7/13/2011 - Bahia Honda, Panama

We are in a beautiful, calm bay called Bahia Honda, about half way down the coast of Panama. The Pacific side of Panama is dense jungle, sweeping mountains with very few inhabitants. A few of the most beautiful anchorages we've ever been in the last few days, at least from what we could see of them since it's rained almost non-stop since we left Costa Rica seven days ago. We haven't been off the boat since Golfito since every time we think of a shore excursion, the sky opens up and dumps. Oh well, that's what makes the verdant jungle. Right now above the patter of rain I can hear parrots and howler monkeys in the trees, and dolphins playing around the boat. Maybe today we'll just have to get wet...

We're about 240 miles from Panama City. We're trying to decide whether to do a 48 hour straight sail there, or break it up into 4 or 5 day hops. There are no more really good anchorages between here and there so if we did do the day hops, we would probably be in floppy, marginal spots. On the other hand, 48 hours hand steering sounds pretty brutal too. We have a few days to decide since according to predictions, it is going to get a bit blustery for a few days. Once we get to Panama City we'll be there for a few weeks getting our autopilot fixed, then through the canal!

Dripping in paradise,
Carolynn & Tom

----------
radio email processed by SailMail
for information see: http://www.sailmail.com

7/6/2011 – Golfito, Costa Rica

We were all set to move onto Panama when some friends from El Salvador sailed into Golfito. We were talking to them about how we hadn’t done much in-land sight-seeing in Costa Rica and soon a plan was hatched to treat ourselves to an excursion. Chris on sv Jeorgia and Virginia on sv Libertad did most of the research and soon we were headed to the beautiful eco-resort of Encanta la Vida on the edge of Corcovado national park. To get there, first we caught the water ferry from Golfito, across the Golfo Dulce, to Puerto Jimenez (about an hour trip). Then we caught a 4-wheeled taxi for a bouncy 45 minute trek into the jungle.

Encanta la Vida is completely off the grid and all the power is from solar cells, works great when the sun shines but this is the rainy season. The last night we were there we had 12 inches of rain in about 4 hours. During the day we took a few hikes through the jungle. There are four types of monkeys in Costa Rica; howler, squirrel, spider, and capuchin (aka white faced). While we were there we saw all four. One afternoon when we got back to our lodge there was a troop of white faced monkeys in the trees above the lodge throwing coconuts and papayas at us as we tried to film them. During the middle of all this two pairs of scarlet macaws were flying overhead making a lot of noise. Each morning we were awakened at 3am by the howler monkeys who sound like they are the size of Godzilla but are only about the size of a large house cat. It sounded like they were right outside our window!

Our lodge, we were on the first floor.

The beautiful grounds



View from the top of the ridge

We hiked up to this gorgeous waterfall, easily 60 feet high. We splashed in the water and tried to get under the falls, but the water was coming down so hard it was like hammers hitting our heads.

Hiking along the muddy road

Dinner time, the food was very delicious and fresh.
(The last three picture were care of Virginia on Libertad, thanks)

We really loved the resort, but could only afford a couple of days there. Back to the boat and planning our next jump to Panama.

Cheers,
Carolynn & Tom