Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Saturday March 17

We have been to Costa Rica several times, but always on the Limon port side so it was great to visit a new port on the Pacific side.

First we noticed that we had a later all aboard than expected. Then, we find out that we were arriving over an hour late as well. No one announced the changes and the TV still showed the old times. The Patter had it right, but of course we didn't get that until morning. (we'd already gone to bed before it came out)

So, the new Captain has yet to get to a port on the scheduled time. To top it off he was even later than the new late time that was scheduled. They announced that they were having trouble with the gangways due to low tides. The tides shouldn't be a surprise to a captain. We could predictably time our beach walks in Panama when it was low tide, so not sure why it surprised the captain of this ship. Greg said we need to buy him a watch and an app to track the tides...lol

 arrival in port

 Magnifigant Frigate

 pelican

Holland America ship in port

OK, finally we get off the ship and walk out of the port to find our guide. I was thrilled when I saw Odyssey Tours and the guy said come with me. Here's where I become less thrilled by the minute. We get to a van and he says we are waiting for one more couple. I said "No, we paid extra to have a private tour for 2" Then, I notice that the van is full of people. He gets another guy who said he needed to call the office. They found a driver (just off the street not one of their guys) and told him what we wanted to see based on the itinerary we paid for.

I booked Odyssey Tours: 10 in 1 Tour http://odysseytourscr.com/

Our first stop was to  see Capuchin monkeys in the dry forest. The description said we would have fun going off the beaten paths here. We got out of the car and they were on the side of the road and he pointed to where you could walk, but it was not included.

 just off the ship

 Capuchin Monkey showing what he thinks of us

Our next stop was at a fruit stand where they gave us sugar cane juice and fruit on a stick.

Our next stop was the crocodiles river cruise on the Tarcoles river. We had quite a wait here for our boat, but we were entertained bird watching and we saw several new birds while we waited and a few iguanas.

 Rufus-naped Wren

 Hoffman's Woodpecker

Blue-grey Tanager

 Streaked-backed Oriole

 

 Hoffman's Woodpecker

Scarlet Macaw - very high in the air

We enjoyed the boat ride despite not really seeing many crocs. We saw a couple of very small young ones and one medium sized one, but the shaded boat cruising down the river was quite pleasant and we saw a lot of birds including a Tiger-Heron.

  

 Great Blue Heron

 Great Blue Heron

 Osprey with a fish

 Yellow-headed Caracara

 Roadside Hawk

 Spotted Sandpiper

Northern Jacana

 Osprey

 Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

Bare-throated Tiger-Heron

 Tri-colored Heron

 large croc - just the head showing

Gyrocopter

 Mealy Parrots

 Roseate Spoonbill

 one last photo op

It was now lunch time and we went to Vista Mar Restaurant for our included lunch. Greg got fish and I got chicken and there was rice & beans and sweet plantains. Very tasty food.

 chicken plate

fish plate

Now, our day went really wrong. Earlier when we were going over the itinerary we said we are supposed to visit Carara Rain Forest and have some hiking. Jesus said it was not included. We said yes it was. He said I can take you, but it will cost $10 per person more to hike the trail. We said no problem. We also had asked to skip the beach stop to have more time in the forest looking for birds. Should have been around 2 hours there.

After lunch, he says now we return and do the city tour. No forest stop at all. He insisted we go to this lookout which was an hour or so round trip to see this:

So, our 10 in 1 tour was 3 in 1 at best. Here is what we were supposed to do:

"Drive uphill the Carara rain forest park to learn more of the rain forest and looking for scarlet macaws and toucan birds in their nesting area. Stops to jump off the van and enjoy the scenary and sights. Easy walks if you wish to explore the forest. We also enter the lovely Villa Lapas and their Santa Lucía church and old town surrounded by lush forest and gardens. Easy walk mostly it the shade and passing one suspended bridge above a nice little creek. Some chances to spot hummingbirds, butterflies and other wildlife depending on the time of the year. (longer here and skip beach?)

Visit to lovely Punta Leona beach, white sand beach just at the end of the lush forest. Optional stop if the group wishes due some drive through dirt bumpy road required to reach this beach, there is a private good road to that beach but only for guest or members of a large resort.

Visit to the local village to learn about the real Costa Rica and our Pura Vida lifestyle (happiest people in the world)

Stop at local store for coffee and souvenirs with lots of woodcraft

You can see the local artisans working the wood and others at this same stop.

Heading back to port with quick stop at local farmers markets to learn about some important fruits and taste real flavored fruits naturally grown."

None of the above happened! Nor did we get cold beverages or a nature guide as promised. We started at 9:30 and it was supposed to be an 8 hour tour and we got 6 hours since we were back at the port and finished by 3:30.

We got a brief city tour in the car (about 5 or 10 minutes) and he said we could get out and walk back to the ship unless we wanted him to drive us. We opted to stay and get a cold drink and some shopping before walking back to the ship. The driver didn't seem to know we had not paid anyone. We said we hadn't paid anyone and he said do you know how much? We said yes and he said then pay that amount to me.

 city tour

 White-winged Dove

 Crimson-fronted Parakeets

In hindsight at lunch we should have made him call the owner of Odyssey Tours (Alvaro Ramirez G.) and straighten out what we should have seen and how long the tour should have been.

Back on the ship way too early we had plenty of time to write a very negative TripAdvisor review and I shot off an email to the company about our crappy tour.

We opted for dinner upstairs again and the show was a Juggler/Comedian Jeff Taveggia.

Just before going to bed I get an email from the owner of the tour company, basically blaming us for him not understanding our tour was private. (yes, we agreed to pay a higher price to be part of a larger group???) Anyway, he said his brother should never have put us in the hands of an inexperienced tour guide and our only option should have been to go with the group. Hw complained that he lost money because he then had empty seats in the group van. He said he knew it wasn't private because he didn't ask for a deposit. OK, we don't know he normally asks for a deposit for a private tour, and when I asked how much for private tour for 2 he said the price with no mention of a deposit, just saying USD cash on the day of the tour. He offered to refund some of our money to not post a negative review. Too late!

Puntarenas, Costa Rica https://photos.app.goo.gl/mSj50LeQyvibzntb2