Costa Rica Day 9: Isla del Caño

Today was our day of water! We started off the morning zooming  to Caño Island in a motorboat. About 30 minutes into our 45-minute ride, I commented to Mama, "I wish we'd seen a dolphin." Just then, our tour guide exclaimed, "¡delfines!"  and asked the captain to follow the four fins he had spotted in the distance. Moments later, our boat was surrounded by a group of between 30 and 50 false killer whales, individuals from the third-largest  member of the dolphin family. The playful creatures surrounded our boat on all sides as we sped toward the island, cameras in hand.


Once at the island, we started snorkeling. I hadn't been in several years, and the experience was as awe-inspiring and breathtaking as I remember it seeming to my 9-year-old self. Today, we managed to spot the multicolored Parrotfish, royal blue Giant Damselfish, adorable Moorish Idol, and a school of about 500 Green Jacks, moving together to impersonate a much bigger animal and avoid predators. Their hues and moves were beautiful.

After about an hour in the water, we moved to Playa San Josecito, my new favorite beach! We had a lovely picnic here and enjoyed some waves before heading back to La Paloma Lodge.



















Tired after a morning of sun and sand, Priya and I got to work relaxing by the pool, soon joined by our good friends Leila (7 years) and Emme (3 years).



















Refreshed, we washed up for dinner, where we sat with Elizabeth and Brett, a lovely couple from Chicago enjoying their honeymoon on Osa Peninsula. We really enjoyed talking to them over dinner, and I now sit typing this post, only briefly interrupted a second ago by an hourglass tree frog the size of a paperclip hopping onto the edge of my computer monitor. Another night in Costa Rica!

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