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It is my great privilege to tell you all that I have arrived back home in my forest sanctuary on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia Canada. After a tremendously successful swim covering 749 km of the pacific coastline of Costa Rica, beginning at Isla Burica and the Panamanian border until the Santa Elena Peninsula only approximately 80 km short of the Nicaraguan border. This was all possible because of the unbelievable support of so many of you. I have encountered in Costa Rica a level of generosity and kindness and genuine desire to help like I have never experienced in any other county of the world. It all now appears to me quite miraculous. Let me begin and share with you some of these amazing moments of generosity I have experienced.
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From: RENATE HERBERGER
Subject: THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU GENEROUS DONORS AND FRIENDS
To: EVERYONE WHO HELPED ME ALONG THE WAY!
It is my great privilege to tell you all that I have safely - minus my stolen luggage from a Vancouver bus stop on the last leg of my return trip! - arrived back home to my forest sanctuary on Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada.
After a tremendously successful swim covering 749 km of the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica, beginning at Isla Burica 5 km South of the Panama border and ending at the Santa Elena Peninsula, only approximately 80 km short of the Nicaraguan border.
This was all possible because of the unbelievable support of so many of you.
I have encountered in Costa Rica a level of generosity and kindness and genuine desire to help like I have never experienced in any other county of the world.
It all now appears to me quite miraculous.
Let me begin and share with you some of these amazing moments of generosity I have experienced.To begin with, when I suggested on September 23 2007, to Zeidy Jimenez, the president of the "Associacion Programas Sociales de Dominical", this swim project for Marine Sanctuaries, she immediately jumped on the opportunity and agreed to organize it in Costa Rica. Neither of us had any prior experience in expedition planning! Given that we were actually "flying by the seat of our pants", it is amazing how much we accomplished!
Over the next four months, we exchanged hundreds of emails, brainstormed, sent proposals and generally turned our lives over to seeing this project come to fruition. I know I spent up to sixteen hours a day making phone calls, trying to find Canadian sponsors, writing endless letters to potential sponsors and doing the myriad of other things that entail commencing a project of this magnitude. I can only imagine that Zeidy's investment of energy and time was equally as huge, and I thank her from the bottom of my heart for her faith in me, and for believing we could pull off this project, even though she is afraid of the sea and does not know how to swim, nor does any other member of the organization!
Zeidy and the Associacion remained with the project until March 9th 2008. I would not be surprised if they collapsed in a heap from sheer exhaustion by that time, given that they could not even swim to relax, let go of organization anxiety and feel the blessing of the Sea Herself... Without Zeidy and the Assocacion, this project could not have been set in motion.
A great thank you goes out to my very dear swimming colleague Analucia Gonzalez.
She was there for me throughout the journey, and was my main emotional support while in Costa Rica.
We spoke on all the days that I had access to a telephone, and she provided an extremely important contact in Golfito. Due to this contact I received sponsored boat support from Golfito's Mayor Jimmy Cuvillo for 4 days. He also made five nights of hotel accommodation possible at no charge for my team of 3, all the meals included.
Analucia swam with me one day, for seven and a half hours of the eight, the longest anyone swam with me in one day.
This was days before she left to compete in the Masters World Championships for swimming in Australia.
I am hoping Analucia will come join me in Canada, as I have invited her to come to my home and while visiting me here, compete in a relay with me, which extends 26 km in Lake Cowichan and is taking place this summer. I hope you are already booking your plane ticket, Analucia!
Tiskita Lodge, www.tiskita-lodge.co.cr , owned by Peter Aspinall and his wife, near Punta Banco, was my first lovely refuge. I spent four nights as an invited guest at the lodge and enjoyed an incredibly beautiful cabin to myself, surrounded by the sound of Howler monkeys.
The food was fabulous and the location itself is truly magical. After such a beautiful beginning to the journey, a big thanks goes out to Susan Scheer and her son Mathias, who accommodated myself and my first assistant Daniel Lopez on her magnificent yacht for four days and provided boat support for three days with her zodiak.
I had never been on a yacht before and found it spectacularly luxurious and fantasized to have them accompany me the whole way! Alas, they already had other plans. Next, through the intervention of the mayor of Golfito, Jimmy Cuvillo, I had the great pleasure of four days of municipality sponsored boat support with the amazing boat driver, Taboga. Taboga was by far the most professional and caring boat support along the way and he has offered to accompany me all the way, border to border, next year when I repeat the swim and plan to complete it.
