I have been in Costa Rica for about 3 weeks and have spent most of my time around the Cocos area. Northern Costa Rica is not jungle green at this time of year that was one my big surprises. Most of it is brown until the winter rains begin in about a month or less. The low valleys are green with palm, mango and other ever green trees, but the hills are brown and bare. I have explored 4 different anchorages all having something a little different to offer. Playa de Coco is the hub of activity for the area. It has 3 grocery stores and two banks. Pretty much all that is important to me. Oh ya then there is Coconutz. One of the gringo hangouts. They have happy hour every day and beer and well drinks are only about a dollar and a half. Which for this area is a great deal. They also have Pizza and salad buffet with a movie on Wednesday. I made it there twice. Playa de Coco is also where you have to check in and out of Costa Rica. I then anchored in Playa de Panama. This is a very nice quite anchorage. A little more protection from the strong afternoon winds and waves. The only other attraction in Playa de Panama is a very nice small eco resort. Lea Scotia's relatives stayed there and had a fantastic time. I was able to make one inland trip with them to a Volcano Nation Park. Had a good time hiking through the true green jungle. We were very disappointed because we saw no wild animals, and hardly any birds. I then went back to reprovision (which is about double the cost of anywhere I have been)and meet up with Mystic Moon for a well deserved reunion, that lasted 3 days. Together we moved to Bahia Gaucayama a very small bay. Room for just a couple of boats. The snorkeling was supposed to be good, but the water clarity was not very good. There wasn't much to see. We did find a Sea Horse washed up on the beach giving us hope of seeing them in the water. They were too elusive. I then moved back to Coco for a couple of hrs to get a National Zarpe. This is a piece of paper letting me travel along Costa Rican waters for 90 days. When I was done with check out I moved out to Bahia Heuvos and meet up with Lea Scotia and Equinox the two boats I am traveling with right now. The water was a lot clearer but the temperature dropped to 72 degrees. I cleaned the boat bottom and that was pretty much my underwater adventures. We also had a power boat friend come into the anchorage Panchita. They will be there a few more days to check into the country then head our way. A schooner called R-Dreams share our anchorage very nice people coming up from Panama they share a wealth of information with us. After a short night stop back in Gaucamaya I am on my way heading south to Bahia Bellena. It is an overnight passage, the first I have done alone, but I am in the company of 2 other boats. The coolest thing about Costa Rica so far is the Monkeys. There are monkeys everywhere. Even in the town of Cocos. One night in Bahia Heuvos I watch 20 or more Howler monkeys play in the trees for about an hour about 15 minutes before sunset they all moved up the hill and sat there in about 5 trees looking west. I swear they were digging the sunset just like me. When the sun set they all dispersed down into the other trees. It was totally cool. So far I have seen three different types of monkeys. There are four types in Costa Rica so I am doing pretty good. That pretty much brings everything up to date for Jammin. Except for not having Helen here and what she, her family, and her mom are going through life is good down here in Costa Rica.
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