Day 17: Ojochal

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Yet another day here in beach paradise.
The Pacific Coast of Costa Rica is littered with beaches, and with the temperatures reaching well over 30 degrees with high humidity, what better place to be than in the ocean, next to a lovely beach. Not, it unfortunately is not white, but still. 😉

Right after breakfast a pickup shows up to take us to Uvita, the nearby place where the Dolphins & Whales tour will take off. This tour works slightly different than what we are used to, as we have to walk from the office (all geared up wearing our life jackets and flip flops) via the official entrance of the Ballenas National Park to a large beach where the boat still sits on its trailer.
The boat is (not so) gently removed from said trailer by simply backing it up into the surf until it nearly floats, wait for a large wave, and yank the trailer from underneath it by stepping on the throttle of the towing car. When this was done, we were told to take off our shoes and enter the ocean to get in.
Crude. But effective nonetheless.

Fully installed, the only thing to tackle is the surf itself. Starting from the beach, the breakers pose an interesting challenge, but everything was skilfully handled by the captain. We were warned in advance, but nobody got disproportionately wet during this ordeal.

During the tour we found several sets of mother Humpback Whales with their calves, and even a pod of male Humpbacks! The latter even resorted to jumping from the water, something even the crew of the tour has rarely seen. The mothers and their calves generally take it a lot easier and just float on the surface an generally do nothing.
Today was also the very first time we have heard the whales sing without any amplification! The captain turned off the motor, and the singing was very clearly audible. Wow!

After the tour, there was some obligatory swimming in the pool of the hotel, and the necessary treatment of the sunburnt skin. Even when you take the right precautions, being out on water always gets to you. And, as we are both quite tired by now, we’ll tuck in early and prepare for tomorrow.
That is the day, we have to leave Ojochal, and head a little further inland to San Gerardo de Dota, to try and find some more Quetzal, amongst other things.