We dropped anchor in Bahia Santa Elena just before noon. This place is amazing.
It is a deep bay, about a square mile in area, surrounded by steep vegetated terrain with mangroves at the water's edge. The bay and surrounding land is completely undeveloped and the water is crystal clear.
We are the only people here. Intermezzo looks very small anchored alone in the bay with its majestic landscape backdrop.
The land here is a national park and I was looking forward to taking the dinghy to shore and going hiking. We tried that this afternoon, but had to turn back. The first rains of the season resulted in an overabundance of ravenous mosquitos. We applied repellent, which did a good job in preventing us from getting bitten, but the clouds of mosquitos buzzing all around us took all the enjoyment out of hiking. So we returned to the dinghy and took a tour of the bay, followed by a swim.
After dinner, we sat at the front of the boat looking at the stars and enjoying the peaceful isolation of this place.
Even though this is a really beautiful spot, we decided that since hiking is not a viable (pleasant) option, we're going to move on tomorrow to Playa de Cocos, where we will officially check in to Costa Rica. Right now we are illegal aliens.
