Alohaaa Costa !!!!

Ship: Johann Smidt
Date: 08.01.2026
Position: Bocas del Toro – Bri Bri
Nautical Position: 09°19,9’N, 082°14,3’W
Etmal: 0
Total: 6836 nm

Big big bags

Today I woke up in my unmade bed inside a strangely empty and clean room. Unlike usual, I stood up immediately because I still had to finish packing my bag, which already looked like it was going to explode at any second.

Maybe I should improve my packing skills, or maybeeee (very unlikely) I just don’t need two deodorants and three bikinis… Luckily, it looks like I’m not the only one who may have taken one or more unnecessary items.

Sure thing is that at the end of the day, we’re probably all gonna end up walking with the posture of a 90-year-old granny. Or maybe we won’t be walking at all.

So then, after I finally finished packing my bag, it was time for breakfast. Because the Backschaft has to be ready on time too, we only had overnight oats this morning. This was fine by me, because as long as I can have my Zimt und Zucker (an instant crowd-pleaser here on board, you always have to stand in line for it) 😊, I’m good and ready for the day.

Since this was our last meal with our old crew, we said our goodbyes and they got some nice poems and letters. For most of us, it was an emotional goodbye, because I think I speak for everyone when I say that this was by far our best crew. Thanks to them, we got some nice upgrades, like music during watch (biggest gamechanger EVER) and being allowed to eat snacks on deck 😋.

After breakfast, the school group (including me) had to do the green plan – last time for two weeks, thank God!! – and the watch group had to store the last Seesäcke, because they didn’t all fit inside the Bilgen.

It was very unusual and weird to see the Johnny – our home – this empty. For me, it felt a little bit like the first time we went on board in Scheveningen.

Vacation feeling

When finally, after a while, our watertaxi (that looked pretty cool, by the way) arrived and we stepped on with our big bags, a feeling of holiday started to spread. For the last time, we winked at Birte, Carsten, Bob, Steffen and Robert.

In the taxi, the vibe was good and as we went further away from the Johnny and when loud Latina music began to play, we all started to realize that we were finally leaving for Costa Rica.

A bit later, we arrived in Almirante and we took the bus to the border of Costa Rica. With a „Menschenschlange,“ we managed to get all of the bags outside the boat quickly and even the taxi driver was very impressed by our strength and kept saying, „Go Germany.“ Very motivating.

Then we stepped inside the bus, which, like the houses here, was very colorfully decorated. Roque started his „Latina playlist“ (although I doubt Burgerpommes is in it), which fit the moment perfectly. Here’s a little tracklist of some of the songs that „accompanied“ us throughout the day:

• Legendär
• Alles con Apored
• Divinead
• Dick Bar
• Burgerpommes
• La Bamba
• Skybase
• Mas Qué Nada

The view from the bus was beautiful and you could really see that we had arrived in a completely new culture: Lots of colorful houses and stands with exotic fruits and tropical plants. It all felt very surreal, especially when I thought about my family and friends, who were chillin‘ at home (probably with rain).

At the border to Costa Rica, we all got our passports so that we could show them to the officer. We spent the short waiting time comparing each other’s passport pictures. Then, together with our big bags, we all stepped over the border and had to repeat the same procedure there.

Pura vida in Costa Rica

If someone still hadn’t realized that they weren’t in Europe anymore, they at least would’ve realized it during the very bumpy drive to the Bribris, where I felt like I was skiing on a bumpy track.

There, it was a bit different than we all had expected. We girls had our own space with a beautiful view of the river just below and the beds looked like king-size beds in comparison to what we are used to on the ship.

At lunch and dinner, we could confirm the „rice and beans at every meal“ rumor. The beans were really tasty, though and the best thing was there was no Backschaft, no „Eindecken,“ no „Abwasch,“ or „Reinschiff.“ Pura vida, as the Costa Ricans would say.

Greetings:

Caspar: Herzliche Glückwunsch zum Geburtstag, Mami!!! Ich denke an euch und hoffe, dass ihr schöne Skiferien verbringt. Wir hören uns bald, viele Bussis

Mathilda: Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Emil, ich hab gehört, bei euch wäre Schnee, ich hoffe mal, das stimmt und dass ihr alle einen schönen Tag und guten Schulstart habt❤️❤️