When we left our two wanna-be heroes, they had burst forth from the jungle with a troop of hungry Capuchin rascals hot on their heels. The captain and crew of Ashika barely escaped inside the largest cage in the compound; the dining hall. All of the enclosures in this remote park in Costa Rica were built to contain humans. People are housed in buildings built with endemic rough sawn forest timber and decorated with chicken wire. Our adventurers would eat the feast laid out for them in the relative safety of a jungle cage.



Having some serious success at smashing the hands of time, the reefs of the Tortuga Islands were once again beckoning Ashika's crew. They decided to take another try at staying in the lovely bays of Isla Alcatraz and Isla Tolinga.












Although the glowing sea had dimmed, there were no midnight call-of-the- winds either, and the morning delivered a sparkling sunshiny day promising a delightful swim. The only down side was that the red tide that had illuminated the crashing waves the other night had left a cloud of particles in the warm turquoise waters of the bay, seriously limiting visibility.


Lauri took the GoPro camera to document the dive, but the 1/4" window of the display was beyond her ability to read thru her dive mask thus limiting the recording of more mayhem before the courts of time. But the dive did not disappoint. Despite the solo appearances in her photos, the amount and variety of fish were amazing. There were large starfish with neon blue outlines and fan coral and rainbow colored fish swimming with orange and blue glowing fish. Our time killers never tired of the dive, but several hours later they pulled their water logged bodies back into the dinghy. Another win. Time smashed vividly.













Time was still on their side, it didn't mind the punishment at all. So the entire ships crew took a holiday on the beach. Thanks to time, but they still weren't sorry about the murder, in fact they were darn proud of themselves.



























More murder and mischief would take place over the next few days in the protected waters of Bahia Ballena. Time was still needed to overcome the stubborn and persistent winds, so they spent it wisely preparing Ashika for the overnight voyage into the heart of their nemesis; the Gulf of Papagayo. There, with a little help from the luck fairies, they would claim their victory over time and check out of the most lovely country of Costa Rica.





Pieces