Monday 21st November - Dinner with Del Shannon

There is no feeling quite like slipping your feet into wet beach shoes at 5.30 a.m. Randall, our waiter is remarkably cheerful for a man who was clearing tables only 8 hours ago. Our boat is due on the beach at 6.30 so we are slightly less rushed today. We have time to watch a toucan as we breakfast and listen to desultory thunder.

R has been talking to a German couple who went snorkelling yesterday and didn't have much fun. Today they are going to Sirena with another couple who arrived yesterday. Their boat is a fashionable 20 minutes late. The swell is even stronger than yesterday and it takes several attempts to get the four of them on board and it looks like they get pretty wet in the process. D decides to pack the camera and binos in the dry pack just in case of accidents. Our boat, even smaller than yesterday's, arrives a few minutes later and we are able to board without problems, only getting wet up to our knees.

They have brought an extra man with the boat in order to manhandle R onboard and we have to drop him off with the shuttle ferry in Drake Bay before we get going properly. There are two ladies of indeterminate European origin who live on the right side of the border between Yorkshire and Lancashire, called Ulrika and Isobel, our guide Gabriella and the nameless skipper. With us, on board conditions are just on the generous side of cosy. As we are on the ocean, life jackets are required.  Gabriella brief us that the trip across the bay and into the river mouth might be bumpy, but compared with yesterday it is silky smooth. Once into the estuary proper we can take the jackets off and our tour begins. We have travelled the right way for the weather, leaving the clouds behind and heading for blue skies.

We have timed things right as we arrive in the mangrove more or less at low water when the roots of the trees are exposed and some small birds scavenge in the mud. Gabriella is clued up on the mangrove environment and informs us about the different types that grow here. It is fascinating to hear how the trees have developed a way of filtering salt out of the brackish water that they grow in. All sorts of creatures live in the root systems and large fish including some kinds of shark lay their eggs there to give protection against predators. All great stuff but where's ra burdz.

Soon enough we get plenty of herons and egrets, as well as a chance to watch an Osprey catch breakfast. As we are watching the Osprey a Yellow-headed Caracara appears. We've seen one from afar before but this one is close and posing beautifully. We take a trip up a side creek and see another Three-toed Sloth. The pictures are no better than yesterday's. It seems unfair that a creature that sleeps for 18-20 hours a day and eats for the rest of the time gets away with being difficult to photograph. We are drip fed other Sloth facts such as the fact that they descend from the trees to poop once per week.  Isn't nature amazing.

Beware the smile of the crocodile. We are told that don't have really big ones here but we have no urge to go swimming. This specimen is perfectly posed among the upward growing roots of the black mangroves that are several metres back in the forest.

We also learn a bit about Water Hyacinths, the scourge of the Kerala Backwaters. Here they are not a pest, just part of the ecosystem, and the one picked out by Gabriella was home to a small shrimp that chose to jump rather than be photographed. As we head up the river we take a comfort break in Sierpe at a place that is more efficient and friendlier than the Las Vegas.

 Further on up the river we get a super sighting of Squirrel Monkeys. When we tell Gabriella about the hunt Jose led us yesterday she laughs. We pass underneath a modern concrete bridge and look up to see dozens of small bats apparently fixed to the underside of the bridge. Long nose bats we are told. This is as far as we go up river. The return trip is quicker and there is less to look at as the tide has covered the mudflats and the mangrove roots. Getting out of the mouth of the river is quite tricky but once in the bay we make good progress with only a few bumps. We have opted out of a second consecutive lunch at Pecolina tours HQ. The food wasn't that bad but neither of us has an appetite in the heat. Some of the staff are on the beach, waiting for the afternoon shuttle and they help us off the boat. Such lovely people. 

The author is granted shore leave for a couple of hours and opts to hike to the throbbing metropolis that is Drake Bay in order to sample civilisation. The track is quite hard work and a beer is well earned by the time D arrives. Conscious of how early dusk is D does not hang around for Happy Hour at Roberto's and sets off home. Somehow the track is much wetter underfoot and about five minutes from base it begins to rain. D is carrying the kit required and gets home intact. R has been worrying without cause.

 The rain gets heavier and becomes a spectacular thunderstorm for a couple of hours. It eases a bit so we can go for dinner. R shows the assembled multitude how to look knowledgeable about wine. We enjoy our Chicken curry with coconut rice as we sing along to a soundtrack of early 1960s hits. Sadly La Bamba is missing so we do not get to practice our Spanish.