12/20
I bailed on the morning snorkel. I heard later that the snorkelers experienced little stinging nettles and were all itchy. I did a simple hike up a couple hills. It was nice to just be walking in the desert, fully sun protected and hydrated. Afternoon was a guided kayak. We saw lots of fish, pelicans, herons, egrets and… the Blue Footed Booby!! My 1st graders loved that bird. I think they mostly loved saying the name, kind of like my 2nd graders’ enjoyment of the beginning of Hamilton; “How does a bastard son of a whore…” My double kayak companion was George, a retired bio-conservationist. We both said, “Thank you for your service.” for our respective careers. He spearheaded the conservation/preservation of the Monteverdi Rain Forest, which Sharon and I visited when she was five months pregnant with Julian. He said back then (in the 60s) in Costa Rica you couldn’t buy land unless you committed to deforesting it. The way they got around it was to say they planned to wait five years until the trees were bigger so they could harvest more lumber. It worked.
Towards the end of the kayak someone pointed out there was bio-luminescence in the water. I looked down and saw little purple dots suspended, looking like bubbles but not rising to the surface. Last night the boat was cruising in complete darkness and the wake was a luminous bright white. It was beautiful. One passenger said he filmed illuminated dolphins riding the bow. Very cool.
This morning the sea was a conference of wildlife. We had dozens of dolphins in all directions, at least ten sperm whales, which the crew said is very rare, and with the morning light and the activity in the sea it looked like a fireworks display. I may try to make a little video compilation and see if I can add it to the blog.
12/21
I slept terribly last night. I haven’t wanted to miss a single one of Amanda’s desserts, but moving forward if it has chocolate in it, I’m out. I know I slept at least a little because I dreamt Heather Cox Richardson was exposing a government propaganda ring where she knew one of the employees personally. She started describing how it began, but it turned into the story of The Nightmare Before Christmas. Hmm; Jack the Pumpkin King=Trump-Orange Pumpkin-wannabe King, nightmare, ok that tracks. The free-association-dream-mind is pretty cool. Mostly, though, I lay in bed for hours, conscious that I was conscious.
There was only an afternoon activity; I kayaked again with George. More Pelicans!
12/22
Today some of us chose the full day activity. We kayaked two miles across very choppy water to Isla Coronado. My bag with hiking shoes was completely soaked, so there was nothing for it but to have soggy feet for the hike. It wasn’t all that bad, and I seem to have avoided athlete’s foot. Our hike was in desolate terrain; just rocks of all sorts interspersed with the occasional elephant tree, scrubby bushes and a lizard or two. We had lunch at the top of a hill which was pretty great. On the way back Sherry heard what she thought was a grasshopper and thought, “I haven’t heard many insect sounds”. I was right behind her and didn’t hear a thing because of my clogged ears, but suddenly Kelly yelled to Alex, “Don’t move! Actually, back up!” Alex had stepped on a rock with a rattlesnake underneath. It had rattled at Sherry (and presumably me), but we had walked right by it. We watched as it slunk deeper under the rock until it disappeared. We continued on back to the beach station, where the crew had set up drinks, chairs and other luxuries. I tried paddle boarding for the first time. I didn’t fall, but I was done in five minutes. My wobbly ankles were tired!
