Friday, February 1, 2013

January 31, 2013 Limon, Costa Rica


Pura Vida!
Had wonderful weather and a fantastic tour with Jorge Morales. We had a driver “Gato”, a guide Jose and Jorge and his daughter Diana joined us as well.
We were joined today by CC friends Marianne, Lorraine & Chuck, Lois & David, Dennis & Bonnie, Hugh & Nancy and Christina & William.

Had a scenic drive to the Jaguar Sanctuary with a refreshing stop at a fruit stand where they let us have fresh cut papaya, pineapple, coconut and bananas. The driver spotted some Howler monkeys in the trees and we stopped for pictures. Also he found a very cool spider that he held while we all got photos.

 


 
The sanctuary was very nice and we saw birds and animals that they rehabilitate to release back into the wild. We saw a spectacled owl, hawks, young Capuchin and Howler monkeys. Any who wished to could go inside the enclosure and pet or hold the monkeys. (my favorite part). There were no jaguars there at this time, but we did see a Margay and an ocelot. Volunteers from Spain, Germany and elsewhere were tending to the animals.

 very pretty sinks at the sanctuary

 a bird landed on William
 Spectacled Owls


 Howler Monkey on roof







 baby sloth


After that we were to have lunch at a restaurant on the beach, but their cook had not shown up for work yet, so we had a photo op and they took us to another place and the food was very good. I had a smoked chicken dish in coconut, ginger and curry sauce. Greg had something similar in a different sauce. He tried the local drink called “Ale”. Not a beer, but a drink of primarily ginger and sugar cane. Sweetened plantains were passed out at the end of the meal.








Then we were off to our last stop on the Tortuguero Canal where we got onto a small boat that took us to see any local wildlife we may encounter. Saw many Great Blue Herons, green and little blue herons, white egrets and herons, lots of small pretty birds, some bats lined up on a tree. We did see some sloths and a few howler monkeys. On this trip we did not see a “Jesus Christ” lizard or a Cayman or a crocodile. Very peaceful on the canal.




 fishing for crab


 drug bust?


 Long-nosed Bats
 our guide




Captain of the boat

We had a short drive back to port and were given a short “city tour” before dropping us off right at the ship. Those that wanted to could shop at the local market there, but we chose to rush back to the cabin and change for dinner.
The show last night was a variety show starring Michael Minor, a ventriloquist, singer and impressionist. Very entertaining. We came back to the cabin and turned in early for our day transiting the Panama Canal today. Oh, and the hour we gained a couple nights ago….we lost it again last night! Eventually, we will start gaining every night until we finally lose an entire day.
I will post on that tomorrow. We have 2 more sea days and I hope to get some pictures put together from Limon and the Canal today. We have several more hours yet to finish going through the canal. Had a savory Lamb Madras Curry for lunch!
Tonight the show is “the clean comedy” of Lee Bayless.

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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