Tamarindo and Turtles!
This morning we explored the small surfing mecca of Tamarindo. Shopping was done in a flurry, as we also wanted to explore the river estuary nearby. With the help of the high tide we surfed the estuary in our large black “Zodiac surfboards.” Going in was the dry, easy part. Once we were across the sandbar we puttered amongst the mangrove roots, (many longer than our legs!) and discovered a diversity of bird life that calls the mangroves home. Little blue heron, white ibis, cattle egret, great egret, green-backed heron, whimbrel, willet, black mangrove hawk, mangrove warbler and ringed kingfisher were amongst our sightings.
It’s great to be on a ship that brakes for turtles
The return to the Sea Voyager was a bit more aquatic. As we left the estuary, we needed to time the waves carefully for a dry exit and, well, most of us had great timing. After changing into some dry clothes, we enjoyed a lunch up in the lounge with the beautiful scenery of the coastline of Cabo Velas as our backdrop. As the ship repositioned, our Captain announced from the bridge the sighting of sea turtles nearby. We dashed out of the lounge to the outside decks and there, swimming at the surface was a pair of mating sea turtles, as shown in the picture above.
The afternoon activities included everything. We snorkeled along the rocks, kayaked along the shoreline, swam along the beach, basked in the sun and flew osprey and toucan shaped kites on the beach.
As we sat down to dinner to relax and reminisce about the day, a call came from the fantail of “sharks.” For the second time today we abandoned food for wildlife sightings and although they were not sharks, there was a definite feeding frenzy going on off the stern of the ship. We came back inside to finish our feeding.
The fish continued to be the entertainment for the evening. After dessert we again took to the fantail to fish watch. Another sea turtle swam into view, this time unburdened by a mate. It swam towards our fantail, surfaced and took a breath. It was so close we heard it exhale. It took a long look at our sandless fantail and then it was back underwater, slowly paddling away. Once again, an incredible day from start to finish.
This morning we explored the small surfing mecca of Tamarindo. Shopping was done in a flurry, as we also wanted to explore the river estuary nearby. With the help of the high tide we surfed the estuary in our large black “Zodiac surfboards.” Going in was the dry, easy part. Once we were across the sandbar we puttered amongst the mangrove roots, (many longer than our legs!) and discovered a diversity of bird life that calls the mangroves home. Little blue heron, white ibis, cattle egret, great egret, green-backed heron, whimbrel, willet, black mangrove hawk, mangrove warbler and ringed kingfisher were amongst our sightings.
It’s great to be on a ship that brakes for turtles
The return to the Sea Voyager was a bit more aquatic. As we left the estuary, we needed to time the waves carefully for a dry exit and, well, most of us had great timing. After changing into some dry clothes, we enjoyed a lunch up in the lounge with the beautiful scenery of the coastline of Cabo Velas as our backdrop. As the ship repositioned, our Captain announced from the bridge the sighting of sea turtles nearby. We dashed out of the lounge to the outside decks and there, swimming at the surface was a pair of mating sea turtles, as shown in the picture above.
The afternoon activities included everything. We snorkeled along the rocks, kayaked along the shoreline, swam along the beach, basked in the sun and flew osprey and toucan shaped kites on the beach.
As we sat down to dinner to relax and reminisce about the day, a call came from the fantail of “sharks.” For the second time today we abandoned food for wildlife sightings and although they were not sharks, there was a definite feeding frenzy going on off the stern of the ship. We came back inside to finish our feeding.
The fish continued to be the entertainment for the evening. After dessert we again took to the fantail to fish watch. Another sea turtle swam into view, this time unburdened by a mate. It swam towards our fantail, surfaced and took a breath. It was so close we heard it exhale. It took a long look at our sandless fantail and then it was back underwater, slowly paddling away. Once again, an incredible day from start to finish.
