Nov 4, 2017

One week at sea and here we are in Puntarenas, Costa Rica. It’s 80 degrees, extreme humidity and overcast, thunderstorms expected.

At breakfast at 6:30am, I was dripping wet from the heat. We are right up on the dock this time so I can watch the disembarking passengers scatter. The bay is completely surrounded by islands, rocks and peninsulas. One mountain far away appears to be snow topped (but I heard later, the only snow EVER was just 3 years ago, for a day). There are huge frigates and pelicans circling the bay. The land we’ve docked against looks to be completely flat and all of 2’ above sea level. It is covered with palm trees and brightly colored shops and shacks.

And we are waiting again. We booked a tour, scheduled to meet at noon and it was close to 1 before we boarded the bus. An entertaining tour guide, Jose (no way, Jose), beguiled us with interesting CR facts during the 40 minute ride to the train (95% literacy, universal health coverage, no army, low taxes, minimum wages, immigration, import/export, agriculture, transportation, politics – 13 parties).

We stepped straight off the bus onto the train.

It is a narrow gauge variety, a screeching, vibrating, 1940’s, 3 carriage train chugged through rice fields, mango orchards, backyards and downtowns. Everyone waved and lots of horns honked. Of note, stop signs and lines on the roads are “guidelines” rather than absolutes. It’s everyman for themselves. The houses and grounds we passed were similar to those in Mexico, mostly squalid and trash filled, a mis-mash of building materials, dogs yowling and chickens squawking, rusty tin roofs, all with a satellite dish on top. Everyone has a cell phone, too.

We stopped at one point to watch the howler monkeys.  

 

We then went back on the bus for another ride to the Jungle River Cruise. It had started raining at this point, so all the NY ladies were having a fit about getting wet. A quick stop at the rest room yielded the best photo yet.(Actually a video that is too long for this format. I'll show later)

The flat bottomed tour boat slowly moved up the brown, brackish river while the rain came down in buckets. Everyone was drenched. We did see a couple of beached crocodiles, one each, small, medium and large. There were storks and egrets, smaller sea birds and a gorgeous Roseate Spoonbill – snowy white head and neck, blending into pink to a deep cranberry tail, with black bill and legs. We had to leave early as the lightning was making for nervous travel.

We went back for a quick visit to the souvenir shop (of course, required, I think) and then back to the bus and the boat.

After drying out, we headed to the bar, chatted with Honey and had dinner at the Bordeaux. Our window seat let us watch a spectacular lighting storm, lighting up the whole sky. Beef and Yorkshire pudding for Jim, pork chop and apple cider sorbet for me.

We had a B&B at the Crooners Bar and chatted with some of our fellow passengers before calling it a night.