13-28 January 2017
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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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| "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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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| Roasting cacao beans |
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| Separating the seed coat |
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| Mixing cacao with oil, sweetner |
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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
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Dominicalito Beach in distance
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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
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| 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
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| 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
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| 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)
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| 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.
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| 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
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| 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.
Houston but neither of us had much luck although we rested as much as possible
rather than reading or watching whatever was free on the seatback video
monitors. The good shows were only available on DirectTV by swiping a credit
card. We had a long, 4hr20min, layover in IAH, so we had breakfast tacos at
Papasitos then waited around for our flight. We were up in the clouds
again on most of the flight to Cancun but we broke out over a reef surrounding
a bright-blue lagoon before we reached the Yucatan Peninsula. I had the Fly
Above app working but there really wasn’t much to see except jungle. It would
have been cool if we had passed over Chichen Itsa. After a long walk and the usual
long line we cleared first the immigration and then the customs; we got a
random green light so we didn’t have to go through the scan and inspection. In
the small main corridor of the terminal we were stopped by someone wearing a
uniform with “servicioos turisticos” embroidered on her shirt. She led us to a
similarly attired young man who we thought was going to help direct us to our
pre-arranged shuttle. Instead, he spent probably a half-hour signing us up for
a couple of tours and a return shuttle back to the airport. The price was pretty good and he didn’t dwell overly long on the fact that we had to
attend a 90-minute information meeting about a new timeshare opportunity. We
felt pretty good about getting such a good deal on the tours but were a little
concerned that we were supposed to hide the agreement from Vidanta, our hosts
at the Grand Mayan. The area just outside the terminal was awash with shuttle
operators from all kinds of hotels and resorts. We finally found our Vidanta
Houston but neither of us had much luck although we rested as much as possible
rather than reading or watching whatever was free on the seatback video
monitors. The good shows were only available on DirectTV by swiping a credit
card. We had a long, 4hr20min, layover in IAH, so we had breakfast tacos at
Papasitos then waited around for our flight. We were up in the clouds
again on most of the flight to Cancun but we broke out over a reef surrounding
a bright-blue lagoon before we reached the Yucatan Peninsula. I had the Fly
Above app working but there really wasn’t much to see except jungle. It would
have been cool if we had passed over Chichen Itsa. After a long walk and the usual
long line we cleared first the immigration and then the customs; we got a
random green light so we didn’t have to go through the scan and inspection. In
the small main corridor of the terminal we were stopped by someone wearing a
uniform with “servicioos turisticos” embroidered on her shirt. She led us to a
similarly attired young man who we thought was going to help direct us to our
pre-arranged shuttle. Instead, he spent probably a half-hour signing us up for
a couple of tours and a return shuttle back to the airport. The price was pretty good and he didn’t dwell overly long on the fact that we had to
attend a 90-minute information meeting about a new timeshare opportunity. We
felt pretty good about getting such a good deal on the tours but were a little
concerned that we were supposed to hide the agreement from Vidanta, our hosts
at the Grand Mayan. The area just outside the terminal was awash with shuttle
operators from all kinds of hotels and resorts. We finally found our Vidanta
the lobby and booked two seats at Joyà,
a Cirque du Soleil residential show just across the street from the resort
entrance. And then we checked at the Alamo desk about renting a car for
a day (about $70 all inclusive, cheaper than booking a tour to a commercial
cenote). We were ready for a little break so we went back to the room and
rested, relaxed, read and napped until we felt like it was dinner time. It was
after 1900 when we got to Blue Fish, a cevicheria, and it was already full with
a 45-min. waiting list. We signed up and then went back to Jade to get some
lunch stuff and a muffin for breakfast (no milk or eggs, or yogurt since we
didn’t have any way to keep things cold). Back at Blue Fish we didn’t have long to wait
and got seated against the wall where we had a good view of the Andean flute
and pan-pipe band that was playing. C.J. had a good filet of red snapper and I
had the Peruano Ceviche. While we waited, we munched on a bowl of various
chips: tortilla, platano, sweet potato, and a thin bread. Weather had
deteriorated and we had some light rain, nothing like the downpour during our
initial timeshare meeting after registration. We were about ready for bed by
the time we got back but I spent an hour or so catching up on this journal.
and I had
the huevos rancheros which came with sides of bacon and refried beans.
