Maryly and I went to Costa Rica to try kayaking in warmer water and to do some touristy things. I didn't have time to plan a real kayak expedition (or to learn enough Spanish to get around) so we went on several pre-packaged "tours". Our first tour was with a company called Rios Tropicales which we had heard good things about from several other BASK members. The tour included picking us up at our hotel in San Jose (Costa Rica) and driving us out to the start of the kayak trip.
We got picked up at 6:00 by our guide. He is a professional, also a river kayaker with experience in rivers all over the world. I asked his advice on how to deal with "Satan's Cesspool" on the American River and got some pointers. He is a native Costa Rican (a "Tico") who professes to have a simple background, having been raised in an earth-floored hut. He still does not like to wear shoes or sandles and claims he gets in trouble with his boss for not wearing them on river trips. I was a bit uncomfortable having this professional man serving us hand and foot for the next few days. He pitched the tents, cooked the food, grated the pineapples then ran up a coconut tree to toss two of them down to complete the Pina Colatas.
But before all this could start we had a long drive to Punta Arenas to catch a ferry. The ferry took us across the Golfo de Nicoya to the Nicoya Peninsula where our tour bus continued on rough dirt roads to a private reserve called Curu. This reserve receives special tax status from the government to keep it wild, undeveloped, and rural. The people who live here are required to continue living a rural lifestyle. From the car we saw some rare deer on the side of the road, and lots of bird life.
I had gotten the impression we would be doing day trips directly from the end of the road in Curu but it turned out that we had to paddle a couple of kilometers to get to the camp which was just visible across a little bay. While we were getting dressed and packed a strong wind came up and blew at us across the bay. Coconuts and branches fell out of the trees crashing down near us and making us wonder how people deal with this problem. Paloma says yes, people often get hit with branches under coconut trees on windy days. Maryly hates wind on the water and was dreading going kayaking. We launched anyway and turned left to try to get some shelter from the wind on the north side of the bay. This worked very well and we soon made it to our home for the next three days. A sandy beach facing the Tortugas Islands across a narrow crossing.
We were paddling empty kayaks because all the camping equipment was being sent by a support boat. This included our clothes, personal equipment, and sunscreen. The tide went out lower than expected and the support boat got stranded on the beach as we left Curu, but we expected it to follow us soon. This took longer than expected so we spent a few hours under the trees waiting for supplies to arrive. If we had our sunscreen, we might have considered going out on the kayaks again. Eventually the boat arrived and we were able to set up camp.