Cental America
And Back
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The Papagayo winds were howling across the lowlands, lakes and natural canyons of Nicaragua. The wind begins in the Caribbean sea at a modest 20 to 30 knots, but by the time the flow reaches the Pacific the winds can increase to sometimes more than 50 or 60 knots with monster seas of 15 or 20 feet. And sometimes the winds reach out 500 miles offshore or more. Not something you would want to sail into knowingly.
And so Ashika and her crew found themselves in lovely Bahia Ballena, at the southern tip of the Nicoyan Penninsula, Costa Rica, waiting for severe weather conditions to abate. It occurred to the ship's captain, Dois, that if he had to kill time waiting for the Papagayos to die, then he was going to murder it. He ordered the crew to gather their weapons; snorkels and masks, kayaks and hiking shoes and they set out set out to find the crime scene in the islands of the Gulf of Nicoya.
The first stop was the much heralded Isla Jesusita and the companion Isla Cedros, often referred to as "Little Jesus and the Cedars" (isn't that a band?). Ashika made fine time weaving through the various islets and islands, avoiding all kinds of boat eating reefs. But upon entering the stifling bay of Jesusita, the Captain realized why the Isla was so named. He was sure anyone arriving is this dry arroyo with it's mud encrusted banks and murky waters would exclaim "Baby Jesus, why the hell am I here?". And without further ado, the captain made a 180 degree turn and headed for the Tortuga Islands.
The Tortugas were two perfect little islands, placed side by side with pristene white sand beaches dotted with swaying palm trees. There were also some promising looking reefs for snorkeling. There were two small problems with the plan though; 1). too many witnesses. Every day at 10am, a half dozen cattle boats rumbled into the bay and tourists would flow over the sides of these vessels like molten lava. The captain and crew of Ashika wanted a little privacy for their caper. And 2). The anchorage had no northern protection. They had a few last words: "but the forecast is in our favor".
So they decided to kill a just a little time instead. The tourists left and night fell and the captain and crew spent hours watching an amazing bio-luminescent sea. Millions of fish from guppies to 3 or 4 foot giants were lit up with Milky Way trails of blue sparkling fairy dust. Clouds of magic blue light would burst around sea rays looking like underwater spaceships. A tap on the deck of Ashika would cause a momentary explosion of light all around the ship, certainly helped by the dark moonless night. The small ship's crew would retire early and go for a snorkel before the first boat of witnesses showed up.
The captain woke up at the first sign of trouble. The boat was swinging violently towards the north. Not good. Dois poked his head out of the companion way hatch and quickly made up his mind. He jumped below and burst back into the aft cabin saying "there are fluorescent waves coming from the North, and we have to leave." "What?" said Lauri as she struggled to fully awaken and make sense of this news. The forecast lied, a full on doozy of a whopper. Up the ladder they went to their respective battle stations. Dois headed for the anchor and called out directions to Lauri at the helm. Most words were lost to the high winds, but the two had done this before and managed a smooth anchor retrieval. Dois' plan was to head to the bay of Curu, just a mile to the east of their current position, but it was a black night and no moon would guide them. The only thing they could see plainly was the glowing blue froth of wind waves raging into the bay. Dois cranked up the radar and they flew by instruments only, landing safely in the promised protection of the cove just 30 minutes later.
They awoke to a beautiful sunny day and a new crime scene. Curu Cove is the home of the Curu National Park and it is huge. It has a very decent river flowing through it and boasts jungle acreage full of birds, crocodile, iguana, monkeys, deer and the occasional ocelot. The crew of Ashika couldn't resist such an intriguing place to kill time. They arranged to take a hike first thing the next morning and have lunch in the park's "dining hall".
The dinghy was dropped from Ashika's davits into the water at the first sign of light. The two adventurers wanted to be hiking the jungle in the coolness of morning hours. Unfortunately, four legged pets were not allowed in the park so Dois and Lauri were the only ones on the trail that morning. The park was deserted and the only testifiers to the killing were the many jungle denizens. They might squawk or scream but they would never tell.
A small troupe of Capuchin monkey's followed the hikers into the base camp. There were several mama monkey's with babies clinging to their backs. The scalawag's primates knew it was meal time and were blatantly looking for handouts. But nobody wanted to encourage the raiders, although the babies were pretty cute.
Stay tuned for the final exciting chapter of "Murder, Costa Rican Style".
Peace.
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