Costa Rica - Day 11 - Uvita to home...sort of

It poured all night with various intensities, all of which were magnified under our tin roof.  I don't think Sabina or I slept for more than an hour total that night.

 Heidi collected me at 6am and we left to the shore at 6:20. The beach was virtually uninhabited at that time and once again we found ourselves in awe of Uvita's beauty. The beach was at low tide with about 60' of mirror-like reflection off the top off the sand, and the sky was just getting bright with big fluffy clouds. The hills over the beach still had clouds evaporating from them and all we could hear was the lapping waves.
The walk to the Whale's Tail took about 45 minutes.  To get there we had to cross two rivers of fresh rainwater from the forest that had created a small rapid. It was really neat how fast it was coming in, how cold it was, and how the water made a small canyon in the sand. I wish I had a camera but we were warned many times that all valuables bought to the beach would be stolen by young riffraff ticos. 

Once we were at The Tail we explored the tide pools that were left behind from the receding water and found small hermit crabs, mud skippers, fiddler crabs, and small yellow fish.

Aerial view of the Whales Tail, courtesy of Google

We carefully made our way out to the reefs to snorkel.  This was very difficult because there were so many razor sharp rocks and the forceful waves kicked up enough sediment that you weren't able to see where your feet were stepping. I stubbed my toes repeatedly and ultimately ended up with several deep cuts. I was getting angry and would have given up the attempt then but the other girls were pretty keen on continuing. 

Pretend this is us, and not just an image I found on Google

I'm happy they were because once I was belly down snorkeling it was so much easier to float and maneuver around the reef, and there were a lot of fish to observe. Even though the water was only thigh-high, there was plenty of room to float above the reefs and the temperamental waves were much easier to handle. We probably saw just as many, or even more kinds of fish there as we did while scuba diving!  Snorkeling is one of my 'happy places'...there is just nothing like it.  Being weightless and silence, maneuvering around corals and among fish with simple flicks of your feet is nearly indescribable. 

We spent about an hour exploring the reef before we had to head back. It was Caroline's first time snorkeling and it was a really good one. We saw countless fish that we'd otherwise see at Big Al's, as well as urchins, starfish, and a few crabs.

A guard stopped us on the way back and told us sternly in Spanish that we hadn't paid $6 to use the park. Unlucky for him we didn't have any money on us. We were easily able to brush him off by saying 'no habla español', but he was persistent and showed us a fairly clear pictogram. We lied and said we'd be back later that afternoon and would be sure to pay then. Lies are okay to make someone else feel better.  He should get up earlier next time!  It's also curious that they hire a Spanish-only guard for a heavily tourist-inhabitant beach.

We went back and the other girls were now awake. We had breakfast together, showered, and finished packing. We said our goodbyes and then our cab to the airport arrived.
We had arranged a taxi to drive us the 3 hours to San Jose airport the night before.  He was a very nice man, not too far off our age, and it was nice chatting to him about the differences between Costa Rica and Canada. 

Photo credit: Google image search :)

One of our final goals in Costa Rica was to see the Tarcoles River that we had missed earlier because it was too dark.  Our driver agreed to accommodate us, and we stopped at the tourist trap.  From the parking lot we ran across the bridge that overlooks the river and joined a bunch of other tourists who were peering over the edge in amazement. The crocodiles were huge and were living en mass in the river under the highway.  A local was outlining the history of the beasts in exchange for tips, but we joined the crowed near the end of the story, so we never got to learn their story.  Oh well, that's what Google is for: http://www.anywherecostarica.com/attractions/river/tarcoles-river. We took some quick photos and carried on.  Before loading back into the car we surveyed the gift shops to spend the last of our money, and the owner said there were 1300 of them! 

I asked them who's job was it to count them,
but he just laughed like I was making a joke

The rest of the 3 hour drive to the airport passed uneventfully.

The airline was Copa, and our first flight was delayed by about half an hour, and then we sat on the runway for another 20-25 minutes to fuel. We told the ticket taker and our flight attendants that we had a connecting flight and everyone said it was no problem. Our concern was further amplified when we got to the Panama airport.  First we were stuck in the plane on the tarmac, then the shuttle wouldn't open its rear doors so it took forever for all the passengers to board, and again when the bus dropped us off at our gate. Then the escalator didn't work, then they didn't unlock the tunnel doors, and THEN, even though Caroline RAN to the connecting gate, she was about 2 minutes too late and they had closed the door to our flight.  I have never seen Caroline angry before, and I bet the woman at the gate is happy to never see an angry Caroline again.

Our options were to stay in Panama for 2 days and fly out on Thursday night, or to take the late flight to Miami and the mid-morning flight to Toronto the next day.  Both options had Caroline missing a very important work meeting,  but we chose the Miami option (even though 2 free days in Panama didn't  sound bad to me!) because both Caroline and Heidi have important jobs and meetings that they absolutely had to return for.  For me, I assumed the cartoon world would keep churning whether or not I was there to manage it.

We ate Haagen Daz and perused the internet to kill the many hours waiting for our flight to board, and headed off to Miami.  And that's where shit got ugly.  It's a big of a long story, so click HERE if you want to experience my hatred for Copa Airlines and find out why you should never ever book a flight with them.