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The cruising adventures of Sid and Manuela

Monday, March 30, 2015

COSTA RICA AND BOQUETE TRIP

Sorry for the delay with an update. Computer crashed and I'm in the process of working with the new computer 8.1 which is a pain in the...
As soon as I find microsoft windows in English and upload all the lost photos I will update our blog. In the mean time stay well.
Hugs and kisses 

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!
The canal crossing on Koza was amazing, we felt like being on a cruise ship. Not just did Carola captain the boat but she made sure that her guests were taken care of at all times. The few times someone else was on the helm she would bring some snacks and drinks out. She had never made sushi and on our last trip to the store before the transit we bought some nori, rice and other ingredients for sushi. On our trip on Lake Gatun the two of us rolled sushi with the Tuna they had caught. The advisor could not believe his eyes when the sushi tray came out for lunch. He had to take a photo which he sent to all the other advisers to show off.
Advisor arriving

I wonder how many end up in the water

Captain Carola's worried look, wonder what was going through her mind before entering the first lock

Hubby Jim
And her Nephew
Sid said there was a Cool boat out there, sure enough:
First big freighter

Cool Tugs

The last of the new gates for the Expansion is 4 times as big as the old gates


Tying up to a Russian boat

Relief in the first lock

Monkey Fist the canal workers throw down to the boats where lines are attached and pulled up
And up they go
Champagne for a good first transit day

Beautiful Sunrise in Lake Gatun


An exiting day to transit the canal
The Sushi Chefs

Sid in his Element

Before the Miraflores Locks waiting for our down look transit. Had to tie to this mooring

Lunch time

At lest 6 Tourist boats came out of the lock we entered, all doing a partial Transits





Last Lock

A proud moment for the crew

Manuela's 5th and Sid's 6th transit

Celebrating a successful Transit 
I have to say it again, no matter how many times we’ve done this trip it’s always a new adventure. 

After our Costa Rica trip we did another Transit through the canal Sid’s 7th and my 6th  time, this one was a challenge as the owner of the boat we were on was tough to deal with, the advisor was pretty upset by the time we were though, as I said each transit is a new adventure.

It was a smooth transit and of course was celebrated with some champagne, then we headed for Pizza night and from there Sid and I took a taxi to the bus terminal to catch our bus to Costa Rica. The bus left at Midnight and luckily the two seats next to us were unoccupied so we spread out and managed to sleep a bit more comfortable than in just one narrow seat. There were two stops along the way to the border, the second at 6am. There we waited and waited not knowing what was going on but the bus just didn’t seem to want to head on. Then we finally realized that we were at the border. Imagine the border not opening until 7am, so we waited. 2 other buses were there already so we knew it was going to be a slow border crossing. Sure enough at 7 all our luggage came out and we had to move with them into a small room with tables along the wall with just enough room to stand behind the table and the wall. When all were in the sweaty room they let us sweat for about 5 minutes while customs agent stared at each one of us then he pointed at the door and said “go”. So all the luggage without inspection was put back into the bus hold and we were pointed to the windows where the immigration agents sat. Of course only one window was open and a gazillion people standing in line. The bus took off and headed across the border to wait for us in Costa Rica. Once the passport was stamped out and a photo of us was taken we had to walk at least 5 minutes along a gravel road with lots of water filled potholes until we reached the Costa Rican immigration border. There we stood again in a long line and waited out turn at the only open window to get checked into Costa Rica. Once done we had to get our luggage out once more and like cattl stood in line in a caged area waiting our turn for the custom guy to briefly search our luggage. The whole ordeal took 3 hours before we continued our journey towards San Jose. No wonder the trip takes 19 hours. By the way there are guys trying to sell Movistar sim cards don’t buy one they only work in San Jose and a very few places, Kölbi is the way to go.

If you are planning to take the bus from Panama to San Jose I would suggest taking the Tica Bus as at the San Jose Terminal when you exit the bus you are in the lobby of its own hotel. Simple rooms but clean for 37 dollars but not the best area to walk around after dark. We bought a rotisserie chicken found some rum and wine and rested for the night. The bus transportation in San Jose is very interesting; there is not one Bus Terminal there are hundreds depending where you have to go. They are in all corners of town which is a little intimidating. Luckily the bus terminal we had to take to Mansion was just around the corner from this one.

