Just when I had begun to collect all the animals on the island, two by two, the rains let up and the sun came out. Up until that point, I had started to think that “sunshine” on the Caribbean referred to overcast skies, or perhaps a light sprinkling. The other morning we had the mistake of judging the weather from our window before heading for breakfast. The streets were dry and the skies, while overcast, did not look that threatening. So we naively walked down the main street and had a wonderful breakfast on the water. Of course, just as we finished up, the rain started to come. We stood outside, just under the veranda of the store front for a while and weighed our options. We could a) walk home now in the rain and get wet, or b) wait here until the rain let up which probably wouldn’t happen, and then get wet later. Being hopelessly optimistic, we chose option b, and proceeded to wait while the rain grew stronger.
Five minutes later, the rain appeared to let up some, reverting back to a trickle, almost like the clouds were baiting us with a trap. We walked down the street and soon the trap was sprung as we hurried to the next store front shelter. You can judge the strength of the rain by the sound it makes, and this rain was a steady crescendo until peaking at a thunderous downpour. We waited and we waited, and waited some more. While the rain was changing in intensity, it was not going to let up, so we decided to go for it, as we were already wet and could change when we got home. Having begun to formulate plans for what size of ark I would need to get off the island, (it could be a little bit smaller if we left all the spiders behind to please Denielle), we enjoyed a brief reprieve from the rains. We even got a full day of sunshine yesterday, so decided to rent bikes and make the 14 kilometre trek around the island to Playa Drago on the other side.
They say the definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting different results. I, by definition, am now insane, as I had expected our rental bikes to guide us safely along our journey across the island. Even though my last bike rented in Costa Rica almost killed me twice, I decided to test my luck once again. This bike after all, had both gears and handlebar-mounted brakes. I soon learned on the first hill descent that the brakes were less than adequate, leaving me unable to stop, but slowing me down enough to only get a little bit scared as my sweaty hands slipped up and precariously close to off with each pothole and bump in the road as I steadily accelerated. But sub-par brakes could be dealt with on a small island with few hills, so we continued along the beautiful countryside, held up briefly at only one point by a goat roadblock. We arrived at the far beach in just over an hour and found ourselves at a nice white sand secluded beach. A little further down the road we found a water-side restaurant and had some lunch. A brief dip in the water after lunch cooled us down and prepared us for the hot sweaty ride back in the sun. At the top of the biggest hill, thankfully not sooner, my bottom bracket broke and my chain came off. This would signify the beginning of my 4 kilometre walk, coast and scoot ride back to town. I was able to coast back to the bike shop and placed my bike in the rack alongside the others, got our deposits back, and left.
Later that evening we had dinner on the water, looking out along the glassy black surface, small wooden ghost boats with no lights guided by noisy outboard motors slipped through the night, illuminated briefly by the restaurant lights. The next day we would be aboard our very own boat, partaking in a two location snorkel tour, with promises of dolphins. We awoke early and boarded the 40 foot catamaran, and were soon sailing throughout the Bocas del Toro archipelago. Waking up to overcast skies, we were sure to pack our rain jackets. It seemed as though throughout the past few days that when we made the effort to take our jackets, it wouldn’t rain. So of course, now that we had our rain jackets occupying the majority of space in my backpack, the clouds soon parted and we were treated to another beautiful sunny day. Not long after leaving, we encountered our first dolphins, breaching the water off in the distance, in the direction that we were heading. I got the camera ready and snapped a few shots. Thankfully, we pulled right up to the dolphins, and they soon began playing around and underneath the boat. Situated at the very front of the right pontoon of the catamaran, we had the pleasure of watching the large bottlenoses gliding just beneath the surface, below our feet. Looking back at it now, it would have been unique opportunity to jump in and ride a dolphin. I could have landed on its back like a cowboy in an old western, but it probably would have taken me down and drowned me.
After the dolphin encounter, we pulled into a sheltered bay lined with mangroves. The glassy water was alive like molten glass, dark and clear, moving ever so gently while we passed over hundreds of moon jellyfish, some of them larger than a dinner plate. We pulled up to one edge of the mangrove, dropped anchor, and jumped into the water. My last snorkelling experience involved both of us losing our mask and snorkel immediately upon entering the water, so this time I carefully held on to both upon entry. We were soon greeted by a plethora of colours with over a hundred species of coral and numerous brightly coloured fish darting in between the coral and mangrove roots. Large sea cucumbers lay on the sandy floor in between the coral amongst the sea grass. It was magical, and before we knew it, we were coming back to the boat, on to our next location. We travelled back across the bay and came to one edge of an island closer to the main island, not without seeing a few more dolphins following along beside the boat. This second snorkelling location had a lot more fish, and I started to dive down lower under the water to get a closer look. Such a unique underwater landscape, with towering coral columns giving so many fish species a place to hide and eat. This was a very fun day, and I’m really glad that we spent the money on the tour. We have only one more day here, then we’ll have to catch a boat back to the mainland, pick up our car from town, and then try crossing back into Costa Rica.
Tyler.
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