On the way back we walked a little way down the cart track next to the fairway
to get a close up of an iguana (we needn’t have bothered since the critters are
everywhere) and then found a side path that lead to where the young crocodiles
were located. Then we continued along the boardwalk nature trail to the Grand Mayan
buildings and through GM#3 to the trail to the Flamingaria/Flamingo Island. A flock of the bright pink birds were
located within a large enclosure at the opposite end of the lake from the Del
Lago restaurant/buffet. From there we returned to our room where we consulted a
map to see where we had been. It has been slow getting a handle on the winding
paths and roads in this huge resort. After resting a while, we took our swim
stuff and went over to the Grand Mayan pool. We got delayed a little when a big
iguana waddled right down the path out of the pool area. Next we realized that
we didn’t have our sunscreen or free-drink tickets with us. We took a quick 
dip
in the infinity pool above the lake then headed back to the room for the
missing items. Back at the pool we traded in our tickets for a Miami Vice and a
strawberry Piña Colada. We drank them while wading in the relatively warm
water. The wind was again strong from the northeast and the sky was partly
cloudy but it wasn’t at all cold. We kept our towels and wandered over to the
main pool (alberca
map to see where we had been. It has been slow getting a handle on the winding
paths and roads in this huge resort. After resting a while, we took our swim
stuff and went over to the Grand Mayan pool. We got delayed a little when a big
iguana waddled right down the path out of the pool area. Next we realized that
we didn’t have our sunscreen or free-drink tickets with us. We took a quick 
dip
in the infinity pool above the lake then headed back to the room for the
missing items. Back at the pool we traded in our tickets for a Miami Vice and a
strawberry Piña Colada. We drank them while wading in the relatively warm
water. The wind was again strong from the northeast and the sky was partly
cloudy but it wasn’t at all cold. We kept our towels and wandered over to the
main pool (alberca
people were actually
interested in buying stuff. While we were waiting we talked with a couple of
young men from NYC who had done some interesting travels. We got to Tulum at
1147 and were dropped off at the market with our entrance tickets and a voucher
for lunch at…wait for it…Subway. It was more than 2- or 300 m to
the entrance along the entrance road and once inside the gate we were on gravel
trails and stone stairs. We took the route that followed the wall toward the
sea and then continued south passing the temple of the god of the winds, some
mini temples, and down into the lower perhaps residential part of the town. We
passed a couple of buildings on the right and then passed beneath the hill where
El Castillo and the Temple of the Descending God were located. We climbed up
around the south and west sides of El Castillo where there were good views of
the shallow Caribbean Sea (with the now usual big waves – this was not going to
be a day for swimming on the beautiful beaches). 
We backtracked a bit from the
dead-end trail and took the eco-archaeological trail through the jungle to the
south until we reached the exit gate through the Great Wall. Instead of exiting
and walking back to the entrance along the wall we headed north through the
central area of the archeological area passing some residential platforms (they
seemed not much larger than a big tent platform). The Temple of Frescoes (held
up now by steel girders), the House of Columns, more platforms and narrow
streets. Along the way we caught sight of a coatimundi marauding through a trash can. We exited through the Great Wall on the north side and returned to the
entrance where we looked at some pictures and photos of what the frescoes
looked like (maybe). And we bought a postcard and a small book on
We backtracked a bit from the
dead-end trail and took the eco-archaeological trail through the jungle to the
south until we reached the exit gate through the Great Wall. Instead of exiting
and walking back to the entrance along the wall we headed north through the
central area of the archeological area passing some residential platforms (they
seemed not much larger than a big tent platform). The Temple of Frescoes (held
up now by steel girders), the House of Columns, more platforms and narrow
streets. Along the way we caught sight of a coatimundi marauding through a trash can. We exited through the Great Wall on the north side and returned to the
entrance where we looked at some pictures and photos of what the frescoes
looked like (maybe). And we bought a postcard and a small book on
returned by the same route and got back
about 1245 and had just fifteen minutes to browse in the souvenir shops. Then
we waited around for the rest of our group to get to the dock. From there we
motored south a ways to Playa Lanchero (I think) where we had a buffet lunch
with lots of choice including fish, chicken and pasta with mushrooms, fruit and
salads. We stayed there until 1530 resting in the shade on the beach in deck
chairs. We motored to the west side of a small island W of IM and got our
snorkeling gear on. While we were motoring, the photographer brought his cruise
pictures around and we ended up getting a deal of two photos for the price of
one. We refused the other three pics, even though they were all good. The water was not cold, but I was glad I had
put on my wetsuit. The water was reasonably transparent but not gin clear
because of all the wind recently and there were bright reef fish to see,
notably a parrot fish. Swimming against the current to catch up with the boat
was really tiring and I was glad to get out of the water. C.J. was the last to
get back to the boat. After getting dried off we moved to the bow where the
raised sails provided late afternoon shade. We were sailing right toward the
Riu Palace resort, the one with a big square opening through it. We could see a
few boats giving some of their passengers rides on their spinnakers, but our
more sedate, and less drunk, group did not insist on joining the “fun”. We
didn’t arrive at the dock until well after the 1700 meeting time for our ride
back to Vidanta. [Still, we had a great time and I left a big tip.]