After 6 hours of traveling we arrived in Mansion and conveniently were let off the bus next to an open window bar. Since Jeanette wasn’t anywhere to be seen we ordered a cold beer and there she was stepping out of the little convenient store across the road. It was a happy reunion.
Jeanette lives about 19 miles from Mansion a place a few miles from Hojancha. At 2200 feet above sea level with had the most spectacular view over the Golfo de Nicoya. What a beautiful place, house, view, everything. The house sits in the middle of Jeanette’s coffee and orange plantation. Unfortunately she is going to put the house on the market after her husband’s passing and she will move back to Australia. If anybody is interested in her property get in touch with us.





Office


There is are bedrooms



Golfo de Nicoya

Immediately she put Sid to work. He cut trees down, freed trees of vines which eventually will kill the tree. 




Rare color on Frangipanies



Every day howler monkeys were roaming the near trees. This little baby seemed to be an orphan as they left him behind. It took this little critter a long time to finally get his courage up and jump, but unfortunately didn't jump far enough and landed on the hard concrete driveway from at least 14 feet up in the air:




He was a little dazed for a while and disorientated so Jeanette picked him up and put him in the tree where all the others where. He finally managed to get up there with them. 




There he is
 

Another baby
She showed us around the beautiful area, visited Bill’s grave, had lunch at her English friend’s house and took a cold swim in the infinity pool with and even better view of the Golfo and we also did a coffee tour where her coffee is processed.
In her English friend's infinity pool

Look at the incredible view

The coffee in this region is a coop organization. Everybody brings the coffee here they get paid half then over the rest of the year they earn more money.
It was a great tour quite a bit different then that one we did in Colombia, not as primitive and we learned a lot more of the coffee growing, selection of the beans, roasting, organic coffee etc. I always wondered what the roasts meant, we learned that the medium roast contains a lot more caffeine than an Espresso roast, go figure. We enjoyed the tour and at the end were rewarded with a wonderful iced coffee, some cookies and two local girls dance for us in their traditional dresses.

Nobody seem to know the name of this strange fruit or whatever it is. All we found out is that it is used to kill rodents
A the Diria Coffee Plantation
  


Coffee plant

Organically dried in the sun
 



We had a wonderful time catching up with Jeanette and time was running away. She drove us to Samora where we met her friend Angel again we had met in 2000.
The roads of Guanacaste, Costa Rica:

Guanacaste Roads


We were just done having lunch when Kathy and her boyfriend arrived. There is never dull moment when you get together with Kathy! There are two ways to get to Nosara from Samora, the unpaved main road or the unpaved road which crosses several rivers. We took the river road and at the first river we pulled off the road and drove on the rocky riverbed, stopped and out came the cooler with beer, rum, vodka and sodas and a pellet gun and so we started shooting a few targets until it was Sid’s turn when the gun broke.  Back on the road across several more flowing rivers then onto a beach and a fun drive along the beach dodging horses and fishing pangas, it was a fun ride to her house.




Kathy’s compound is incredible with an inner court with fountain, pool with bar and barstools in the water and lots of tropical plants surrounded by a tall wall nobody can penetrate. Our bedroom was in a separate building and by far the nicest bedroom I’ve ever stayed in. 

View from the bed
 

Beautiful ans shaded pool


Mural was painted by Kathy's son Adam



Passion Fruite Flower


Kathy's Art
All made with collected shells

View of house from Beach

Beach View

I love how she made her window safety bars


Her house is on the super long Guiones beach with miles and miles to walk and surf and we watched the sunset every night. 
Some of the sunsets:







This little Hot Dog managed to bite my eye brow
Kathy dramatically bandaged it for the boys
The second night she organized a huge party for us and her gardener built the biggest bonfire. It was a great party and the bonfire was so big it was still burning at 9am.
Ready for the Party?










We drove miles and miles on nothing but dirt roads to beaches north from her place where we found some coves that might be suitable to anchor and definitely will be investigated. I have to add that when we were in this area 14 years ago the government promised to tar the road. 14 years later they still are promising to tar it but nothing has been done and nothing will be done, such a shame.





One day we just hung out the south end of Playa Guiones and watching locals catch fish in the surf while pelicans had a feast themselves. 






We celebrated Valentine’s Day at Dolce Vita and had the best Italian food since I left Switzerland in 85. Costa Rica is very, very expensive canned beers at a restaurant/bar cost 3 to 4 dollars. 



