Well, yesterday was interesting. Catching our boat from Sierpe was organised chaos.On arrrival some seemingly random guy asked us what hotel we were staying at ( in Drake Bay) and how many, gave us a time and wandered off. We later found out he was one of the captains, considering there were three boats leaving and about 50 people waiting, these guys remembered who was going where and when.
Sierpe
on the river on the way to Drake Bay
Our boat was a little late leaving, we started out at a sedate pace, the river looking much like how I imagine the Amazon, then we picked up speed until our hats were flying off and the boat was leaning far enough into the curves so we could touch water.Great fun until after 40 mins we came to an abrupt halt. Something wrong with the fuel pump by the smell of it. One boat turned back to offer helpful suggestions ( like how to turn the key) and to laugh at us LOL, and the third boat soon caught up and also hung around to ponder the problem. A pen knife was produced and the key turned in various ways but no joy. So in the middle of the river they transferred passengers and luggage over to the two boats and then towed the empty boat to a nearby jetty. We continued on and 10 mins later reached where the mouth of the river meets the ocean. I'd read this could be a bit hair raising but DH knew nothing about it and was going into panic mode, the woman behind us put her life jacket on and I must admit I made sure I was within grabbing distance of one. The waves were big, the boat was small but the captains do this trip twice a day so I trusted he knew what he was doing. He actually turned the boat so it was running parallel between the waves, then when he judged the time was right he'd cut diagonally over the wave, the boat lurching, the passengers exclaiming their surprise ( you can imagine in what way
) once out of the river mouth it was smooth sailing for another 15 mins or so across to the peninsula.
Approaching where the river meets the ocean
True to form the heavens opened as we arrived and by the time we'd unloaded our luggage and schelped it up the beach,we were soaked, again!
The b&b owner met us on the beach and walked us up the very steep hill where dry towels, cookies and hot chocolate ( made with real chocolate) was waiting. The sun came out and two pairs of scarlet macaws flew by to welcome us to Drake Bay.
View from the dining area at B&B
Travel is so tiring