Fortunately, our transportation company had us covered and after a longish wait
we got on a couple of vans and returned to the central lobby. C.J. and I
decided that we’d just grab a sandwich at Jade Deli and while we were
waiting we ate dessert first, two scoops of gelato-like ice cream. We brought
the surprisingly good Reuben on a ciabatta roll back to the room and ate on the
balcony. We had a lot of stuff to rinse out and get dry before we have to go
home early Saturday.
we stopped at Akumal to see the
turtle beach (photo, left) where people can swim with wild turtles. We lucked into a free
parking spot and walked down to the beach. It was beautiful, with sand and
gentle waves, so unlike the beach at Vidanta. People were swimming, at least
out as far as a rope on buoys. We asked an information guy and he said that
just a few months ago the federal government had set the limit because people
were abusing the former laxly enforced rules by chasing the turtles or bringing
large numbers of people in from outside. It still looked like a good place to
snorkel with at least a chance to see a turtle. From there we headed south to
Tulum and then west toward Coba. Just outside the first little town we passed
through, we 
stopped at a big pottery shop (photo, left) and C.J. finally got the Mexican bowl
she wanted and at the best price we had seen so far. It wasn’t much
farther before we reached the roundabout and headed south again passing the
entrance to the Coba archaeological park. We really didn’t have time to enjoy
the cenotes and do a tour of Coba so we opted for the underground
water-filled sinkholes. At the entrance the agent explained the features of the
three local cenotes controlled by the municipal collective. We chose two
relatively quiet ones – not the one that you can jump into the water from 10m. We entered Choo-Ha through a small entrance hole and went steeply down
something like 60 steps on a wooden staircase. At the bottom was a small
platform and a couple of stairs that went down into the clear and relatively
shallow water, wade-able in some places. I 
thought the water was kind of
chilly, but nothing like the water would be like in a cave in the northern
latitudes; “refreshing”, C.J. called it. We had brought just our masks down and
we could see to the bottom easily. Looking up, there were lots of big
stalactites. And on the bottom there were some stalagmites, as well. The bottom
was mostly sand and there were a few small catfish-like fish. After we were
cold enough we climbed back out (the sales guy had emphasized what a long climb
it was). We ate in the park on a bench while we warmed up. We ate the last of
C.J.’s quesadilla from two nights ago, plus some of the tostadas/crackers we
had bought at Jade. My water had remained cold in my new insulated bottle, much
appreciated. After lunch we drove over 
edge. (photo, left) The near-sunset light was great on the
beach, boats and trees so we settled in and ordered a couple of drinks
(excellent tamarind Margarita, and a sweet Akumal Bay Splash) and an order of
guacamole. Those were so good that we stuck around and ordered a shared
conchita pibil pork plate with refried beans and rice. The pork was excellent
on the warm corn tortillas, one of the best meals of this trip. It was
dark by the time we left and we made only one stop - to get gas to
fill the tank back to the halfway mark. [The gas had to be paid in cash and we
both thought that C.J. had another 500p bill, but she couldn’t find it;
luckily, I still had enough to pay for the gas, but I had to give up some
smaller bills I was saving for tips.] We parked the car in the rental car lot
at the central lobby and caught the shuttle back to near the Mayan Palace as
usual. Then we stopped at the concierge desk to ask about arranging for a ride
to the airport. Apparently, we have to pay for the taxi (it’s too early for the
shuttle) but Vidanta has credited our account with 600p which we can use for
the cab or just help pay off our other charges like meals. We stopped to see
our Grand Mayan building 1-2 concierge and left a request for a wake-up call at
0400 and bellboys (who call the taxi) at 0445. We catch the cab in front of the
Grand Mayan/Santuario Maya reception area. Looks like we have to do the check
out, i.e., pay our bill, after the Joyà CdS show Friday night at the GM front
desk which is open 24/7. 