We ate burgers for 14 dollars; it was excellent but hello 14 dollars so we were pleasantly surprised to see the fair priced menu of Dolce Vita. I ordered the Tuna tartar for an appetizer it was big enough for a main dish.
These trees were blooming everywhere

We did so much in such a short time it seemed we were there for weeks. Kathy was leaving for California the same day our bus was back to David so we took a shuttle together to San Jose. Since our bus would have arrived in David late at night, I searched the web for flights and found an incredible deal to fly from San Jose to David 211 bucks for us both. I booked the flight and later Kathy printed it out for us and I stashed it with our passports. We arrived at the airport 3 hours too early for the flight went through the airport tax line, paid 28 dollars each and were going to the Air Panama counter, but there was none. So we asked at the information desk were it was, they said there is no flight out of San Jose today not till Thursday, which was two days later. Really?!! We showed him our ticket, he looked at it and said you’re ticket is from Panama City to David!!! I tell you when I booked it, it said San Jose. After Kathy had printd the ticket I placed it without reading it with our passport. So we were at the airport, at first I called Air Panama and was told to come to the office on Paseo Colon to return the tickets. Yikes the taxi wanted 30 dollars to get us into town. Since we knew there were buses we found the bus station a bus was already there and told the driver to let us off at Paseo Colon Plaza Mercedes. It cost us 3 dollars combined. It was about a 20 minute bus ride to Plaza Mercedes and just before we arrived there I told Sid that I wished I knew where that cute Bed and Breakfast was I stayed in 2000 when I had to pick up the heat exchanger while we were in Quepos. Just about done telling him we drove by the DHL store and just a couple houses passed I saw the Bed and Breakfast and the next crossing was Plaza Mercedes all within a short walking distance. We got our tickets refunded expect for 20 dollar each for processing and were told it would take 3 months to get the money back, hmm? Then we headed to the BB which now is a Hotel. It was exactly the same as I had seen it in 2000, they even put us in the same room but we seemed to be the only people in the hotel. 



We had dinner at the same Chinese Restaurant I remembered and the food was as good as then.

I had changed our bus ticket twice already, the last time from David to Panama City and now I had to change it back. The hotel clerk told me that there were other buses that went directly to David and the Taca Terminal was just around the corner. She gave me directions to it, two blocks down and one over. I followed her directions and ended up at the Tico Terminal where we had spent the first night. Wow, it’s just around the corner, had we known we could have had a nicer dinner. I found out that the Taca bus terminal was a 20 dollar round trip so disappointed I went back to the hotel. When the clerk heard that she grabbed me by the hand took me outside stopped a taxi and told him to take me to the Taca bus station for the regular 5 dollars. He was so nice he waited until I had the tickets and drove me back to the hotel and didn’t charge for the 10 minutes he had to wait. So next morning early we were on a direct bus to David.
In David a 30 minute taxi ride took us in front of Larry and Dotty’s house in Boquete.

We haven’t see Larry since Venezuela. Dotty visited at Sandy and Dale’s in Marathon, she flew in in her private plane and took us for a spin around the keys and let me fly her plane. They are settled in Boquete and love living there.





Each time we come to Boquete it grows a little more on us. Really is a very nice area. We had lots of catching up to do and had fun playing with their 3 dogs and petting their python. 


Every Day a rainbow







A great fixer upper








At their friend's Jen's house
And the view from her house
Dotty is involved in the “Amigos de Animales Boquete” project. Which is a monthly spay clinic: http://aadab.org/amigos/index.php
We had planned to just spend a couple nights but Dotty talked us into staying 3 extra nights on top of that. On Sunday I was volunteered to be a volunteer at the clinic. Wow what an organization. The clinic is a one room building with kitchen, separate bathroom and storage room. A covered patio was the waiting room.
An animal entering for the procedure was first weight then Dotty adjusted the anesthesia and administered it to the pet, the pet was place on a mat until asleep then transported to a table where one person was shaving the area for surgery, one person either clipping the ear (stray cat) or tattooing inside the ear N or S for neutered or spayed. By the way each time an animal needs to be transported from one area to the next “Taxi” is called out and the transporting guys would show up. Next station was the waiting table for the surgery where the animals are covered with warm blankets and monitored.
Then as soon as an operating table was open the animal was taxied for surgery.
There were 5 Veterinarians that each last Sunday of the months travel from Costa Rica to Boquete and 2 US volunteer veterinarians, which one is Sandy of Little Bit we met at Binnie’s. She lives part time here and the other in Puerto Lindo.
After the surgery is done they are taxied to a station where the wound is cleaned. Next station is the recovery area. Along the wall are plenty of blankets spread out for bigger dogs. 6 tables are available for smaller dogs and cats and one table with heating pads for pets that have too low temperature. Each pet gets a nurse and every 15 minutes they measure their temperature and cool them down if fever or put them under the heating pads if cold. Each animal is rubbed down with loving care and brought back out of their narcosis. It’s a really rewarding experience.
My first job was cleaning the instruments which gave me a good look at the surgeries itself and now and then when an animal woke up to soon I’d rush over there to hold their little paws down and the head until another anesthesia was administered. There were a couple of pets where the anesthesia did not work, poor things. When Dottie’s big dog was fixed I changed my place and helped him in recovery. It took him forever, I think he liked the attention and just milked it. Then I helped a few more dogs at one time 2 at the same time that was a challenge until one of the parents proudly told me: this is my dog. I invited her to sit next to her dog and rub him down, she was overjoyed. The parents of the animals are more than welcome to watch or assist.
I headed back to the sanitizing station again as I really enjoyed watching the surgeries. Larry took me to one of the vets and together we watched up close the surgery together and he in details explained what the doctor was doing, after that whenever I saw it was needed I jumped in to assist a vet.
This was an incredible, incredible experience I would volunteer any time again.
Dotty administering the Anesthesia and Taxi holding the little critter

