..back on the mainland again :D

phew.. what a trip! was not exactly the way I thought it would be, but I don't regret a single second of it!!

in the end, there were not many things left on the boat that could fail because kinda everything broke.. finally the compressor was the killer to stop the trip in the middle (well.. not the middle of the time, but middle of dives), but also there were issues with one of the dinghis, the sweet water system had a problem on the way home, the engines were not powerful enough and the diesel was bad quality, so they had to change filters 3 times. even the washing machine broke and flooded our room ;) well.. at least the ship didn't sink ;) *lol* ..nah, was not too bad.. though on the way I had some challenging moments. especially because the trip costed me some money and I wasn't really satisfied at this point. Also has to be mentioned that at the moment is the time of "El Nino" and the water temperature is waaay to high for big schools swimming around. So I've seen some of the hammerheads (what actually is very exciting if you haven't seen any at all before ;) hehe ;) but there were maybe 10 instead of 80.. so the next time I make sure the conditions are better for diving (means, much colder, so you freeze your ass off diving ;)
getting there was a pain in the ass.. 60 hours took the journey and mostly it was so wavy that everybody got seasick. I was mostly sleeping, laying flat in my bed and twice feeding fish over board :P but survived! just know, the next time I got plenty of seasick tablets with me! when I finally wanted some, they already run out (in no time they were all gone! :( so it was pretty tough.. it's kinda the feeling you get, when you're getting out of a rollercoaster.. but steady for 24 hours a day :P
the way back was much, much better.. and when you get off the boat after days of waving, you still feel waving because your center of equilibrium has somehow adapted to it ;)
the food was awesome (once we arrived I managed also to eat again ;) I got also really excited about the diving.. it's hard to not see a shark, when you jump into the water. Mostly whitetips that are about 1m50 but look pretty (well, I like bigger ones ;) during the night dives they were following a jackfish for the hunt and it was exciting to watch them.. was also the only thing to see next to some psychadelic looking sea cucumbers ;) then I saw a big manta ray passing for a few seconds (thank you dive buddy for pulling on my fin and pointing it out.. I would have totally missed it! ;) then on a couple occasions the hammerheads showed up! I hope that some people will upload on facebook and that I actually get their contacts in the end.. but we will see.. would be nice to point out a shark that I swam with! ;)
on the way back we got some dolphins swimming with the boat for a while (always nice!! :D so I had the best dives of my life out there even with compareble bad conditions and just have the dives.. and well.. a long trip there and back. next time I'd be more prepared to do things ;)
I had my guitar, didge and jews-harp with me and entertained people during the trip ;) they enjoyed! I heard a lot, but A LOT jokes about me, that came kinda out of a form of sympathy that sometimes still cost me a bit to not get too "spiky" about it. but yes.. I mean, I'm an accessible person and got really good connections with everybody and it was alone on the plane to meet all these people incredible fruitful! and a lot of us thought this.. so it was priceless to meet and know all these people a little better (because this is what you do if you stay 10 days on a small boat together ;) but yes.. five people from the states and seven Costa Ricans.. called "ticos" ;) and was fun with all of them! :D ..well.. OK, one guy from Holland that lives here for 18 years had a hard time.. he has quite an ego and is fighting with it plenty of moments. So in the end he couldn't take his car out because the old truck of Luciano (boss) broke down and he was about to sue the company because so pissed off (instead of taking things easier). So murphys law stroke him hard and for some reason also Luciano had to pay his share. Being on a boat with twelve disappointed, much paying customers and nothing he could do about (last leaving the scene ;)
but I met a lot of wonderful people on this trip!! there are people working on that boat that inspired me deeply with their selfless kind of being, their committment and their everlasting smile! and they did not only inspire me, but many! (that's the way it works in this world ;)
so during the trip and at our good bye party in a restaurant, drinking beer and having shots, many beautiful word has been spoken and people showed more of their feelings and gratefulness for each other! was just a wonderful moment under the influence of alcohol!! ;) hehe :)
well.. I'm sure I will add some more lines, but for the moment I have a break.. my inbox was flooded with spam and shit and I'm glad I could clean up a little ;)
so it was a bit costly, but in the end it's just money and I'm sure it won't be missing on the long run.. I got now an own divecomputer and well.. payed 100 USD for days I haven't spent on the island. but you never now if something is a curse or a blessing.. if Luciano stays in business (what I strongly hope) then I might have another chance to go out in October, November.. so let's see if this happens when the time comes (and El Nino is over hopefully).
I feel, I'm not done with Cocos Islands.. there is more to see and knowing one of the companies owner seems to help for future activities there ;)
went hiking on the island.. it's beautiful, but a very small place to stay there for a month, what volunteer people actually do..
so yeah.. hear from me soon! :)