Solentiname Archipelago trip

The dawn chorus of roosters and other assorted birds woke me up at 5:50am, long before my planned alarm setting.

  A cool shower eliminated any risk of me drifting back to sleep. Coffee was being served by the time I found my way to the dining area and joined the other guests, awaiting breakfast. By 8:30 we were heading roughly west away from San Carlos in an open boat with a canopy to protect from sun and rain. The planned itinerary was a tour of he Solentiname archipelago. 32 islands in total and located at the southern end of Lake Cocibolca, it is a treasure that most tourists never see.

  Our first stop, Zapote Island is home to several thousand birds and we were observing them during mating season. Vultures, ospreys, spoonbills, ibis, egrets, cormorants, blue herons and umpteen other species who’s names I don’t know, circled and landed, occasionally diving to the water surface to pick up a little sushi for lunch. Many were clearly paired with one parent carefully guarding a nest while the other searched for food. While we slowly circumnavigated the island, a couple of our group amused themselves by fishing. A successful cast landed a sizeable fish that would later provide a portion of our lunch.

  Leaving Zapote we headed north towards the main islands of the system, Mancarron and  San Fernando. On the way we made a stop at a small island where our guides had planned for lunch at a small farmhouse . A few family dogs as well as some roosters, 2 geese and a brood of baby chicks welcomed our arrival. While the rest of our group ran to el baño or just relaxed outside the house, I joined one of our tour guides on a trek through the home owners “Back 40!” Tiptoeing through a field of freshly laid cow pies we entered a small grove of banana and plantain plants. Mixed in with these were, coffee bushes, avocado trees, cocoa trees, orange and grapefruit and in the adjacent field some rice plants, bundled and left to dry.

 Heading back to the house, Mino selected a long straight tree branch and proceeded to hook several oranges out of the tree that we would later have with our lunch.

 Obviously very adept at supporting themselves, the family had an enclosure at the edge of the lake, which acted as a holding tank for any fish they caught, Still swimming up until the fry pan was starting to sizzle, one couldn’t expect anything fresher. As a result our lunch of fried fish and rice was absolutely out of this world,

  Returning to the boat we continued our journey. To the southwest the mountains of northern Costa Rica appeared as a ghostly white image on the horizon.

  Mancarron, the biggest of the islands was our first stop. The church, normally a key focal point of the island was under major reconstruction due to structural damage. Luckily the sidewalls, altar and back wall were intact, allowing us to see the colourful children’s artwork that decorated them.

  A walk through the village proper allowed us to see the homes of several artists who worked with balsa wood to produce a variety of colourful carvings, mostly birds and fish.

 Returning to the boat we travelled a short distance east to the island of San Fernando (also called Elvis Chavaria after a native teen who was killed during the Sandanista/Contra conflict.)  Here were more wooden carvings as well as some primitive but very colourful oil paintings-street scenes and landscapes of the area. A hike up the hill to a small museum provided some spectacular view of a few of the smaller islands, which make up the archipelago.

  The ride back to San Carlos was a bit of a butt buster for me, Seated at the front of the boat with a life jacket for some limited padding, the boat frequently bumped against the waves as we returned one a south-easterly direction, almost directly into the wind. With he exception of the ride back it was a perfect way to spend the day. The islands themselves were a spectacular gift of nature and the chance to catch a brief glimpse of the artists, their homes and their work made it all the more worthwhile.

 By the time we returned to the lodge the sun was just beginning to set. After snapping a few quick photographs I joined the rest of the guests and the owner for a lengthy coffee break/cocktail hour while his staff prepared a barely passable chow mien for supper

(which they called chop suey for some reason) The mediocre and rather later supper was cause for concern, as was the fact that my room had not been touched since I left in the morning. Twice daily bathroom paper removal is a given in this part of the world and it hadn’t been done once during my entire two day stay.

  A planned early night in bed was ultimately postponed when I found myself downloading editing and deleting some of the photos I had taken during the trip. Birds in flight at high speed are not the easiest thing to shoot but I managed to capture a few dozen shots that wont get me into National Geographic but will serve as a reminder of what you miss when you get stuck at a 5 star all inclusive that you never leave.