Uvita and Ballena National Park

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Kate - Our next stop Uvita which really is tiny. It consists of 2 supermarkets, a restaurant, a shop selling fish tanks????, a Pharmacy and that is about it! Close by though there is Ballena, another National Park mainly dedicated to to the more marine side of things. We stayed in another really nice backpackers and when we arrived is was absolutely bucking it down with rain- we felt so at home. When it is raining like that there is only one thing to do- make a good old cup of PG Tips( steve has been carrying around a box since we found a shop in LA selling english stuff!) and played scrabble, and that is exactly what we did -awfully english of us dont you think???

We knew we wernt going to stay too long in Uvita since there isnt too much to do so booked up a boat trip for the following day to do a tour of the National Park. Unfortunately the following morning i woke up with an upset stomache and as you can imagine didnt really feel like a 4 hour boat journey.But we had paid for it so i took a deep breath and went for it, and oh my god i felt as sick as a dog for most of the journey.It was cho-oppy and even steve didnt have his sea legs with him and felt pretty rough too. Luckily we were the only ones on the boat and once our captain had anchored the boat so we could go snorkelling we didnt feel quite so bad.

Unfortunately the first half of the trip (and the reason we headed so far out to sea and the ride was soooo bumpy) was to try and spot some dolphines and we didnt spot a sausage!!!oh well i guess its not something you can guareentee on these kind of trips but we were a little gutted since we were feeling so sick. The snorkelling however was wicked, there were some beautiful blue and yellow tropical fish and they were really big! We anchored near by some Rocks which stuck out right in the middle of the sea so there was plenty of little fish to see. The rock was actually home to Frigate bird and white Ibis (so im told) which are currently nesting there so we had a lot of them flying up above us while we snorkeled. Captain also took us round to the caves near the shore of the National Park and he even drove through one!!! We couldnt believe with waves crashing up against the entrance to the cave we thought there was no way he was going to drive through but oh yes he waited and waited and when there was a gap in the waves he went for it!! After probably looking pretty green for most of the 4 hours after that i was proabably more a shade of white! Guess he was trying to make up for the lack of dolphins!

That even we went to the local restaurnant and had a nice meal. However Steve did bravely order the mussell cerviche and it was disgusting!!! Cerviche is like a cold soup usually served with raw fish, marinated in lime and vinagear- whe it came out it looked like black sludge. We tried out best to swallow it down without chewing so as not to offend but it will defianetly be the last time that is ordered- yuck!

Anyway our stay in Uvita was short and sweet but with only a few days left we wanted to move on so steve could get some last surf in and we could enjoy some last beach time before it was time to bid farewell to Costa Rica, so Dominical here we come!

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Photos

Ballena Island
A nesting place for Ibis and Frigatebirds

Kate on the boat
After a spot of snorkelling

A storm is brewing
It has just gone into the rainy season here, which means it is hot all morning then at about 2 or 3 the heavens open. It doesnt rain every day but does most. Its actually a nice break because it gets seriously hot here!

Comments

[Michael]

Drives looks like a bit of a dude. PG tips and scrabble. that's my idea of fun. good initiative to buy up some proper tea bags.

[Lizi]

Seasick Steve!!!
Have you seen the dude who is actually called seasick steve? He's about 60 and homeless and does guitar type music - we're going to see him at glastonbury! Keep growing your beard Steve and you could actually become him - brilliant! Loving the black and white function Kate!