Isla Parida and Isla Gamez

Our Land fall at Isla Parida was uneventful. We were able to miss the rock pinnacle that Batwing had warned us about. It was almost dark when we anchored and were almost immediately attacked by bugs. Mosquitoes, and no see-ums were everywhere. The bay is shared by a small resort but since it is the rainy season there seemed to be no activity anywhere. With all the bugs we just put up the screens and huddled below decks till the the sun came up. We decided to move to a small island called Gamez. We were hoping for less bugs. Isla Gamez is probably the first truly tropical island we have been anchored off of. It look like a island jungle paradise. To a point it was, but when we went ashore there were bugs everywhere. The pictures were great because you can't see the bugs. We went back to the boat and decided to try a little snorkeling. Visibility was about 10 to 15 ft so it was good but not great. We were suprised at how few of fish there were. We were hoping for better. That afternoon Carlos came by with a few Bananas and wanted to know if we wanted any lobster. This was the first time since the Sea of Cortez we have been offered lobster so we jumped at the chance. 30 minutes later he was back with three nice lobster and we gave him the $10 he was asking for. We had a great evening of BBQ lobster even with the bugs everywhere. The next day we decided to move on with the bugs, no visibility, and the threat of thunder and lighting we were hoping to find an even better paradise. Our next stop would be a short hop to Isla Secas. Leaving the Parida group of island you started to see what an incredible area it was. There are over 100 islands and reefs to explore just in this area. If it wasn't the rainy season and not knowing what was ahead it would have been fun to do more exploring.

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Out of Costa Rica

Helen arrived back on the boat on May 22. It took only 4 days to get provisioned and checked out of Costa Rica. Golfito was a great place to wait for Helen and I made the most of it. Land and Sea became my second home for about 2 weeks. It gave me a place to get internet and just hang out with fellow cruisers. While I was there I went with the people from Batwing and Sarana to the boarder of Panama to do some duty free shopping. It was a lot of fun and very interesting place. We were able to walk freely across the border, but our first crossing was by sneaking between two buildings through a 2ft gap called the tunnel. We later found out you can just walk over the border with no questions asked. The border reminded me of Tijuana only with US type junk being sold at very good prices. I am sure most name brands are counterfeit, but there were some bargains to be found. The duty free area in Golfito actually had better prices on liqueur and that was the main reason for going. I loaded up on Nicaraguan rum and was ready to head for Panama. I enjoyed Costa Rica but I am very glad to be moving on. Our last stop in Costa Rica was at a small surfing area called Pavones. Knowing that it was a surfing place, actually it is the home to the longest left breaking wave in the world, we should have known that it would be a very uncomfortable anchorage. It was, and not being surfers we did not appreciate the surroundings. As soon as it was daylight we were out of there. Next stop will be a very long day to Isla Parida in Panama.

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