Fishin with Taj

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I guess I have a little catching up to do, I haven't been to a computer in about five days. What a week! On Sunday, I got a taxi over to Juan Santamaria airport in San Jose, and waited for about an hour for my dad to get in. It was so awesome to see him again, and I know he loves coming down here. Hell, this is the second time in a month for him. We drove that night up and over the Cordillera Talamanca range, climbing over 10,000 feet before plunging back down onto the Pacific coast. We ended up in a cool little surf town called Dominical, where we settled in for the night and had a few cold ones to catch up with each other. The next morning, we hopped in the car and drove about 2 more hours down the coast before reaching the old banana docks of Golfito. We left the rental car and boarded a small boat that took us roughly 10 kilometers south to the tiny town of Zancudo, where the fishing tournament was. The tournament only had about 20 people in it, including some blues legends like Lee Gates and of course, Taj Mahal. We had a fishing lodge rented out just for our group, which was awesome. It was all inclusive, so that meant incredible meals and open bar around the clock. We spent the first evening hanging out with Taj and Lee, hearing stories of all the places they had been and the people they've met-super cool. The next two days went something like this: Wake up at 5:00 and eat breakfast, then be on the boat in time for sunrise. We would head out into the Gulfo Dulce to catch our bait, usually about 30 or 40 sardines. After catching the bait, we would head out about 30 miles offshore and fish for marlin, sailfish, and dorado all day. I caught a pretty large dorado the first day, large enough to feed the whole group dinner that night. We would spend our evenings hanging out in the restaurant, while the artists would take turns jamming until about midnight. My favorite performer was a guy named Adolfus, the one man band. He would sing the blues all while playing the slide guitar, harmonica, and drums. One hell of a performer. The other real cool one's name is Mudcat, a down south type blues player that usually performs oversees. After everyone else was tired, we would head into town with our small entourage and take over the local bar. By 2:00, Mudcat would be walking on the bar, belting out blues favorites for the locals, inviting everyone to join in. It was absolute chaos, some of the most fun I have had in quite a long time. Yesterday, there was no more fishing, so we took a boat tour over to a small wildlife rescue center and took it all in. We were able to hang out with all kinds of monkeys, scarlet macaws, parrots, toucans, you name it. Some of the monkeys would just roam freely about the grounds and be quite content to crawl all over you. Can't say I've ever had a monkey sit on my shoulder before yesterday...
Last night was the big throwdown, a free concert on the island for all the locals and travelers alike. All of the artist played, with Taj Mahal burning up the last hour and a half as the main event. Probably around 600 people showed up, which was huge compared to the 15 person private concerts we had been enjoying all week. I got up super early this morning and was on the boat at 5:15. Dad and I drove all the way back to San Jose, about a 6 hour drive, where I dropped him off at the airport and came to my uncle's hotel. He will arrive later with his friend George, and we will wake up tomorrow and go to La Fortuna so I can show them the volcano and the hot springs. More to come....

Brian

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Comments

[deleted_12102]

Sounds Great
Man that all sounds awesome. I loved Domincal and La Fortuna was my favorite. Had a great time at Baldi Hot Springs. Keep going crazy. Enjoy readind your entries.