Obviously, funds would have to be found to pay him for such a long journey...any takers?
Anna Yanski and Carmen Yanski of Golfito, Analucia’s friends, accommodated myself and my two then team members, Daniel Lopez and Maria Eugenia, overnight and introduced us to the mayor.
Without this introduction it is unlikely the mayor would have been this generous
The following five nights were donated by the owner of the Sierra Hotel, www.hotelsierra.com , thanks to the mayor’s connection. |
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On the other side of the gulf, Crocodile Bay Lodge provided two nights and all the meals for me and my new two team members. Thank you to the owners of Crocodile Bay Lodge, Cory and Beau! These meals were beyond scrumptious! There, I was accompanied by new team members, Minor and Estella Aguilar.
Then followed the only "one night stand" of the journey at the picturesque Parrot Bay lodge, next door to Crocodile Bay Lodge.
Following our stay and my swim in the area of Puerto Jimenez, where my first ever sponsor Jeff Hodges had last June 5 organized my crossing of the Golfo Dulce, also a first ever swim journey published in the world media and familiar to many of you, I decided to swim the entire inside of the gulf and was invited to stay at the home of Christina Cardonga (sorry if misspelled) in rustic Playa Blanca for one week.
Estella Aguilar accompanied me and after the end of that week I chose to continue my journey solo, trusting that my boat drivers would not fall asleep too often and leave me as consideration for a hungry crocodile’s potential dinner!
I am sad to say I never met a crocodile along the way nor a shark as much as I wanted to, but after all we had a contract where I swam for them and their continued survival, and they obviously understood that and kept a loving distance.
My next base was Punta Marenko Lodge in Drake Bay.
Thanks to the phenomenal generosity of the owner Iliana I was able to stay at this hauntingly beautiful retreat for ten nights, all inclusive. This included eight days worth of countless sandwiches since lunch time on the support boat meant ravenous hunger. This could include eating up to six sandwiches at any given time! You can see that feeding a swimmer is a very generous offer and I cannot say that I lost any weight along the trip, if anything, I float even more now and I’m just about impossible to drown!
After swimming all the way to Bahiai Ballena, I stayed in one of the most fantastic boutique hotels I have ever seen, the Crystal Ballena, where I was invited to stay two nights and two days all inclusive.
While there, I had the good fortune to make the acquaintance of Dorothy Mac Kimmon, the author of the Fodor Costa Rica guide, and through a 2 page list of her personal recommendations, I was able to solicit hotel support in locations where the Tico Times article in January had not been able to bring forth room offers! A huge thanks to you, Dorothy, I am so glad you chose to have breakfast with this stranger who asked if you would like company!
I feel extremely lucky that both her and myself chose, coincidentally without ever having met before, to eat at the same time, and that we both chose to share that hour with each other!
In Domincal, the Plaza Suites Hotel donated five nights to me, and its very compassionate manager Manuel Antonio was there for me with a big hug when I found out that my eldest son was hospitalized.
I found this level of kindness and compassion throughout my journey with so many people, many of whom are beyond the reach of this letter or internet communications.
Edwin Daniel, a member of the tourist police in Domincal was one of those people who in a brief contact, while we met in front of Zeidy's house by sheer "coincidence", was able to let me know how important my work was, how needed it was and how grateful he was I was swimming on behalf of "his" wild seas.
Also in Dominical, the owner of Roca Verde Hotel Mike Witte donated 3 nights and also gave a 200$ contribution towards expenses! This was before the official swim started, during the days of press conferences and workshops in the Dominical area, the headquarters of the "Associacion Programas Sociales de Dominical".
Martha, the owner of Mar Y Selva Ecolodge, near Uvita, organized a women’s workshop for me to teach, and donated two nights at one of her serene cabins to me. She has the biggest swimming pool of any hotel in Costa Rica, half Olympic size, and one of dreams is to organize an aqua dance therapy course there.
It was an amazing privilege getting to know Martha, and I so appreciate the sharing of her personal experience and wisdom. Thank you Martha for being there for me. You are a kindred spirit.
During this segment of the swim, David ‘Allen’ Montoya accompanied me on his 15 hp boat for five days. He did this as a volunteer and also donated the extra gas needed over and above the $100 worth of gas donated by the Deputy Olivier Perez. Allen actually rowed next to me while I swam and thus provided the most ecologically sound boat support along the journey. He always had an encouraging smile for me whenever I looked his way, and was unconditionally positive throughout the five days we spent together. If I were able to locate a boat with a more poweful motor for him, he would also love to accompany me on the swim next winter (January to March), and he is willing to dedicate the full 21/2 months to it that this will take! So I actually have 2 potential choices of boat support already!
