Heading: Chao ROALD, Hola Bribris

Ship: Roald Amundsen
Date: 13.01.2026
Position: Bribris
Course: Somewhere northwest
Etmal: ~ 50 nm
Average Speed: 🤷

Did you ever had the feeling of loss because you had to leave a loved person, even though it was only for a short amount of time? We did, quite many times. Firstly, of course, in Amsterdam, as our journey began and we left our family behind.

Then at every harbour, where really nice crew members left after just a few turns with us. Then, in Cádiz, where we left the ROALD for one week, which we enjoyed in Morocco. Today, we had this feeling once more. Not only did we leave the ROALD, we also left the crew, our watches and our rooms (which will change after Costa Rica).

So after a quick breakfast and the daily Reinschiff, at 10:30 am, we were picked up by two speed boats, which brought us and our heavy luggage to our bus. From there on, we drove one and a half hours to the Costa Rican–Panamanian border, where we had to go through two passport controls: One for the emigration stamp of Panama and one for the immigration stamp of Costa Rica.

On the other side of the border, which we had to cross by foot over a bridge, our new SMUT, Luna, was already waiting for us. After a short round of gummy bears from Deli, we got into three buses, which headed to the indigenous tribe of the Bribris. We passed the one-hour ride with singing shanties and making Luna clear that eggplants and zucchinis should be permanently banned in our kitchen.

What makes it even funnier: Fenia, our old SMUT, sat right next to us. (Fußnote: Gruß von Fenia, die gerade Korrektur liest. Was die Schülis nicht wissen: Ich habe vor meiner Abreise nochmal Auberginen bestellt – muhahahaha :D)

At 14:00, we arrived at the Bribris. They welcomed us with a traditional lunch: Rice with kidney beans and salad. I found it very delicious, while some of my friends didn’t like the beans, which led me to have three times their amount.
After lunch, we moved into our new beds for the next three days: Thin mattresses on the floor with only a little bug net spanning across them.

But hey, I don’t complain, because the air is way fresher than in my old room on the ROALD, chamber 2, famously known as the puma cage because of its heat and smell.

For the afternoon, we wandered for five minutes to the river, where we had the opportunity to swim. It was very cold, but once you went in completely, the body adjusted to that temperature.
The swimming was only under one condition: Just up to half a lap, no deeper, because the stream would be too strong.

Dinner was, surprise surprise, rice with kidney beans and salad! Once again, I got even more beans.
After dinner, the founder of the camp where we stayed, Danilo, told us the background story.

The most traditional Bribris live up in the mountains, a place with little connection to the outside world. Because of the lack of health care, Bribris with health problems have to walk five days to the next hospital.

To help these people, Danilo founded this camp, which raises money for a better connection to health care providers.
After this story, we all fell asleep quickly, tired from the day.