Travels with Judy & Jeff: I Shot the Sheriff

Tonight we were serenaded at dinner by Calypso Joe singing Bob Marley songs. But I must start at the beginning...

Woke up to haze and heat. We are booked to go on an all day boat tour and ready to go. Our street is lined with hotels, restaurants, shops and tour companies all along the water. Each place has a dock and boats pull in and out constantly.

We walked a few doors down to board our tour boat with guide Moses and driver Oscar. There were 14 passengers and one of the gals was from Robbinsville, NJ. That is close to where I grew up. Jeff and I were the oldest by 30+ years. This whole country is full of young tourists. Many are backpacking through Central America. Lots of college students studying here or in Costa Rica and taking a break to see the area.

We rode along and passed tiny islands and a few with hotels and houses. We stopped at Solarte to pick up guests at Bambuda, where Brian had stayed. It is gorgeous from the water sitting high up amidst lush vegetation. They have a long water slide to get you quickly from the lodge to the sea. There was a boat in front loaded with plastic crates of produce. The lady on board hung up a scale and was ready for business.

This entire area depends on boats. With over 200 islands it is necessary. Only eight islands are large with businesses, more with homes, hostels and guest houses and some are just mangroves.

Our first stop was dolphin bay. We saw a few dolphins and then headed to sloth island. We pulled into a space between trees and looked up to see a large, gray sloth with a young'un. They move so slowly, so funny. Another small sloth climbed a tree right in front of us.

Next stop was to snorkel which we did off the boat. The water was a perfect temperature and completely calm. Lots of coral, but not too colorful. I did like the deep purple shades and there were many varieties. Saw some colorful fish. Angels, parrots and many more.

Back in the boat we made our way to Zapatilla Marine Sanctuary where we spent the rest of the day.

This is a protected area with the best beach and clear water and a sandy bottom. Lots of shells and pieces of coral wash up on the beach. We took our stuff off the boat and our backpacks were soaked by this time. Our towel too!

A special feature of this tour company is a chance to do deep boarding. This is something new and maybe unique. The board looks like the plastic windshield of a motorcycle. It has a slit about halfway where you hold on. It is attached to a long rope which is attached to a long board placed horizontally across the boat. They tie five lines on. It is really cool! You wear a mask and put your face in the water. Hold your breath, dip the top of the board and go underwater. You feel like a fish cruising with your arms and legs straight out. When you run out of air, you tip the top of the board up and surface. Another breath and down you go. We had a long ride and my arms were not tired.

After everyone got a ride we sat on the beach and then they served lunch in a pavilion. They had plastic containers with a generous portion of pasta with vegetables. It was still a little warm. Chips with canned, refried beans and fresh pineapple completed the meal at a picnic table. Water, cokes and beer were in the cooler and all the trash has to be taken back with you. Afterwards you could hike a trail which looked lush, but buggy. We opted to go back on the beach and swim and sun. We took a photo on a downed tree that looked like they put it there on purpose. Our photographer was a young man from NY and his parents live in Beaufort. Another small world story!

Finally time to get back in the boat and we are full of sand and soggy wet. The ride back took about an hour and we were so glad to take long, hot showers. All the wet stuff was put on the balcony to dry.

After we rested and watched CNN to catch up on the news we walked to dinner a few doors down. We were seated at the water's edge looking out at the boats speeding by and a misty moon rising.