On one of those days, Melissa Chapman from www.treeoflifetours.com swam with me for half a day, and it was a great pleasure to have an adolescent by my side. |
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Her father, John Chapman, invited me on two waterfall rappelling tours on his immense and sacred property. There I also had the opportunity to spend two nights in a meditation cave; blessedly, during 24 hours I was completely alone.
Some of the most magical moments of this journey were spent with John, the waterfall and the cave. John is offering to everyone who has donated a service or funds to me in Costa Rica to come on one of his waterfall rappelling tours - free of charge! - as a thank you to me for swimming on behalf of wilderness, and to thank all those who supported this endeavor! I highly recommend taking John up on this incredible and most generous offer! John, when he first met me, immediately recognized the deeper nature of the swim. His first question to me was, “So, are you like Peace Pilgrim, except in the water?” To which I answered, “Yes!” John was at times my desperately needed spiritual advisor and was always there when I needed him. Thank you to John and his wonderful family for all that they offered to me! I know that we will collaborate on important healing projects in the future...in the sea and hanging from cliffs over waterfalls, facing our deepest fears!
My next two nights were spent at Hacienda Baru, on invitation by its owner, Jack Ewing. He also donated an exhilarating zipline tour to me on his amazing land. I admire Jack’s spirit and what he has done to allow his land to recover and become a thriving jungle once again after having been clear-cut fifty years ago. It is amazing to realize that a cattle ranch can return to being a forest in such a short amount of time, simply by letting it be. This is truly the heart of my mission: the creation of marine sanctuaries worldwide would also allow for marine life to recover and thrive once again. All we need to do is get out of the way and let go of our collective greed. Nature is amazingly resilient if you give it a chance. Jack, you are an inspiration to me and your warmth and gentle spirit will always stay with me. The following base was in Esterillo Oeste, where Christy Raihn gave five nights of accommodation at the brand new home of her friend, Terry, who was on vacation. My final night there was spent at Christy’s home and I was then accompanied by my son, Silvan and his girlfriend, Ilona Kende. Christy threw a party for us and arranged for several media interviews in the area and this was very much appreciated. Analucia and her daughter Natalia were with me for two days at this time and spent Easter with us.
The following three nights, Silvan, Ilona and I were invited to Club Del Mar, a luxury five star hotel in Jaco.
Since no boat support could be found there, I decided to take two days off to play with the ‘kids’. It was so lovely to just be with my son and his gorgeous partner! These 2 days were in fact the only truly "off "days I had on my 3 month journey!
From there we moved our base to Montazuma where Patricia, the owner of Sano Banano and Ylang Ylang Resort, donated six nights and breakfasts to my son Silvan and me. She also introduced me to Cocozuma Tours, whose owner Albert agreed to provide boat support for four days free of charge!
Albert was one of the kindest business owners I had the pleasure to meet on my journey. He always had a smile and hug for me, and his office assistant Wendy and I shed tears when it was time to say good bye. Albert and Wendy, I miss you lots. Thank you so much for your openness and generosity!
The following base was in Malpais, where Ariana Nelson and her husband donated four nights at her unique bed and breakfast, Casa Colina. Thank you for the amazing tuna sashimi.That whole dinner was unforgettable! It certainly was so much more than a " Bed and Breakfast "! I very much enjoyed the chance to speak my mother tongue, German, with Ariana...
My next sponsor is my fairy godmother, the lovely and inimitable Christy Van Akkeren and her husband Don, owners of Lola’s restaurant in Playa Avellana, the most beautiful beach restaurant I have ever dined at! Christy and her mother looked after me in every sense of the word. She held a fundraiser for me, she accommodated me for nine nights ( three at the beach in her guest tent, and six at her mother’s stunning hotel at www.TamarindoVillageHotel.com) , as well as arranged media interviews, a presentation of my swim, and all the boat support during this section. During my time with Christy I could truly relax and enjoy swimming without worrying about anything else. She took care of all the details. The fundraising covered $800 worth of boat support and $400 cash towards the next leg of the journey.
