Isla San Lucas

9 56.877 N 84 54.647 W, Isla San Lucas

Last night we had thunder, lightening and rain. It was the first rain we have experienced since Mexico. In fact, we think the last time we had rain on the boat was October, 2012. It was nice to have some of the dust and salt washed off the boat.

Today, Reg, Phoebe, Rich and I went onto the island to check it the prison.  According to the cruising guide,

"This island was once the site of a forbidding prison. Costa Rican dictator Tomas Guardia built this Central American version of Alcatraz in 1870. People were imprisoned here from 1873 to 1991. At the time, being sent to this prison was considered equivalent to a death sentence. The atrocities which occurred here were made famous by Jose Leon Sanchez in the book "La Isla de los hombres Solos" ("The Island of Lonely Men"). It was also made into a mediocre film, Island of Lost Souls. "

 

Administration building and church

Rich in one of the group cells

 



Phoebe and Reg as inmates

The administration building has been restored but most of the other buildings have not, like the hospital, church and the cell blocks. Some of the buildings are occupied by bats which are a little startling when they fly at you. There is a caretaker on the island who collects the tickets from the visitors from Puntarenas. He almost did not let us stay since we did not have any tickets but we explained that we were from the sailboats anchored in the bay and that we would pay for our tickets when we arrived in Puntarenas.

 

We walked around the island a bit and saw howler monkeys and red squirrels. Birds were a bit allusive. The howler monkeys put up with Phoebe and I taking pictures but when they started to pee from the trees we decided to move on. 

Tomorrow we head for Puntarenas and the Costa Rica Yacht Club. 

Sent from SV Windarra iPad