Leaving Jaco

One of the nice touches at Los Ranchos is the delivery of breakfast to your door in the morning. Before the pandemic they had a buffet style meal included in the rate but since Covid, they decided that rather than end breakfast, they would hand deliver your pinto con huevo to each visitor. We relaxed on our deck working on our iPads as several Tico families splashed and lounged around the pool. Chris came by to chat for awhile then we packed up and rolled out the gate.

PJ had gotten the idea that we needed to make a side trip to have a look at Herradura, so we backtracked the few kilometers to the north and drove out to see the new marina and the upscale condo developments. There was a fishing emporium in a small strip mall where we able to find me one of those ventilated shirts with full UV protection. On the way out there was an AutoMercado so PJ grabbed a few groceries then we were on our way south.

The overlook leaving Jaco behind

Hold onto your hat!

We passed through Parrita where Palmolive has their huge palm groves, not sure where they get the olives. Tractors pulling trains loaded with palm fruits caused traffic jams as they took their harvest to the rendering plant to be squeezed into palm oil for cooking, cosmetics and household supplies.

It wasn’t long before we came into Quepos then made the turn down to Manuel Antonio. We haven’t seen more than a few drops of rain since arriving in Costa Rica. As we neared the beach, it began to pour. The rain continued hard throughout the afternoon and into the evening. We reached the hotel and got a ground level room at the edge of the parking area. That’s the bummer of lugging around so much gear. We could gotten an ocean view room but it would have entailed schlepping everything down long hallways and up stairs. We’ll just have to view the ocean from the ocean.

The rain had calmed the wind and the ocean was looking smooth, so as soon as we were settled we took the SUPs across the street and paddled out into the rainy sea. We went out past the buoys towards the first little islands then turned north and paddled down the bay. It felt good to gliding over the warm surface of the bay.

About half way towards the northern point, a flash of lightning flickered in the distance and PJ decided it was time to make a run for home. She had just read an article about a girl getting struck and wasn’t going to meet the same fate. The rain started coming down in sheets as we made it back to shore. We had a blast. We slogged our way across the flooding road and dried off. Dinner was leftover food from the cooler and pantry box. Stayed in and stayed dry.