A Whale's Tale ....

Why do I suddenly feel like having Fruit Loops for breakfast?

(Sue): Having lived in Colorado for more than 15 years now, and of course living with one of the truly great hunter's of all time, I think I have become a little complacent about the fantastic wildlife we have all around us. Oh yes, there's another bull elk, (yawn) another moose (ho hum), but being in Costa Rica I am once again a coastal newbie and experiencing some of God's amazing creations for the first time.  We finally got out on the water off of Playa Coco / Ocatal Beach (Golfo de Papagayo) a few days ago and had a spectacular encounter with a humpback whale mom and her newly birthed calf.  The area we were exploring had beautiful aqua blue waters (similar to what we've seen in the Caribbean) white sand and numerous protected coves, some with caves you could venture into at lower tides.

Humpback mom and  calf

Likely, this is why the mama pictured here chose this area to bring her baby into this world.  Although we were cautious to maintain a safe distance and with the boat shut off, both for our and the whales comfort and safety, they swam within an arm's length of us seemingly unconcerned.  We surmised that Mama was either suckling and/or training the little one as we were allowed to look on.  So sweet and peacefulsd & HUGE - awesome!  Also pictured above is a toucan that we saw from our treehouse in Dominical last week.  A rainbow of colors and so..........cute!!!  There were quite a few in the trees on our last day at the treehouse - guessing these were pretty young as they were quite small although Joe saw some larger ones. 

I think we better stop the boat now ... NOW!

The Guanacaste area is far more developed than the Southern Region of Costa Rica and already has some pretty impressive citizens including the Four Seasons Resort and former head "mucky-muck" of Time/Warner - AOL, Steve Case who has purchased a whole peninsula between Playa Hermosa and Playa Coco which he will be developing into a resort area including a top notch tennis training facility with Stephie Graf  - pretty nice to own your own peninsula, eh?  I have enjoyed my beach time reading and have been able, thanks to Kindle, to sample many new authors and subjects including currency trading!  If I had unlimited funds, I think that would be my future life - online currency training, reading all day, everyday, on the beach. And Ocotal, the black sand and lava rock  beach in Guanacaste Region, would be high up on the list of possibilities.   

Life's a Beach

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Whale's Tale off Bow!

(Joe): The huge rock croppings in the water make some excellent beach falls. You can pull into any one of these beaches and they are your very own for the day. I was offered the option to put on a mask and snorkle and jump in with the whales but "chickened out". After thinking it over the next day, I really wish I had gone in and next time I think I would gently lower myself into the water at the back of the boat, holding onto the ladder just to be able to see the whales swimming under water. Now, since it took approximately 56 years to get the first opportunity that I missed, I am not holding my breath that the second opportunity will be any time soon ..... but you never know. I took these photos and the mom was literally just a few feet below me as you can see from where I was standing on the bow, UNBELIEVEABLE! And as cool and awesome as all of this is, let me leave you with one of my favorite thoughts to ponder from the Bible: 1 Corinthians 2:9 (New Living Translation) That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."

Dwell on that thought for a little while and see if you can't help but smile.