We woke up to another beautiful day at sea with calm seas and very warm temperatures. This was a lazy day on the deck, reading and keeping out of the direct sun. We had had a late night as we had gone to the late performance of Bud Andersen, a comedian that is one worth seeing should you get the chance. He never uses a swear word, a derogatory racists slant but tells each story leaving you the audience to imagine the insinuation. .... Very funny and most entertaining.
We had also attended the evening entertainment in the theatre... Professor Watson playing the fiddle. He had the most outrageous hairdoo to look the part but man could he play.... classical, jazz, country...everything. One of the most entertaining shows to date, next to the commedian.
Saturday we arrived in Puntarenus, Costa Rica. Being on port side we watched the ship dock at one of the longest narrowest piers. The shore operators had a new fork lift that they were trying to manuever the gangway for the ship to disembark... after watching the antics for over a half and hour, we had to leave togo on our shore excursion up to the POS volcano through the Cloud Forest with stops for a local flavored luncheon and visit to Sarchi where they carve the famous painted oxen carts and also produce beautiful furniture. The trip up there was a long 3hr. Drive on narrow roads, frequent switch backs as we traversed the country side. This was the end of the dry season so many of the trees were in full bloom and we were able to see the agricultural focus of this country. Most of the hillsides are terraced for coffee and cocoa trees. We saw every kind of palm tree imaginable along groves of bamboo, eucalyptus and large rhubarb looking plants. (can't remember the name the proper name even through our guide told us numerous times!) Vast fields are covered with black netting to shade the feathery fern crops and strawberries from the ultra violet. Both crops are harvested and exported to the US, At the top of the park we walked up to the volcano crater and being a clear day we could see the mud bubbling and smell the sulphur. There are 12 active volcanos that we could see from this panoramic vantage point. \Most days clouds cover the peaks so we were fortunate to come on a clear day. The walk was in our minds pretty easy however others on the tour found the altitude approx 5,000 ft a little strenuous.... we on the other hand felt quite at home and found the walk very easy.
We had hoped that this tour would give us more time to stroll though the jungle/forests and that we would see some of the monkeys and colorful birds Costa Rica is known for, however, not to be as we drove through the forests and were unable to glimpse any wildlife.
We stopped at Sarchi and did the normal tourist shopping stop....everything I liked was too big and probably would have cost an arm and a leg to ship so enjoyed the snoop and sampled the fruit brought out for the visiting tour buses... Fresh pineapple and papaya ...so much better than we get in the stores at home.
Back on the ship for more food and entertainment. Tomorrow is another seaday so time to toast the back to match the front and finish the book.
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