Bahía Drake, Monday

Mon 13th 1556 Not a bad day despite decidedly unpromising start. On shared balcony after cooking and eating, I have this vague feeling I "should" be doing something but I don't want to and I kind of also want to enjoy having some privacy. The one thing I maybe "should" be doing is looking into booking another tour, but I plan to do the San Josecito trail mentioned by Fernando tomorrow morning (guide having mentioned it on boat back and having had chance to ask him about it over lunch - just go to main beach, turn left and walk to that end and you'll find start of trail) and I'm reluctant to book up for anything straight away. *Maybe* night walks are all booked up til end of month/year/century anyway, or maybe the last slot will sell out later today. I just might pop out somewhere later and ask but I really would rather leave this open. That is really the one other tour I kinda sorta want to do.

Incidentally guide said over lunch he does other tours (including night walks and La Siren-whatsit) and I asked him why LS was so popular and he said (maybe being "nice" to me/us who can't get on it) it's mainly because it's all secondary forest (we saw mix of primary and secondary today) which I think is better for seeing mammals, and it's all flat so it's easy for "anyone" (I suspect not people with really limited mobility) to get round. Not that the trail today was epically difficult, but I could see bits of it being too much (if only due to risk of slipping and getting injured) for someone "very old" or whatever.

1625 Am I a good tourist or what? Popped out to night hike place round corner and asked (all in English) - if I got the gist right, it *may* be good tonight if it's dry after so much rain (animals more on the move???). Anyway, it's USD45 (which is what was advertised at a hostel/tour agency i shoved my head in but didn't speak to as big queue when getting food to cook lunch) and apparently I can even pay on credit card with no surcharge. I need to turn up there 1815 and it may or may not be on, which is honest etc. Haven't paid yet.

All else being equal rather not have done it today but it seems silly to deliberately try to drag things out to fill time - I am sure I can either luxuriate in privacy or sit meditatively on beach or just leave early as the mood takes me. And it *may* not go ahead tonight anyway - seems only prudent to try "early and often" if weather might be an issue.

Hope I won't feel too tired but think it will be fine. Boiling up some water for coffee-in-cup-and-be-patient-for-grounds-to-settle (pseudo Turkish? but own invention out of necessity) on offchance it helps. If I *do* do this, I certainly won't force myself up early tomorrow to do San Josecito hike before it gets hot - prob wouldn't have anyway.

As there's probably a lot to write up, I should bash out the memory failure prone bits of today's morning tour and can always fill in the general stuff later/tomorrow.

We saw a "pavon" in park entrance bit on arrival. Also (not in order) a white-faced coati digging up and eating a land crab (these burrow holes in the ground near-ish to the beach - they're red AFAICT from what I saw of the one being eaten alive ("obvious" but grim), at least the legs are), spider monkeys, white-faced monkeys, scarlet macaws (very cool to see these wild and with naked eye), a tiny frog on the ground (poison frog family, but not that poisonous), crocodile tree (knubbly points to deter herbivores), a spiny type of palm tree. I also sadly missed (but maybe you'd have needed binoculars or similar, and guide wasn't there when I turned up - I had gone to bog before boat back as suggested...) seeing a saltwater crocodile on a rock off the beach just before we came back. Prob other animals have forgotten and will shove in if I think.

Slept really badly. Perhaps bit of fan noise but also mainly nerves about waking up for tour I think.

Absolutely pissing it down about 5-530ish. Dark out, just getting light. Managed to squeeze a bit out coffee-less in downstairs bog. Peeved about inability to take plastic bags (presumably) to protect stuff, took 5l slightly ropy dry bag as compromise. Don't *like* bad weather but hard to have a real beef with it, and the climate is part of what I am here to see, but eco-wanky problems dealing with the climate (because single use plastic bad) wind me up.

By minor miracle it was only sptting (tho wore shell jacket - never took overtrousers out of bag) as I walked down to beach and it stayed dry all the time we were there. Pissed it down briefly while I was here at accom after lunch before going out to see about night tour tho.

I hardly drank any of my water and didn't touch fruit juice carton - could have drunk more water but esp in forest as opposed to on beach it was borderline pleasantly warm rather than super humid and apart from conserving limited supply also didn't want to get desperate for a piss.

