KDslog Blog: 2015 Christmas Cruise, Day 9

Monday, December 28th.

Today was another port day. Fortunately, this was one of two ports we can depart directly onto the pier and don't have to use the tender boats.

Princess describes the city as: To Spanish explorers, the rumors of gold and vast riches could only mean that this section of Central America was the costa rica - the "Rich Coast." Hailed as the Switzerland of the Americas, Costa Rica occupies a unique position, lying between two oceans and two continents. On both coasts, tropical rainforests rise to the mountains of the interior, many of which soar over 13,000 feet above sea level. In the west, a seemingly endless succession of brown-sand beaches forms the nation's Pacific coast. Puntarenas is your gateway to Costa Rica's wonders - and to its capital city of San Jose.

We had a scheduled excursion "Scenic Train Ride & River Cruise." However, there was some kind of accident the day before and they have cancelled the tour. We heard rumors of a train accident. One fellow passenger even said that they heard someone was attacked by an alligator, but I doubt that is true. Because the pier was lower than the doors on deck 5 and higher than deck 4, the ship put out their stpes for passenger disembarkation. However, they insisted wheelchairs be transferred to a special motorized wheelchair that slowly descended the ramp. Needless to say, it was an interesting experience.

DeeAnn being escorted down the ramp

We eventually made our way down the pier and found a cab. Between the drivers limited English and DeeAnn's limited Spanish, we were able to negotiate a trip around the city. We were taken to a monkey sanctuary where we were able to feed the monkeys and even saw a coati, part of the racoon family. After that we were taken back in to the city and around the downtown area. We stopped at an old church, went in and looked around. We then went back to the pier area where we walked around and looked at the shops.

Coati at the monkey preserve

Monkeys


Monkey peeling the banana and discarding the skin

Kent feeding the monkey

Old church in Puntarenas

Church interior

Milkshake at shops near pier

Island Princess at Puntarenas

Love Board constantly playing on the ship

Horizon Court, the buffet for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Costa Rica: San Jose is the capitol, about 70 miles from Puntarenas. It stretches 275 miles from north to south, covering 19,729 square miles (slightly smaller than West Virginia). Columbis discovered it in 1502. local inhabitants were mainly farmers whose numbers were depleted when introduced to European disease. Independence from Span was declared in 1821, beginning a period of civil war. After independence, the government anxiously sought goods that could be exported and taxed. Coffee had been introduced from Cuba and played a major role in the economy and growth of the country. In 1983 Costa Rica the country made an official proclamation of neutrality.

Puntarenas is the largest providence covering an area of 4350 square miles, discovered by Hernan Ponce de Leon in 1519. Spanish is the official language but many also speak limited English. About 4.5 million people live in Costa Rica including a number of Americans. the natives are called "ticos" (males) or "ticas" (females). Puntarenas peninsula has a population of about 14,000. The official currency is the "colon" while US dollars and credit cards are widely accepted. Puntarenas is on Central time. There is no daylight savings time observed in Central America. the average temperature is 82°F. September and October are the wettest months of the year while January and March are the driest months.

Coast of Puntarenas

The national dish of Costa Rica is "gallo pinto" or rice and beans fried together with onions, peppers, cilantro and more. Costa Rica is home to more than 121 volcanic formations and six of them are active. the Poas Volcano has the second widest crater in the world, nearly one mile in diameter. Costa Rica became the first Central American country to grow and export coffee and bananas. The guanacaste evergreen is the national tree, the clay-colored robin called the yiguirro is the national bird and the cattleya skinneri, an orchid, is the national flower.

The greatest mystery of the Costa Rica pre-Columbia mysteries comes from the southern part of Puntarenas providence, near the town of Palmar Norte and Palmar Sur, where hundreds of large stone spheres have been found. The largest of these granite boulders measures a little over eight feet in diameter and weights 28,600 pounds. many, however, are not much larger than bowling balls. How these perfectly spherical stones were shaped with such precision is still a matter of speculation, as well as to why and how they were used in the region's indigenous inhabitants.

Ships log: At 0300 contact was made with Puntarenas Port Control confirming our arrival time. The pilot boarded at 0404 as the ship approached the harbor area. Shortly afterwards Island Princess commenced a swing bow to starboard and slowly moved ahead towards our berth. On arrival the ships two deck five gangways were rigged and passengers started to proceed ashore shortly after 0620. Noon position: Berth 4 East - port side alongside. Temperature 28°C (82.5°F). Wind southerly force 3. Barometer 1008.0 and sunny skies. Island Princess remained alongside throughout the day. At 1830 'stand by below' was passed to the engine room as the final passengers returned onboard. At 1853 Island Princess departed the berth maneuvering astern before swinging the bow to starboard. On completion of the swing we slowly began making headway, setting South Easterly courses across the Gulf of Nicoya. Full away on passage was rung at 1921 and the speed was increased to 17 knots to ensure a timely arrival at the Panama Canal.

We were informed to change our clocks forward during the night.