Tuesday in Costa Rica

The day has dawned bright and sunny.....possibly not as warm, but probably is.  We have moved time back another hour, so are now on Central Time Zone. About all that means to us is we had plenty of sleep last night.  That helps as we had to rise very early today to leave by 7:30.  We ordered breakfast in our room, so can eat at leisure as we dress for the day.

We have a full excursion off the ship today-5 hours touring many aspects of this diverse country. Costa Rica is the southern most country in Central America with a land mass about the size of West Virginia.  The climate is very diverse from coastal to mountainous.  Today, we are along the coast.  The sea is calm and the surf is spectacular.

                                  

Near the shipping terminal, we see containers from all the big fruit companies-- Del Monte, Dole and Chiquita.  

Later in the post, I will share our trip to the banana plantation where they were packing for Del Monte.

Out tour consists of a narrow gauge rail trip through the dense forest.  Bob was able to capture a photo of a monkey. 

                       

  The dense jungle reminded me of my orthopedic doctor who once was traveling somewhere here in the Central American jungle and became lost. He wandered around for several days before someone found him. Not difficult to imagine this happening in the dense jungle. They have 132 species of snakes-- 18 of them poisonous, so I could see the entire experience as very harrowing.

Our journey also took us on a jungle cruise down one of the canals, taking us into the dense thickets we saw on the train.  This time, we are rewarded by seeing many birds, a crocodile, the largest Costa Rican butterfly-- a gorgeous blue one, some tiny long- nosed bats, Jesus Christ lizard ( walks on water), 3-toed sloth (2), green iguana, and a tiny poisonous arrow dart frog.  

      

                

      

                  

 Three toed sloth.

     

  Poisonous dart frog.