We went ashore again at Bahia Drake, this time to walk the trail around the coast into the Corcovado National Forest. This is the wet tropical rain forest that has preserved so much of the original flora and fauna. The trail went over a suspension bridge and then into the jungle. The forest is beautiful, with huge trees and vines. We started seeing macaws almost immediately---they are large bright orange, red, and green parrots. Then there were coatis running through the undergrowth. We came to a clearing with a lodge where the entire crew and passengers of a small cruise ship were being ferried ashore in rubber dinghies to have lunch. We turned around at this point, and on the way back, came across several blue morpho butterflies---these are the famous blue and black butterflies that are huge. Their flight is a lazy looping swooping, and when they have landed, they fold up their wings so that all you can see is a gray leaf.

There was a visit from the Costa Rican coast guard to check our papers, and then we were off at 3pm. It was another beautiful moonlit night, but again, with very little wind so we had to motor all of the way. We turned the corner into Golfo Dulce and motored the 16 miles up to Golfito, the last major port in Costa Rica and our destination for provisioning and checking out of the country. At dawn we were motoring slowly into the narrow channel between densely wooded hills, then turned to follow the shore of the Golfito harbor. The town and port of Golfito was created by the United Fruit Company to ship out bananas. Union problems and government taxes caused them to shut down about 20 years ago, and the town has only recently begin to recover.

There are three little marinas in a row here. The smallest is Land & Sea with a dock that has room for two boats med moored and a number of moorings. It's by far the most cruiser friendly, so as luck would have it, Kena and Komara tied up together at the dock, taking the marina from 100% empty to 100% full.

We arrived on Sunday, checked in with the port captain on Monday, and did our checkout from the country on Tuesday, the only day that all three of the offices of the port captain, immigration, and customs were open. This week is Semana Santa (holy week) which is the most important celebration in latin america. Everything closes down and everyone goes crazy, as we can attest from one crazy time in Batopilas, Mexico. Although we tried hard to check into some lodges in the Corcovado national forest, they were all booked out, and there was a serious question of whether or not all transport would shut down anyway. The offices closing meant we would have to check out right away (and leave) or wait another 8 days with little to do, so we've decided to move on.

The setting here is quite beautiful with all of the hills covered with forest. We took a dinghy trip through jungle and mangroves on the day we arrived. Yesterday, we took a small tour to a tropical garden and farm run by an ex-engineer of the United Fruit Company. The number of different ginger plants, crotons, palms, etc. was staggering, and the running commentary was very entertaining. They then fed us all of the different fruits and roots, along with a complete meal. Half way through the meal, we were treated to a serious tropical downpour, complete with lightning and thunder. This is the dry season, but it has been unusually wet this year, a problem for the fruit trees as they won't flower or if they do, the fruit doesn't come in. The water lapped at our feet under the tables as we ate.

As a way to stimulate the economy of Golfito after the company left town, the government has set up a duty free zone. Everyone in the country comes here to shop for a wide range of items, including appliances, electronics, booze, and tires. Our little camera has developed a blurry area (probably from being dropped or crushed) so we decided to go there to replace it.

Yesterday we fueled up and we've filled two bladder tanks on the deck for the first time. We're told we may have to motor for days against the current to get to Cocos Island. There's hope that we can do better after that on the way to the Galapagos. First, however, we'll make a stop at one of the islands in Western Panama as we keep hearing how beautiful they are. We've also cleaned the bottom and replaced some of the zincs, changed the oil and engine zincs, the watermaker filters, topped up the batteries, and done a number of provisioning runs.

I'm writing this just at dawn, sitting under the veranda at Land & Sea. Komara has just cast off and is motoring out of the harbor. We said goodbye last night as we probably won't see them again unless they decide to stop at Isla Parida. We still have a few chores to do before leaving, but we hope to get away by 10am.