On the Road Again Sitting on the Dock of the Bay This Must be Paradise

 What do Drake, Phish, and The Beach Boys have in common?

 

They all come to mind while we sit around enjoying Part II of Lori and Bruce's Excellent Adventure. With our good deeds safely tucked in our back pockets, or backpacks, we bid a fond farewell to the people 

and animals 

we've left behind at the Wildlife Sanctuary. Sometimes, it's a bit difficult to segregate the two, but hey, that's half the fun.

Part one - a cross continent trip from close to the Pacific to the Caribbean. Thirty-five minutes, or less time than it takes to drive in to Montreal from the West Island. Puerto Veijo was not exactly our speed. More or less an all inclusive with nothing included. 

 The town, three kilometres away, would have been fun to hang out in either forty years ago or if we were forty years younger. Mucho Bob Marley, campgrounds, tents on beaches, el cheapo restos, limited toilets, cold water showers, etc. Not to complain, we have managed quite well in similar facilities over our volunteer years but I guess when one wants to treat oneself for our altruistic activities, air conditioning is desirous. I know, I know, Lori and I are getting soft. Next thing you know we will be seeking refuge in the nearest Hilton.

Which brings me to Drake Bay. 

Actually, an aeroplane brings us to Drake Bay. Costa Rica is serviced by Sansa Airlines, a local fleet of sixteen seat Cessnas. 

Most flights take less than an hour and are moderately priced. Unless of course you are travelling with luggage. The first thirty pounds are free. Then you are charged $1.50/lb. over that. I regret bringing my full collection of Dylan, Beatles, and Stones LPs with me. And the only turntable I found here was a Marantz, which would not do. Lori came up with a brilliant idea. Rather than packing our heaviest items, we put them into our carry on bags and avoided some serious dineros. One assumes that the extra charge is compensation for the weight, so avoiding paying because of carrion luggage (we had a few dead sloths with us) was counter intuitive. But the person at the counter didn't complain.

OK, so Francis Drake, is the guy that Bahia Drake is named after. While initially working as a slave trader and merchant marine, he decided to up his game and raid Spanish galleons in the second half of the seventeenth century. He did well, very well, sinking ships, seizing gold and silver that the Spaniards had plundered from the Incas and Aztecs. How does one say 'karma' in Quechuan? Upon his return to England he gave half the spoils to Queen Elizabeth (the first one, not the one who just died, but the one who just died may have been alive at the time, she was that old). Good Queen Bess, or as she was known at the time The Notorious GQB, was tickled pink by the gift. You can see that on her portraits in the Victoria & Albert Museum. It had to be that since those pasty Brits did not tan all that well; to this day. In return, Frankie was knighted and put second in command of the British Fleet. So after plundering the Spaniards as a pirate, he was put in charge of a naval assault on the Spanish Armada. A task that he was only too pleased to undertake. Sir Francis Drake really was the Notorious SFD, laying waste to the Spanish Navy in a way not repeated since the Israelis blew up Egypt's entire airforce one day in early June, 1967. Needless to say Drake is not a popular figure in Spanish culture and history. 

                                              Back to the Bay. 

At one point, Drake and his ships anchored in this bay for a little R&R prior to their next mission. While it was a brief respite, Costa Rica has many tales of pirates seeking refuge. Doc Ellis, Willie Stargell, and Kent Tekulve all have homes here. Stargell and Tekulve for tax purposes. Doc Ellis seemed to seek pharmaceuticals from the local ayahuasca clinic.

We are spending five days perched on a hill overlooking the bay. The air is replete with singing birds, the rainforest surrounds us, and Hotel Villa Manolo (don't even think about Barry) 

has air conditioning.The waters off the island of Cano, located forty-five minutes by boat, is one of the best diving spots in Central America. 

  

Also, it rains like the Dickens at night; a warm rain with the intoxicating scent of jungle growth wafting through the air. Morning sees low lying mist, which evaporates as the sun rises. All in all, Drake Bay is not to be mist.