Dolphin Watching and Snorkeling

I had a really fantastic day! At 8am this morning, I headed out on my dolphin watching/snorkeling adventure. I went with a pretty diverse group of people. There was a woman from California with her teenage daughter and their tiny Yorkie, Gracie, who apparently gets to go on all sorts of adventures. There was a Costa Rican family from San Jose, three French Canadian girls and an American guy who seems to be bumming around Costa Rica with no particular plan for his life. There was also a woman who operates a delicious food stand here who was born in Africa, grew up in Switzerland, and now lives in Costa Rica with her Swiss husband and their little boy. She speaks 5 languages and can switch between them seamlessly. It’s impressive. There was conversation in French Canadian, English and Spanish all at the same time.

I was concerned about getting seasick, but the boat was great. It was large enough and powerful enough to take ocean waves with no trouble. It also had a slide that you could climb up on and slide into the ocean. We went dolphin watching first and our boat captain found a sizable pod of spotted dolphins. They seem to like the boat. They swam really close and didn’t seem bothered by it at all. Dolphins are so much fun to watch! It was a beautiful day to be on a boat and the water was clear and blue so the dolphins were easy to see. Gracie, the little Yorkie, was fascinated by the dolphins. If her person hadn’t held onto her, I’m confident she would have bailed over the side of the boat trying to chase them. Gracie probably only weighs 5 lbs, so I don’t think dolphin chasing would go well for her. Gracie is a very adventurous little dog who has also gone skiing and has been taken on suspension bridges. She has her own Instagram page.

After dolphin watching, we went to Isla Chora to swim and snorkel. I’m glad I brought my own snorkel gear. Our guide handed out some well-used snorkel equipment to people who didn’t have their own, sprayed the mouthpiece with alcohol and decided that was clean enough. It’s always best to have your own snorkel gear. The snorkeling in Costa Rica is not as good as Bonaire, but it was still fun. I saw a starfish, lots of sea urchins, and some little fish. I could have snorkeled for much longer but no one else seemed as enthusiastic about snorkeling as me. I’m considering doing the tour again before I leave. The whole trip only cost $35.

When I got back from snorkeling, I checked my animal cam. I had about 30 raccoon pictures, 1 fuzzy agouti picture and one pretty good coati picture. I deleted the raccoon pictures and I’ll post the coati picture below. I accidentally broke my landlady’s chair lifting it over her concrete wall. I put it back together, but it falls apart if you try to move it. It wasn’t in good shape to begin with. I’ll have to use a different chair next time. I might go to the hardware store and see if I can find some Gorilla Glue for it.

For supper, I went to the food stand of the Congolese/Swiss lady who was on the Dolphin Tour. She used to sell food at the Spanish school I attend so I already knew her. Tonight, her Swiss husband and their little boy Shane were there helping her. She works long hours. Shane is 6 1/2 so we had a discussion about Jurassic World and The Incredible Hulk. His dad only speaks English to him even though his native language is Swiss German. His mom speaks German to him and he’s learning Spanish at school. The little boy’s English was surprisingly good and he seemed enthusiastic that someone was interested in his stories about The Hulk, skateboarding and dinosaurs. They seem like a really nice family.

Overall, it was a very fun day! Pictures are below. I have video of dolphins but I can’t post video here. If anyone wants to see it, send me or mom a text.