Christy had dedicated 100% of the profits of her restaurant on that day as this fundraiser, an incredibly generous gesture. Thank you so much, Christy, and Judy! Seeing you, Christy, waiting for me with that huge flower bouquet at the bus stop was a sight I will always cherish in my memories! The day at the heavenly spa that you spoiled me with was the most pampering experience I have ever had!
My last base was in Playas del Coco, where Mary Ramona and Mary Kirigin were my wondrous sponsors. ‘Mama Mary’ welcomed me with open arms and had arranged in advance all the boat support, all of which was donated by three local dive companies, Rich Coast Diving, Deep Blue Diving and Summer Salt Diving. |
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I stayed at her hotel for four nights and enjoyed fabulous meals on the house. ‘Mama Mary’ also arranged for press interviews and a conference and slide show, where I was able to present my swim and its mission to many locals, as well as to press. Mama Mary even paid for my taxi to the departure airport in Liberia, fifteen minutes from her restaurant and hotel Pato Loco. I miss your hugs, Mama Mary! When it was finally time to fly home, I realized that during my three month stay every single hotel night was donated and a great majority of the meals also.
Astonishingly, there was a considerable amount of donations in boat time also, and so upon my return to my house (without my luggage as it was stolen at a bus stop in Vancouver while I was awaiting a bus...), I am really grateful that I do not have to sell all my worldly possessions in order to finance the swim!
The only person who made a pledge before I left Canada, Richard Silver, which consisted of fifteen cents per kilometer, called me today to remind me that he owed me money! I will put the $150 that he is donating towards seed funds for the upcoming border to border swim in support of sharks.
I just contacted Paul Watson from the "Sea Shepherd Society" who is prominently featured in the movie "Shark Water" - truly a must see! - to find out if we could possible join hands on a future swim project.
He was very enthusiastic and quite thrilled to brainstorm working together in the near future, perhaps with a swim around the Galapagos perimeter.
I am also planning to contact Steven Spielberg who with his movie "Jaws" contributed to unrealistic fears of millions of people of swimming in the sea.
My hope is that he might be interested in supporting one of my swims as a remedial gesture.
In closing, my heart is filled with deepest gratitude to the dozens of dolphins that chose to approach me and play with me, the group of pilot whales that swam under me, the humpback whales that sang for me and the myriad barracudas, turtles, yellow fin tuna and countless manta rays that graced my days at home in the sea. Your timeless beauty and grace made my every day in your home a miracle, and I feel so priviledged and blessed to have had this opportunity to swim with all of you.
It has been an honour to represent your plight to all the people I met and those who read and heard about this awareness swim throug the media. I pledge to you, my beloved finned friends in the sea, to spend the rest of my life time advocating on your behalf, and swim with you on annual long migrations!
My human friends and sponsors, do let me know if you would like to be involved in the upcoming swim!
To each and every one of you, a big hug, much love and endless thanks.
Please come and stay with me sometime in my home on Vancouver Island, and enjoy my hospitality in the depth of an old growth forest, where you can commune with owls and eagles...My door is always open!
Thank you to the Divine Mystery who allowed all of this to happen, and brought us all together! In the Spirit of the Seas, Renate "Mar Sirena"
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| Check out the latest images from Costa Rica in our Pictures section. Dear friends, I appologize for the lack of English updates. As of March 9th, the original organizers, Associacion Programas Sociales de Dominical, have formally parted ways with the swim and I'm entirely on my own now. Besides swimming 8 hours a day, whenever possible I am now responsible for every logistical and organizational detail, press contacts, financial arrangements, overnight accommodations, setting up workshops and teaching them and the myriad details that go into making a major project like this successfull.
Until tomorrow I have my son with me who is typing this right now.
One reason I have not been able to write is the tendonitis I have had in both arms since November. Since I need my arms for swimming, I have had to reduce all other activities involving my arms, this should also explain to you the lack of log entries. Also my days are so long that after I'm done with e-mails, phone calls, and everything else that needs to be done on any given day, that I am simply too exausted.
Let me share an average day with you:
I wake up around 4:30, and by 5:30 I'm usually on the support boat ready to begin the day's swim afterreaching the entry point. Sometimes I wake my son and he has to lend his strength to get the boat off thesand and into the water. This can take up to 6 bodies, usualy drunks waking up from their slumber on thebeach, who are not much assistance.
Once in the water, which sometimes means wearing many layers of lycra for protection form jelly fish, I take yogurt breaks every half hour or so, which last about 30 seconds. The yogurt helps for the pain in the mouth from the constant contact with the salty water.