At least one person had a plastic bottle and guide had brought himself some food in, plus we had bit of watermelon and some biscuits at end of tour before getting boat back. Over lunch he said it depends on the station - at San Pedrillo (sp? that's the one we went to today) the rangers allow it, and La Siren-whatsit they inspect bags for food (and presumably Bad Plastic) and check passport details etc.

I had some trouble finding my group down at beach and in the end called a number from my receipt and despite initial difficulties (call in Spanish) guy came over and found me. After that all fairly smooth really, I felt less edgy and it was pretty cool out on the boat seeing the land with wreaths of mist in places etc.

Guide pretty decent too. I felt a tiny bit hot at times but nothing terrible. Moderate amount of walking but nothing insanely epic - uphill a bit at start of trail through primary forest at start, slightly slippery downhill bit at end of that trail, then beach/secondary forest for second half of tour fairly flat - tho as I say a smidge warm on the beach out of the shade.

They did ask at start (guide did) about dietary requirements etc but sadly my lunch had the salad undressed but big dollop of sauce on the steak and it came with pasta in (I think) thin and limited amount of pesto sauce - could *maybe* have eaten pasta but didn't really fancy it, left steak and just ate the salad. A smidge awkward but although one of the three young French women at table with me and guide did comment casually that I wasn't eating much, I don't think it was a big deal. I didn't make a fuss, they had at least kinda-sorta tried with the salad. TBH not sure why lunch had to be included, given it was last thing on tour, but there you go. (Might make sense if this tour offered to people as day trip from Uvita, as it might be, but our group didn't seem to be such.) Lunch was back at the tour office where I'd booked, proper sit-down thing off plates, not white takeaway containers as I had expected. Blackberry juice ("natural" style) on tap so I had three or four glasses of that to get a bit of value, and because it was nice and very welcome.

1706 Feeling bit harried and "El Sol No Regressa" (La Quinta Estacion) starting to play faintly from somewhere and can't help smiling.

2129 Back. Pretty good and v different from La Fortuna night tour. Just bash out some names of things seen (some of which I have prob blurry as hell photos of), not in any particular order:
- northern kai snake
- glass frog
- water spider
- white legged spider
- "banana" spider (youngish female)
- wandering spider
- pit viper (fer-de-lance)
- not-quite grasshopper thing with leaf shaped body
- more frogs than I can remember, several mating
- stick insects of varying size, several mating

Forgot to say earlier saw quite a lot of golden orb weaver spiders on morning tour. Got to touch a supporting strand of web and as guide pointed out it does feel like fishing like and takes quite a pull on it without breaking (obviously not trying to break it) - which makes it more believable web can catch small hummingbirds and bats.

Going to snack now (not starving, but vaguely feel I've earned it) and may write more later. Bit of chat with couple in room down by shared toilet earlier and with owner of night tour before/during drive out (just me and him, we picked up two other pairs of people so tour just us five plus two guides, not owner) have given me some possibilities for other stuff to do here and also some (slightly conflicting) info about San Josecito walk ("Drake Trail") - though obviously "everyone" does this so increasingly sure it's got to be a reasonable thing to do.

2318 Just popped down to clean teeth - a light by the sink outside bathroom would be nice, but for the money I'm not complaining.

Just might (tho camera battery low and mem card nearly full, but could leave it here and just use G5) do the "Drake Trail" tomorrow if I happen to be up early and it's not pissing it down - I gather/expect based on own experience and just logic that it's nicer to do before it gets too hot, but given I've had a fairly full day and slept badly due to having to be up for last two days I will set a fairly late alarm and if I sleep til then or even decide to snooze that's fine.

Will send this now and hopefully write up night tour in more detail tomorrow. Will say that white legged, water and wandering spiders all a decent size (palm of hand sized, including legs??? hard to judge of course) as was the banana spider, and it was only a youngish one, but perhaps the one we saw wasn't quite as big) and the white legged one looked kind of cool but also vaguely "stereotypical exotic spider" with the white furryish looking legs. The water spider skips/jumps across the surface of water (apparently in danger of being eaten by big fish) - the guide touched it on a leg after we'd had a chance to look/photograph it to set it off, it had been sitting on a rock, and it went off. Quite cool but also vaguely disconcerting to see it rocket around in this series of inordinately fast jumps.

Anyway, more tomorrow.