stopped at a big pottery shop (photo, left) and C.J. finally got the Mexican bowl
she wanted and at the best price we had seen so far. It wasn’t much
farther before we reached the roundabout and headed south again passing the
entrance to the Coba archaeological park. We really didn’t have time to enjoy
the cenotes and do a tour of Coba so we opted for the underground
water-filled sinkholes. At the entrance the agent explained the features of the
three local cenotes controlled by the municipal collective. We chose two
relatively quiet ones – not the one that you can jump into the water from 10m. We entered Choo-Ha through a small entrance hole and went steeply down
something like 60 steps on a wooden staircase. At the bottom was a small
platform and a couple of stairs that went down into the clear and relatively
shallow water, wade-able in some places. I 
thought the water was kind of
chilly, but nothing like the water would be like in a cave in the northern
latitudes; “refreshing”, C.J. called it. We had brought just our masks down and
we could see to the bottom easily. Looking up, there were lots of big
stalactites. And on the bottom there were some stalagmites, as well. The bottom
was mostly sand and there were a few small catfish-like fish. After we were
cold enough we climbed back out (the sales guy had emphasized what a long climb
it was). We ate in the park on a bench while we warmed up. We ate the last of
C.J.’s quesadilla from two nights ago, plus some of the tostadas/crackers we
had bought at Jade. My water had remained cold in my new insulated bottle, much
appreciated. After lunch we drove over 
Balché which surprisingly was not 
has been in place. Since we didn’t finish the
whole bottle of sparkling wine, we didn’t stagger too much on the way out as we
found our way back to the shuttle to Vidanta. We stopped at the reception desk
and went through the checkout process. We were not charged for the catamaran cruise or Tulum Express,
but we had already paid $100 for those to the guys at the airport.](left, curtain behind "trampoline")(above left, G, cenote, Cirque du Soleil)
for The Bliss, the
accommodation level we had bought. It looked fine to us, not as well appointed
as the Grand Mayan, though. We took the path around the south side of the lake
and saw a bunch of iguanas, another crocodile pool, and the flamingo island.
Back at our room we got a little more serious about packing. All of it has to
fit since we gained only one bowl and some souvenir leaflets (plus our contract
stuff, of course). By 1645 we were ready to head for our big splurge at the
Cirque du Soleil. We were a bit early for the shuttle from what used to be
called the pergolada,
for The Bliss, the
accommodation level we had bought. It looked fine to us, not as well appointed
as the Grand Mayan, though. We took the path around the south side of the lake
and saw a bunch of iguanas, another crocodile pool, and the flamingo island.
Back at our room we got a little more serious about packing. All of it has to
fit since we gained only one bowl and some souvenir leaflets (plus our contract
stuff, of course). By 1645 we were ready to head for our big splurge at the
Cirque du Soleil. We were a bit early for the shuttle from what used to be
called the pergolada,
there was a dancer and singer as well.
At 1900, the musicians disappeared, sinking into the stage, and the main show
began. The story line for Joyá was vaguely that a girl, Joyá, was to be given a
book that contained all the knowledge of her grandfather. There were fights
with pirates, undersea adventures, and somehow the story fit in aerialists,
jugglers, a contortionist, four trampoline guys, a bungy-cord aerialist,
and incredible jump-roping, music and lighting. It wasn’t exactly like the trailer
that was being shown all around Vidanta, but a show probably does evolve and
change over the two years it 
there was a dancer and singer as well.
At 1900, the musicians disappeared, sinking into the stage, and the main show
began. The story line for Joyá was vaguely that a girl, Joyá, was to be given a
book that contained all the knowledge of her grandfather. There were fights
with pirates, undersea adventures, and somehow the story fit in aerialists,
jugglers, a contortionist, four trampoline guys, a bungy-cord aerialist,
and incredible jump-roping, music and lighting. It wasn’t exactly like the trailer
that was being shown all around Vidanta, but a show probably does evolve and
change over the two years it 
