Happy days are here again (are you
singing….we are!) We are back in Costa
Rica. The weather is hot and it’s a bit
muggy, but this is paradise. The rainy
season just ended and the entire jungle that surrounds us is varying shades of
green. Very plush.
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The plush greenery around the marina. |
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The vast open spaces we see on our way into Coco. |
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Sugar cane fields are all over Costa Rica |
We arrived here on Nov. 14th
and had guests for three days. The boating world is rather small. In anchorages and marinas along the coast line from Mexico to South America we see many of the same boats. We met up with several of those boaters here in this bay, and a few new friends we met at the Papagayo marina. It was decided by unanimous
decision that we all wanted Thanksgiving dinner… our friends would buy the
fixings and Jewell, of course, would do the cooking. The Elysium would be the host boat.
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Jewell preparing Thanksgiving. |
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The cave woman emerging from Jewell. |
Our friends sailed over to the Marina
from Playa de Coco. They looked like the
Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria, one following the other. They anchored right outside the Marina and
Jewell and I rushed out on the skiff to get the food! We had a gorgeous 16 lb. turkey, stuffing,
cranberries, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and loads of desserts
made by the various guests. It really
was a feast! We ate, drank, and talked
for several hours. It was fun.
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The food is coming via The Nina, The Pinta and the Santa Maria. |
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Henry making the turkey transfer from Rapscallion. |
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The guest of honor! |
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Guests from Macha and Sundancer have arrived. |
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Pamela (Riley's mom) from Precious Metal and Henry feasting with Deb. |
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Let the cork games begin! |
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Deb had their undivided attention! |
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The Gang - Carolyn,Tony and Milea from Macha, Heather, Jewell, Pamela, Henry, Deb and Ron. |
Pamela brought her Blenheim cavalier,
Riley, to Thanksgiving dinner. He is
just so sweet and well behaved. He and
Aggie used to run around the beaches together in Mexico. We had our “doggie fix”. Thanks Pamela.
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Mr. Riley from Precious Metal. |
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I want Aggie to spend more time with Riley, he has such good manners. |
We really miss Aggie.
There is a small bay very near us and we
went there, anchored the skiff, and went swimming. We were in the water for about an hour when I
felt a pinch on my arm. Then another and
another. I looked like a crazy woman
hitting myself. I looked up and Jewell,
who was about 20 yards in front of me, was laughing and asked, is something
biting you? Turns out we were being bitten
by little tiny jelly fish larvae. It
wasn’t funny.
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Just before the jelly fish began biting. |
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After the jelly fish began biting. |
Pamela and Henry joined us for dinner one
night in Playa de Coco and we went to an Italian restaurant we saw advertised on a street sign. We drove onto a dirt road to what looked like the road to nowhere. About two blocks in, a few
twists and turns, and we arrived at the sweetest little Italian restaurant with
fabulous food….really fabulous food. It
was a good night!
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Sweet Italian restaurant in a residential section of Coco on a dirt road. |
A few days ago Jewell, Lucio and I went
by skiff to Playa de Coco for lunch and some food shopping. It was a bit rough going across the bay but
it was nothing compared to the ride back.
The Papagayo winds started blowing and we were going into 4 to 5 ft. waves in
the bay. The skiff was full of
food which was getting soaked by salt water. Lucio was sitting in the bow and thankfully he was taking the brunt of
the water splashing over us. A larger
fishing boat came flying past us and I was able to follow in his wake for the
last 15 minutes of the ride. It was
brutal!!
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Rain approaching the marina. |
This peninsula is full of surprises. In
case you didn’t see any other blog, the Papagayo Marina is on a peninsula with
just the Marina and the Four Seasons Hotel. The property either belongs
to the Hotel or the Marina. The marina
manager took us on a long tour. There
are about 20 homes that have been built and two or three condo buildings with 5
to 10 condos in each building, priced in the area of $1,250,000 and up. There are 20-25 homes, all facing the bay or
ocean, which is spectacular, that range in price from $2,500,000 up. Some are gigantic. One is about 25,000 sf. The cost of building
is, are you ready?, $750 per sf.
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Part of the golf course on the Four Seasons property. |
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One of the gorgeous anchorages behind the property. |
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Beautiful views from all angles. |
When we departed last April construction
on three condo buildings had just begun right above the Marina. They are about half completed.
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Condo complex behind the marina. |
The bay has several small communities
across the water from the Marina. Most
are condos and the rest single houses.
The residents are Canadian and American.
Some are full time residents, some are snowbirds. Also, several hotels and a few all inclusive
resorts are across the bay. This is the
type of place where, if you have some money and you invested here about 6 to 7
years ago, you would have multiplied your investment 10 x’s or more. And, it will continue to mature. It reminds us of Punta de Mita in Puerto Vallarta.
Jewell and I took skiff rides to
several anchorages. We are leaving
tomorrow to anchor in one of the more beautiful ones called Bahia Huevos. The anchorage is surrounded by jungle (with
howling monkeys, deer, strange and exotic birds, and strange raccoon like
animals called Coati or Pizote).
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Coati (English) Pizote (Spanish) for the raccoon like animal |
We haven’t spotted any whales yet, but
have seen lots of dolphins, rays and fish of all sizes, shapes and colors. It’s a fisherman’s paradise.
We attempted diving with our Hookah (remember,
it’s a diving Hookah, not a smoking one) and now have an appointment with a
dive master to go with us for a day. We
weren’t too successful on our own.
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She is ready to hookah! |
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Our marina has a few super mega yachts docked. We watched in awe as a helicopter landed on top of the Legacy.
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Legacy with helicopter after we watched it land. |
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And then of course there are the Super Mega Yachts, and a sunset! |
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Super Mega Yacht - Pegaso |
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And another sunset. |
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ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific looking turkey - Sure it tasted as pretty as it looked. You two are having the time of your life.
ReplyDeleteNot missing anything in LA - Stay safe.
xxoo
JRR
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What a great Thanksgiving that was! Thanks for including us in the celebrations. We're looking forward to catching up with you in Panama. Carolyn, Tony and Melia on s/v Macha.
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