All fallen asleep and labeled how much anesthesia they received 
My favorite station to stylize the instruments 

Preparation for the surgery, shaving and tattooing 

A parent by his dog's side

Doctor Sandy at work

Cleaning and sterilizing the wound
Recovery area for bigger animals

Smaller pets recovery on the tables

Heating pad table
We had a great time and promised to visit again. There was no way to change our ticket for the 5th time which was an overnight bus arriving in Panama City at 3am, so we bought a new ticket. 11 bucks each wow. We made it on time to Sixt car rental place before closing and since we were the last customers they had run out of the Kia we reserved and got a double upgrade.

This the most fun filled 3 weeks we have had in a long time with so much to remember.

Stepping into the cockpit of our home we immediately smelled the odor of cat urine. Two days before we left a French derelict boat came floating into the marina; side towed by his wife in the dinghy and for sure would have crashed into our neighbor across from us who just bought his catamaran. We helped the boat safely on the dock. They had a cute and very friendly cat onboard but unfortunately the owners neglected to neuter that little critter and as we came walking back from the shower we saw it come from our boat. Too late, he had marked our cockpit already. Of course we complained and were told that the boat would be moved to another slip as he was in an emergency slip. Two days after we left they did move the boat about 5 slips down from ours.
So we’re home and again and as I went down below I found balls of fur on the floor and the odor intensified. We have a small porthole that can’t be closed and Sid secured it with a towel but the stupid cat found it anyway. The smell was so strong I could not pin point it. I woke up every time I turned over to this piss smell. The boat smelled like a urinal, no wait…….. it was a urinal the cat even pissed on the bed I slept in.

We cleaned the best we could but did not want to have our rental car sitting in the parking lot wasting our money away due to the cat, so we dealt with the smell.

We had fun with the car driving to La Guyra and meeting Carol, Anita and her friend Bron at Adriana’s for a delicious seafood feast, went shopping in Panama City or just drove around the neighbor hood and checked out the area.
One evening for sunset we drove to Fort Lorenzo and Deb couldn't believe that we really meant it when we said we will bring the Generator and Blender:

Life is good with Silver Fizzes in our hands

We also had fun celebrating Deb's Birthday. I cooked a gourmet dinner for her and invited surprise guests for her:
Debi and Carol

Glass noodle salad and Ceviche

Caeser Salad and Parmesan Pocket



Swiss Röschti (potato dish)



