July 2, 1999

There wasn't much time to do anything so we headed out to sea with our luggage and headed toward the mouth of the Sierpe River. The sea was fairly rough that day and the waves were threatening to swamp the boat. At the mouth of the Sierpe River, scores of waves rolling and crashing into each other, trying to push their ways into the river mouth. Our driver expertly guided the boat in between the drip of two large waves and made a run for the river mouth. There were other boats in the vicinity from other eco lodges, all waiting and watching other boats to make sure they make it into the river.

Our guide decided to take a short cut through the mangrove waterways, which I was more than happy for him to do. It was very cool driving through the narrow waterways with the roots of mangrove trees on the sides. There were numerous brilliantly colored red-clawed crabs clinging onto the roots of the mangrove tree but they drop into the water quickly as our boat approached.

Our "expert" guide then decided to switch gas tanks by using a siphon. To start the siphon, he used his mouth and accidentally sucked in a mouth full of gas. He was hacking and coughing for the rest of the trip. I gave him my bottle of water, which seem to have helped a little but not much. I felt pretty bad for him. His eyes were all watery and red and I wasn't sure what the first aide would be. He calmed down eventually and seem to have recovered. We eventually approached the small bridge again and unloaded. I found some interesting looking fungus growing on the bridge.

We made it back to the small airport and boarded for our flight back to San Jose. All in all, a satisfying trip but I wish I had more time to explore this country.