Sailing, SUPping, and Snorkeling - Oh, my!

My classes have been going well although I am still working on learning over 100 verbs now in both past and present tense. I can speak to Magda more but mostly in short phrases or words with actions. I have studied vocabulary for fruits and vegetables and professions, but it is no surprise that my favorite topic was mathematics! I am learning to count and use numbers up through the millions. Makes me feel so proud! Classes can contain up to four students, but since I was at such a beginning level and others were more advanced, I actually received private lessons. There was no hiding in my class and hoping someone else had the right answer. 

Thursday afternoon I went on a four-hour Panache sailing tour. It was absolutely amazing! There were about 35 of us - plus four crew members - on a large catamaran. The crew brought us drinks from an open bar and a snack of fresh pineapple and watermelon. (Yes, I definitely gave away my watermelon even though it looked juicy.) I had a Mango Loco which was very sweet but refreshing. After about an hour or so, we stopped in a little cove where we got out and had our choice of snorkeling with a guide, stand up paddle boarding (SUP), or kayaking. I knew I would be snorkeling on Friday so I chose SUP. 

It was definitely more challenging to get my balance on the ocean rather than at Summit Lake, Washington, but I was able to get the hang of it. I paddled around the cove was so surprised and awed when a small sting ray jumped right toward me. It was awesome. He jumped about three feet in the air and was about 10 feet right in front of me. The water was very deep and dark there so I was not able to view any other fish from my SUP. 

After playing in the water, we were provided a light dinner of chicken wraps, pineapple, skewered fruit and cheese, tortilla chips and dip. Gabriel, the chef, teased “Would you like monkey or raccoon?” when he handed out the wraps. I knew he was teasing but a young teen had just taken a wrap when he asked that. She had the wrap in her hand, shook her head “no” and tried to give it back. I told her it was really chicken and that he was teasing. She took it, but I could tell she wasn’t convinced. I did see that she ate it very tentatively.

The most beautiful sight was a school of Spotted Pacific dolphins leaping and diving. I was able to get a great video clip of them while “Sweet Home Alabama” was playing on the stereo. I thought that was pretty ironic! Love that song, but it makes me a little sad as I do miss living in Alabama. 

On board, two couples were celebrating their honeymoon and one man was celebrating his birthday so we had cake and the honeymooners were given champagne. We stopped and watched the sun as it dipped below the horizon. I would encourage anyone traveling to Costa Rica to check out PanacheSailing.com. 

Friday after classes, I went snorkeling. This was another first for me. It took a few tries for me to be comfortable with the mask and snorkel. After working with the mask so I didn’t get salt water leaking into my eyes, I was good to go. The water was cooler here. It was similar to Spring Meadow Lake in Helena, Montana at the end of a hot summer. I swam through warm and cool spots. We took a much smaller, older boat out to complete two snorkeling sessions. The first was to Pelican Island where there were a lot of . . . yes, pelicans. The pelicans thought we were bringing them food so they swam very close to us. One was about two feet in front of me before our guide, Miguel, made them go away. 

The water was murky near Pelican Island. Miguel said it was murky due to the large amounts of rain “stirring” up the water. Apparently, the clearest waters typically are during the dry season (November and December.) Miguel brought us up a black starfish which we each got to briefly hold. He pointed out puffer fish, big fish, little fish, and schools of fish. I will need to look them up as I am not sure what all of them were. I expected to see mostly brightly colored fish, but the majority of the fish were brownish. I did see brightly colored blue fish and the yellow striped fish one sees in photos. A turtle briefly popped his head and half of his body from out behind some rocks. He didn’t stay long though. We did not see any angel fish nor octopus. 

After about 30 minutes, we went to another location. The water was warmer and clearer there and we also heard a consistent sound. I couldn’t see what it was, but it sounded like when you first put Pop Rocks in your mouth. We snorkeled in that area for another half hour. We saw sea urchins and the shell of a baby turtle. I would definitely go snorkeling again, but I would invest in my own mask that fit me well.