Coastal Guanacaste
Today we continued exploring the spectacular coastline of the northwestern-most Costa Rican province of Guanacaste, along the Nicoya Peninsula. Early in the morning, we lifted anchor to sail towards the “Golfo de Papagayo”, or Parrot Gulf, a place of such majestic beauty that there are plans to build resorts, marinas and golf courts in the area – this is just a distant threat to us now, visiting places where we scarcely see another human being.
We pulled into a little sheltered cove that our Captain, Luis Alcocer, helped us to discover a couple of years ago now. Bahia Huevos is the mysterious name of this place, and our explorations started bright and early as we deployed kayaks and Zodiacs to explore a vital tropical ecosystem: the mangrove forest. As we ventured deeper and deeper into the tangled masses of convoluted root systems, the forest took over an almost eerie, haunted feeling. We could almost imagine ourselves smothered by advancing trees, had we let our imaginations run away with us! Though daunting to look at, these forests are actually nurseries to myriad species, and during our exploration, we came across many birds, rays, and even mating turtles! The rest of the morning was spent boogie-boarding exceptionally large waves (for the area) caused by high tidal conditions and riding the Sea Voyager’s banana boat; between bouts of a heated match of beach volley ball.
After lunch, we joined our historian, Julio, for a fascinating comparative history of the US and Central America, while younger guests undertook activities with the family activities coordinator, Gustavo. We then disembarked to explore the beautiful Islas Murcielagos (Bat Islands), where crystal clear waters offered us the best snorkeling opportunity of the trip. We conquered strong currents that belied the calm-looking surface waters by dropping into the waters at the far end of the snorkeling area and swimming with currents back to the beach. Among the branching corals, we came across many species of reef fish, including King and Cortez angelfish, butterfly fish, cornet fish and many moray eels. The more land oriented took a spectacular hike to the top of the island to observe impressive scenery dominated by cliffs carved into twisted shapes by pounding waves.
Today we continued exploring the spectacular coastline of the northwestern-most Costa Rican province of Guanacaste, along the Nicoya Peninsula. Early in the morning, we lifted anchor to sail towards the “Golfo de Papagayo”, or Parrot Gulf, a place of such majestic beauty that there are plans to build resorts, marinas and golf courts in the area – this is just a distant threat to us now, visiting places where we scarcely see another human being.
We pulled into a little sheltered cove that our Captain, Luis Alcocer, helped us to discover a couple of years ago now. Bahia Huevos is the mysterious name of this place, and our explorations started bright and early as we deployed kayaks and Zodiacs to explore a vital tropical ecosystem: the mangrove forest. As we ventured deeper and deeper into the tangled masses of convoluted root systems, the forest took over an almost eerie, haunted feeling. We could almost imagine ourselves smothered by advancing trees, had we let our imaginations run away with us! Though daunting to look at, these forests are actually nurseries to myriad species, and during our exploration, we came across many birds, rays, and even mating turtles! The rest of the morning was spent boogie-boarding exceptionally large waves (for the area) caused by high tidal conditions and riding the Sea Voyager’s banana boat; between bouts of a heated match of beach volley ball.
After lunch, we joined our historian, Julio, for a fascinating comparative history of the US and Central America, while younger guests undertook activities with the family activities coordinator, Gustavo. We then disembarked to explore the beautiful Islas Murcielagos (Bat Islands), where crystal clear waters offered us the best snorkeling opportunity of the trip. We conquered strong currents that belied the calm-looking surface waters by dropping into the waters at the far end of the snorkeling area and swimming with currents back to the beach. Among the branching corals, we came across many species of reef fish, including King and Cortez angelfish, butterfly fish, cornet fish and many moray eels. The more land oriented took a spectacular hike to the top of the island to observe impressive scenery dominated by cliffs carved into twisted shapes by pounding waves.