On a lucky day I might get to pet an enourmous Manta Ray, or play with dolphins. On unlucky days, I get fire kisses from jellyfish, and I look like my face has been lashed with a cat- of- nine tails. At noon I am hauled in like a dead fish, since my climbing -on -boat skills are quite poor, and usualy have a nice giggle. Thankfully the boat drivers are very strong and enjoy the close contact with the mermaid.
I eat a hearty lunch, and half hour later I return to the water. I swim approx. 8 hours daily, altering strokes when needed. I use mask and snorkel to reduce neckpain that I acquired from several car collisions ie. whiplash. If the current is positive ie. going in my direction I can cover up to 25km in one day. I try not to swim against currents and will alter my route to follow them in the right direction. With the GPS I patch the sections together so they still follow a forward trail. By the time I am done swimming, I'm usually famished, and dinner is the number 1 priority, considering that my son has waitedto eat dinner all day while i'm swimming. He is usually more famished then I am. Unfortunately Silvan gets motion sickness on the boat, and has to stay on dry land.
In the evening I desperately try to patch together my next section by making numerous phone calls and e-mails. By 8:30pm I am usually in bed. I do this 7 days a week, whenever possible.
Yesterday my son and I had the opportunity to go to the first ever park established in Costa Rica, the Reserva Absoluta de Cano Blanco. We found the hike to be very hot and tiring, and gave up part way when we found a ride back into town. I find swimming 8 hours a day to be much easier then to hike 2 hours in the scorching heat. Today we were invited to visit Tortuga island, where there was some beautiful snorkeling availiable, and we saw many fish. I attempted to swim around the island with impromtu boat support, but there was not enough time to complete it. The local Montezuma tour company, Cocozuma Tours, and in particular its manager, Albert, has been extremely generous with me, and has yet to charge me for boat support or the tour today for my son and me. All their boat drivers are highly skilled and very knowledgeable in the local waters. It has been an absolute pleasure working with them, and I will keep very fond memories of them. Unfortunately the waters are polluted in this area from the Tempisque river, which brings in trash from San Jose. It is the first time I've come across so much plastic along the way. Tomorrow I will travel to Mal Pais, where I will be based for the coming week. When I arrive at a new base, I usualy have to find boat support during the first day, and this can be a very labour intensive undertaking.
The contracts have not always been successfull. I am just recovering from a contract that was not in writing, and where the boat driver after the fact lied to the whole village about not being paid enough, causing me endless stress. I have learned now that everything has to be in writing to avoid misunderstandings. Sometimes I get so mired in these details that it is easy to forget why im actually doing this, to save marine wildlife from extinction.
In close to 600 kms swum so far, and 38 swim days, I have not yet encountered a shark. Every single person that hears about the swim immediately asks if i am not risking my life every moment I swim because of sharks. I wish I could say I had seen one yet. I have been surrounded by pilot whales, swum next to a Humpback whale and her baby, and many other wild animals, but no sharks. Where are they? Most likely, they lie at the bottom of Punta Caldera, savagely deprived of their fins, torn apart by other predators, victims to man's insecurity about his manhood.
Shark fin soup is sold in Asian countries as an aphrodisiac, although it has no therapeutic value. Viagra would be a better choice, and twelve shark species wouldn't have to be on the Endangered List. I certainly find sharks to be the most elusive animal n the ocean.
It is now 9pm, and past my usual bedtime here, I bid you all farewell and thank you for your patience!
Keep rooting for me, I need you all! Sea greetings and much love,
Renate
Renate Herberger |
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Mission Statement: |
 Swimming the length of the Pacific coast of Costa Rica is akin to the migrations that we usually associate with marine life such as humpback whales. By placing myself in this environment, I will become one with their world and will be able to experience the interconnectedness of ocean life.
I hope my 3 month long swim will be an inspiration to you and will foster the view that the sea is not to be feared, polluted and exploited, but defended, protected and celebrated. We human beings are composed mostly of water, and by being immersed in the ocean 8 hours a day, for three months, I hope to open people's minds to the miracle that is marine life and to our dependence upon it. As we see the effects of global climate change increasing, we realize that we must change our way of life to one that is more in harmony with the needs of all living beings or we will suffer the consequences of the breakdown of the web of life that sustains us. The environmental organisations that will be funded by the proceeds of my swim are bringing this idea to reality by raising awareness of the fragility of our marine environment and by urging people to action. We look forward to your support! Renate Herberger, October 2007
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