And the epitaph read, "They should have taken the bus!"

2004-02-18, Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica

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I´m not good at math, but if bad luck runs in threes, I think I have one more near-death experience coming.

Cary was a little worse for wear at the end of our stay near Montezuma -- poor guy is covered in a rash and looks like he has chicken pox. And the lack of creature comforts were starting to get on his nerves as well. The buses were killing him -- too cramped, too hot, too you-name-it. To get from Montezuma to where we are now would have required a two- hour bus ride, a two-hour ferry ride and then a three-hour bus ride. So, we were passing by this tour company and noticed a sign, "One Hour Boat Ride to Jaco." That was close enough to where we were going so it sounded good -- Sign us up!

I pictured a medium-sized boat with some cargo space and decent seating, kind of like what we had in Drake Bay. We get to the dock at 6:30 a.m. the next morning and noticed six other people standing by this really tiny boat (about the size of a small fishing boat). First concern, where are we going to sit? Second concern, the waves were huge. I muttered, "if all our stuff gets wet again I´ll scream!"

Luckily, they had these garbage bags so we could keep our stuff from getting wet. However, we were not going to be spared. We all had to help move the boat from shore into the waves and were soaked before we even started.

I was one of the last people in the boat and had to sit up front. I´m not that experienced with boats or huge waves so I didn´t know what to expect.
The waves started to crash into the boat and it was hard starting out. We were riding into huge crests. Cary thought maybe the worst of it would be over once we got out of the bay.

Uh, no. Not so lucky.

In fact, the waves seemed larger. They weren´t crashing into the boat this time. Instead we were riding these four to six foot crests, flying into the air and then crashing down.
Well, it turns out the person sitting front of a boat like that gets all the shock. Horray for me! And all these big macho men were sitting calmly at the stern, getting wet but not flying into the air at every crest.

We were sitting sideways in the boat (my left side facing the bow) and we could only hold on to the under part of our seats. I held on so tight I popped a blood vessel in my arm.
This very nice guy, Surfer Steve, was sitting to my right and saw that I was ready to vomit so offered to change seats. He had to literally crawl over me because we couldn´t stand up.

The waves became larger and the crashes more severe. Surfer Steve (from Kenora, B.C.) would say stuff like "This one will surely kill us, dude!", "Now is now, dude!" and "less expensive than bungee and more fun, dude!" accompanied by these mad little surfer-dude giggles.

We´d already been at sea for an hour, and it didn´t look like we´d gone that far.

Finally, the boat driver stopped the motor. In the meantime, the waves started to rock us again. One person exclaimed, "It´s going to capsize!" The driver didn´t speak much English, but he nodded like he agreed.

He told us we were going to make an emergency stop at Torguga Island, this place where they bring tour companies. It was maybe 1/3 of the way to Jaco. So much for the "one hour trip!"

We landed safely and got off, sea sick and haggard, landing on the white sand beach like Survivor castaways.

The driver told us we were going to wait for a few hours until the sea calmed down. One person translated his Spanish and explained that the waves were the worse the driver had ever experienced. We also found out the driver was only getting $1.50 USD per hour, whereas the tour company (run by Americans) charged us $30 USD per person.

My back was aching so I got out my blow-up travel pillow to lay on the sand while we waited. Out of the bush runs this tiny little peccary, a hairy wild pig with large teeth known to be vicious. But this one rolls on its back and demands to be petted -- strange behavior for a wild pig. The sweet little thing actually crawled into my arms and slept with me, just like my cat. Don´t tell Nike, but this little guy was so cuddly he wouldn´t get upset when I moved.

Our boat driver found some coconuts and he split a few open for us to eat and drink.

So, there we were on this beautiful white sand beach, with magnificent frigate birds flying overhead, surrounded by the bluest water I´ve seen yet, eating coconuts, and I was hugging a sweet little viscious peccary. Not a bad emergency landing experience.

A few tour companies came onto the island (they paid $50 USD each for the pleasure). One tour operator explained something happened to the peccary´s mother and someone brought the little guy to the island to be raised like a dog. His name was Morty and he liked his nose to be rubbed. Sure enough, it would twitch its nose toward my hand when I´d bring it near.

A few hours later it was safe to depart. The sea was choppy, but the huge waves were gone. I looked to my left and saw a few magnificent frigate birds (they eat flying fish, pushed out of the water by dolphins). Hmmm. I wonder if there are dolphins there. Then, I couldn´t believe my eyes, this dolphin jumps out of the water and does a flip. I screamed, ¨"dolphin!" The driver stopped the motor and we watched this amazing dolphin do FIVE FLIPS! So cool.

Finally, we got to Jaco (almost seven hours later). We missed the bus we wanted to catch by five minutes and had to wait for two more hours. That was okay though.. we needed to get some cash and eat.

We´re now near a national park and Cary leaves tomorrow. In fact, he´s waiting paitently for me to finish this e'mail (he´s finished his). My back is feeling better but I have a huge bruise on my arm from the blood vessel popping.

But, I have one last story before I go...

We were walking through the park yesterday and eagle-eyes Cary goes, ¨"Oh look, there´s a sloth!" You could barely see it because there were leaves. Good eye! Anyway, it started to move so we watched it for a while. It actually began to move toward the ground. Oh my gosh! It was going to take a crap! THis is a really amazing experience because I´ve heard from several wildlife guides that sloths only go to the bathroom once a week (no kidding). Sure enough, it was coming to the ground to do just that. We watched in amazement.

Anyway, I have to run. Cary wants to go for lunch. Poor guy heads home tomorrow. Once again, I don´t have time to check spelling and grammar (feels like a university exam) so I apologize in advance for all the errors...

I´m following Cary to the airport and then I´m off to the Carribean. Can´t wait for the next near-death experience.