Chateau Briand





Torta Marquesa a recipe I got in Venezuela
In the mean time the cat odor is gone, the owner received a laundry bill and I promised him that I would fix the cat. It was kinda funny when I told him. With his limited English he asked “Fix???” and I said “cut his balls off”. His eyes got huge and he said: “but he’ll die!!!” After explaining what I meant he said oh no that is mutilation. Anyway, since there is a population of wild cats here I decided to organize a spay and neuter program still in mind to fix his cat. A donation box is sitting at the Mini Mart and in just 2 days we collected over 60 dollars.
The tom cat I found out had his way with the young kitten already and Uli a Swiss guy decided to take her in to get her spayed. As she was on the operating table the vet called him in and next to her lay two kittens and he asked if he wanted to go ahead with surgery or put the babies back. After she was spayed she recuperated next to our boat in a huge cage and was spoiled with lots of affection an yummy treats. This little kitten is so cute and so friendly; I wished we could find a home for her.
Since the Tom cat had his way with her already we realized he probably did have fun with the other female as well so she was next to be brought to the vet. Both female cats when they came home from surgery I took care of them. The marina had a big cage we put on the dock next to the boat. We had each for three days before releasing and wow I was able to pet them both, they loved it. When I let the second one go, Ueli was standing by. She got out of her cage and went straight to the oldest male and they schmoozed each other up then she went to each other male and rubbed noses, that was so kewl but then I heard a little meow and OMG there was a little kitten coming out from under the trailer the cats live. Mommy walked over to the kitten sniffed it and walked away. Ueli had fed the cats for several months and didn't realize she was pregnant and when she disappeared 10 days ago and showed up again 5 days later didn't think she may have kittens. Had I known I would have never fixed her, not yet. I took the baby home as she rejected it. Sid asked if I was sure there was just one kitten, I went back and sure enough there was a second one, it could not see yet so with making noise I attracted it and finally it came to me. So we are kitty sitting two about 3 week old kittens and NO we will not keep them. Found a home for one and I think it's not going to be tough to find one for the other. In the mean time we are making sure they make it OK until they are about 6 weeks old. Can't find a kitty formula on milk here in Panama, Dr. Sandy said to mix 1 small can of evaporated milk with equal amounts of water, add an egg yolk, a Tps of veggie oil and 1 Tbls of active yogurt, they love it. 
More about them later. 






 



With Dr. Sandy's help we also will fix the 4 males. 

In the mean time we have ordered our new AGM Master Volt batteries and also a heat exchanger to fix our motor. We ordered the heat exchanger on the 6th and paid 68 bucks for 3 day shipping with instructions it needs to be at destination on the 10th. On the 9th we still did not receive an email with order or delivery status so we called the company. The part had not been shipped yet and he offered to overnight it for an extra 89 bucks. So we missed out on our shipment on the 11th and have to wait until the 25th, bummer, two extra weeks in this expensive marina. We were promised to get a refund of 30 dollars as they now would ship it ground, which was neglected too and was shipped 3 day priority. We’ll remember that next time we need a heat exchanger.

So here we are finding exotic places again to fix our boat. Sid started doing some varnish, I got busy with the cat project, computer stuff, shopping and had a fun girls outing with Debi and Ida. It was a last minute decision to join her in town and spend a couple nights in her house. Since her BD was coming up Debi and I took the opportunity and surprised her with a birthday dinner and presents at her house. The funniest about this was when she picked us up. On our way to her house we were stuck at the canal for 1 ½ hrs and since we had cold champagne in the car and a crab quiche Debi made we enjoyed it in the car. Although we had no knife to cut the quiche, I went through my purse to see if I had my Swiss Army knife with me but nope, so I found my Trident chewing gum which is in a carton box and that served as well as a knife. Problem solved.

At the marina store at Shelter Bay they had one Saturday a BBQ, a cooler with beer and sodas and a sign on the window with 20% off on everything in the store bought that day. I asked if the dinghy’s were 20% off as well. They sure were. We are in need of a new dinghy and the one we want is the 10 foot ultra light from AB. This store quoted us last November 3750 for the dinghy, same in January and so we asked again. The price was still the same so we said we would buy the dinghy. Now they backtracked and said they don’t have one in stock, we said no problem we are not in a hurry. So they told us to come back on Monday that they would honor the sale and 20%. OK, Monday came and we went back into the store, now they told us they had to get the real price for the dinghy, really and the battle started. After 10 days there still was not a price, in the mean time I had called Baranquilla myself and knew the retail price which was $300 less so I told the girls I wanted to talk to the boss. Of course she did not let me and she was the mediator. Day 14 still no price so I ordered the girl to dial his number that I wanted to talk to him in person. Well it worked we finally got the dinghy after I told him I knew what the retail price was and I give them the amount they promised us they would honor.  He OK’d it and so I gave the phone to the girl for him to tell her what the deal was and so we paid half down. They have no idea when it will come in but as I said we are not in a hurry. We bought us a good dinghy for $3000, a great deal.

Now we are waiting for our shipment so Sid can install the new batteries and fix the motor, so we can head back to the San Blas and have fun in the sun. My brother Gino worked over time since his visit 1 ½ years ago and accumulated 2 weeks of vacation. I can’t wait to spoil him in the San Blas.
In the mean time Sid is doing some needed varnish and stainless steel stuff. I’m busy with the cat project and also have some sewing projects ahead.


Never a dull moment in and on Paradise! 

Some fun in the Marina Bathroom:
Pedicure

Facials


Hair coloring


Nail Polish

and a lot of laughter

Relax after Spa Day

At the Marina Pool
Some photos of a fun day with Ida in town and her surprise BD party: