Saturday 19th November - Pacific Paddle

It is still raining when we get up which gives D time to rewrite yesterday's lost post. Eventually the weather eases and we get our luggage into the car before going to breakfast. R's ankle has definitely improved overnight.  We have really enjoyed our stay at Hacienda Baru comfortable, laid back and with great food. Today's move is south east, then south west to a town called Sierpe, where we will board a boat for the trip down the river, then along the coast to Bahia Drake (Drake Bay). Apologies for the crude purple squiggles but talent is at a premium.

The drive is about 80km and en route we have to reclaim the deposit on a beer bottle , about 70p, so worth doing and then collect our laundry from the next town south where we left it on Thursday. This accomplished we drive on through the rain. Our instructions are to report to the Las Vegas Restaurant in Sierpe. In the last big town before we get there we cross over a very large river. Appropriately the sign says Rio Grande. After the bridge we turn off the main road and D's eye is caught by a steam loco, with a wagon and a coach, parked in a boggy field on the roadside. There is chance to park up and get pictures, even if it is drizzling.

When we arrive at Sierpe El Restaurante Las Vegas takes a bit of finding. As we arrive we are flagged down by a chap who wants us to park with him for $6 per night. The instructions tell us to go into the Restaurant to make parking arrangements. Here nobody seems to know anything so D calls the Aratinga Tours Office. A lady called Andrea takes the call and asks to speak to the restaurante staff. A very long and rapid conversation ensues, probably in Spanish but D cannot catch a word of it. It turns out that the hustler on the street is actually Director of Parking Operations for the Las Vegas and this is all legit. We unload our reduced  bags and adjourn to the Restaurante for tea/coffee and a hurried Duolingo session after squeezing the car into a compound opposite Las Vegas.

Outside the drizzle has become a downpour at which point D realises that he has left his camera in the car. That would have been too big a mistake. Las Vegas slowly fills up with people looking like they are waiting for a boat. Some of them have not got the memo about travelling light and have brought big suitcases. After twenty minutes of waiting for our order to be taken D realises that it is counter service. R's Green Tea is pronounced most acceptable while D's coffee is quite bitter and he has to add a bit of azucar to make it drinkable. Half of the waiting punters are going elsewhere and a small boat, already quite full, appears to collect them. People are squeezed in with luggage on their knees. About ten minutes late our boat, the Piccolante III appears. It is much bigger and although already half full there is still enough room for the rest of us plus luggage plus several cases of wine. D asks the crewman if there is a bar onboard and he tells us that the wine is for Calhetas Lodge. How reassuring, that's where we are going.

Once we get going we really crack on. There is no chance of spotting five different types of Kingfisher from this boat as we are travelling at water skiing speed. The river is much wider than on the way to Tortuguero and we don't see any speed limit signs. There isn't much other traffic and our skipper doesn't seem bothered about the effect that our wake has on what there is. After about half an hour of high speed river cruising we are instructed to don life jackets wnd the boats speed drops dramatically. We have reached the sea and turn west, parallel to the shore line, which means that we get lifted and dropped by the swell. 

We squeeze between a couple of rocky islands which is quite exciting before turning in towards a beach with cabins dotted around in the jungle beyond. The skipper turns the boat, raises the outboard motors and lets it drift with the tide towards the beach. The two crew men jump out to hold the boat with ropes and the two unfortunate passengers, who are totally unprepared for this, are urged to remove their fancy Parisian shoes before strpping off the back of the boat into not very deep water. We have been warned and are geared up for this but it is not our turn yet. There are four more stops before ours and only one has a jetty. Our stop is last and there are eight of us to get off here.

On the beach we are greeted by Yolande, a Swiss lady, who runs the Lodge. The boys carry our luggage ashore and up the hill to the cabins. We have a nice spot with a balcony on each side, aparrently designed for birdwatchers. We miss out on the ocean view but we can hear it and don't have far to go if we want to see it. We are summoned for lunch and as it has been a long day so far we decide to opt in. We might as well, we've already paid for it. 

On the way to lunch and all around when we get there are monkeys, of the Capuchin variety we think. The restaurant here fits the pattern, roof but no walls, and occupies the top of a hillock, looking down over the ocean. This shot from our table rather captures the ambience, and no, I didn't photoshop the monkey in. At lunch we also learn that there is wifi in some areas and that beer and wine are available from a modest bar. 

Lunch is leisurely and huge. After unpacking we decide on a liitle downtime. R discovers the hammock on the back balcony. Ella tiene una siesta.

Suitably rested we walk down to the beach for a paddle and some birdwatching. We see a rather bedraggled Osprey, a Green Kingfisher, a Small Indeterminate Wader and as we turn to come back up the hill, a pair of Scarlet Macaws on a tree by the path. As we approach our cabin there is a noise above us and we see at least three Black-mandibled Toucans.

Back in the cabin we contemplate the cocktail hour. We hear a real ruckus outside and can clearly see two Red-lored parrots in the big tree above the restaurant. It sounded like several dozen birds making a noise but it was just the two. Sadly the light is fading and the photos do not do the birds' colouring justice. 

Tonight it is early supper and bed. Breakfast at 05.30. Groan.