was not particularly hungry had a fish ceviche, frutas jugo and a bottle of water. Back at the condo we finished the little bit of packing that was left, cleaned up the unit and went to bed early-ish. We left most of our CR Colones with Brad and Maren (about 80 USD) for a donation to the local guy who paid for all the dirt, gravel and machinery to improve the launch

28 Jan, Sat – Up at 0430 for a 0530 departure. We left around 0545 after packing gear for four pilots in the Prado. Brad took the motorway instead of the scenic back roads so we reached the airport by 0715, in plenty of time for our 0943 flights. [BTW, the signage for the airport is terrible -no indication which exit to take and then confusing and missing signs as you get closer. Good thing Brad knew the route.] There were no baggage carts and if it weren’t for the help of Scott and Keith we would have had a harder time getting to the baggage drop without hiring one of the “skycaps”. We had to fill out a Costa Rican form before getting in the Delta check-in line but we had already paid our departure tax (included in the Delta airfare). The third checked bag was an additional $40 (or 22,500, cc). After getting through security, there were plenty of souvenir shops to look at and places to eat while we waited. I didn’t find any t-shirts that I liked and they were all around $20 or more with discounts if you bought multiples. We had good views from the left side of the plane as we took off over San Jose and the coast at Caldera and Puntarenas. Passing over Guatelmala we could see a volcano venting steam. I got the phone app Flyover Country working and it had a locator map and points of geographic interest that corresponded with the moving map on the seatback; it was pretty useful and I missed it later when we made the second leg of our trip from LAX to SEA. We passed over Mexico and could see the snowy peak of Orizaba west of Vera Cruz and then the Sonoran Desert and the Colorado River delta (and much more). In LAX we cleared customs and immigration – no line at the Global Entry kiosk. I forgot to dump my water bottle so had to go back through security. Fortunately, there was almost no line. Then we had only a short walk to our gate and on the way we stopped at Farmer’s Market once more to get a takeout French Brie sandwich with house-made chips ($16.20). On the way up the west coast we spotted El Cap and Half Dome in Yosemite Valley and maybe Hetch Hetchy. There were large lakes north of that and as it got dark we saw an unidentified snow-capped volcano, perhaps Jefferson. We made our landing approach right over downtown Seattle, and the Space Needle and Ferris wheel on the waterfront were obvious landmarks. Our luggage arrived almost before we did and I snagged a cart that had been left at the curb. The Park ‘N Jet2 shuttle was waiting as we got to the staging area after I had texted our arrival to their automated system (3). We were home to a chilly house by around 1930. We’re going to miss the warmth and sunshine and flying of Costa Rica.