Day 8: 6-in-1 in Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Friday, 13 January 2017
At Sea … Pacific Ocean
Temp: 82F (27.8C) @ UTC 2:30a (Ship’s Time 8:30p)

Travel teaches toleration.
~ Benjamin Disraeli ~

I am drained!  It was hot in Costa Rica today — 91F (33C) was forecasted … I would be surprised if we did not reach that at some point in our day.  But the thunderstorms held off, which was a good thing as it kept the humidity down.

I am on the veranda now.  A nice breeze … reasonable temps.  It’s great.  We enjoyed the most amazing moonrise during dinner at the Terrace Café.  Burnt orange at the time, that same moon is now in its more traditional color and keeping me company from its perch in the sky.

For this, our second visit to Puntarenas, Costa Rica, we booked a private tour … our only companions were Sonia and Boris.  The ship docked at the pier in Puntarenas on time at 7:00a, but it was another 45 minutes before the ship was cleared.  The choo-choo that shuttles people down the looooong pier was nowhere to be found, so we hoofed it to the cruise terminal to meet up with our tour operator, Odyssey Tours … a family-operated local company.

¡Hola! Puntarenas.  My what a long pier your have! 

Our tour was billed as a 6-in-1, meaning we would see six popular tourist attractions around the area in one tour.  Accompanied by Carlos, our guide, and Guillermo, our driver, we set off in a 12-passenger van for just the four of us.  We were the first to leave the pier just before 8:00a … well before the O tours and many of the other private groups, so except at one spot, we never crossed paths with others.

Local color near the Tárcoles River.

Our day was filled with critters — white-faced Capuchin monkeys, American crocodiles, scarlet macaws, black vultures, and iguanas … to name a few … and all in the wild.  We enjoyed lovely scenery as we drove from one place to another, and went up high to a couple of overlooks for expansive views of Nicoya Bay and the transitional rainforest.

These free-ranging white-faced Capuchin monkeys live in the canopy of a roadside forest.

What might look like logs in this picture are actually some of the American
crocodiles that are residents of Rio Tárcoles.  This river winds through
Costa Rica's Central Pacific region before emptying into the Pacific Ocean.

A closer look at a few of the 32 American crocs I count lazing on shore and in the water.

It is possible to view these crocs on a boat cruise, but I didn’t care for the
idea that the operators feed the animals to make them jump out of the
water … hence we satisfy ourselves by viewing them from a bridge.

The great blue heron is unfazed by the presence of the croc swimming by.  “They
respect each other,” is Carlos’ comment when we later mention this sighting to him.

Scarlet macaw guarding its nest.  The population of macaws in Costa
Rica are making a comeback following a campaign that was started
10 years ago when the bird was put on the endangered species list.

Odyssey being a family-run operation, the company makes an effort to support local vendors.  Carlos took us to a roadside fruit stand to do just that.  We were greeted by the family, offered a taste of hand-pressed sugar cane juice; nibbled on the sweetest pineapple and watermelon; and sipped on delicious smoothie concoctions of mango, passion fruit, and coconut … appropriately named Pura Vida [pure life] … a popular Costa Rican philosophy that you can read more about here.  The owner hammed it up for our cameras as he demonstrated sugar cane pressing with a hand-cranked machine that he proudly said his family had been using for the past 35 years.

The sugar cane is put through the press three times, folded over
with each pass.  By the time he is done with the cane, it is bone dry.

Another stop we made was at Hotel Villa Lapas, an eco-lodge where the buildings replicate the old houses of Costa Rica … with one exception … adobe is no longer used because it does not withstand the earthquakes that rumble through the area periodically.  As we wandered around the grounds, Carlos pointed out various plants and fruits and flowers, and also showed us the bees that produce medicinal honey.

Some of the many plants on the grounds of the eco-lodge.
Left (top to bottom): Cabeza; Poinciana; Cocoa Bean Pod.
Center: Bromeliads are Epiphytes … they grow harmlessly upon trees.
Right (top to bottom): Chicken Tree (or Brazilian Fire); Bread Fruit.

The replica church is a popular venue for weddings.

Lunch was at a place called Vista Mar [Sea View].  Our meal was a “comida tipico” … a typical Costa Rican meal referred to as “casado”.  This Spanish word means “married man”, and it is thought that the term came into use when customers asked for the food a married man would eat at home … rice, black beans, plantains, salad, and an option of chicken, beef, pork, or fish.  In our case, we all opted for the grilled sea bass.  We preceded our lunch with a choice of juices … mango or guanabana (translated as soursop).  We opted for the latter, a taste that we developed in Ecuador.  The meal was — in a word — fantastic.

Scenes from our lunch at Vista Mar … appropriately situated across the road from a
beach.  I thought it cute that there was a scissor to cut the packets of condiments.

By the time we were finished with our lunch, it was already past 1:00p.  Next on our itinerary was to have been swimming at a white-sand beach, but it would have required us driving ½-hour in the opposite direction from the port.  So we bagged that part of our day.  Instead, Carlos gave us quick tour of Puntarenas before dropping us off at the port at 2:30p as we had requested.  A folklore group was just setting up, so we watched them for a few minutes before beginning the long walk down the pier to the ship.

Left: Our Lady of Mount Carmel Cathedral was built in 1902.
Center: One of the colorfully arrayed dancers at the cruise terminal.
Right: It’s a long, long, long walk back to Insignia … where’s the choo-choo shuttle?

Today was another terrific port of call.  At 4:00p, Insignia set sail for Nicaragua … this will be our first time in this country and we are looking forward to it.

© 2015-2017 — All rights reserved by Erin Erkun.