Category Archives: Central America

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Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

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2011 Incan Empires Cruise

Sunday, November 27, 2011 – Day 7 – Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Although this is my fourth time visiting Costa Rica, this is my first time in Limon. I came closest to Limon on my first trip to Costa Rica when I took a boat up to Tortuguero National Park to stay in the jungle for a couple of days.

I signed up to take a shore excursion today, but I’m glad it doesn’t leave until 9AM because I am having a tough time getting motivated this morning. After having some breakfast and my cappuccino, I am finally ready to get out there. When our group leaves the ship to go on our excursion, we discover we will be transported in a big, honkin’ tandem wheeled bus that is so high off the ground, we have to climb a set of stairs that folds down out of the back of the bus. It is air-conditioned and the seats are quite comfortable. There are big windows, and I’m happy the bus is only about half full, so there is lots of room to spread out. Another bonus is the weather – no rain, but overcast so it’s not too hot. The locals tell us the last few days have seen pouring rain, so we are lucky, since the good weather holds for the whole day.

Female Golden Orb spider
Female Golden Orb spider

Eric is our guide and Jose is our driver. They are business partners, and built this vehicle from scratch on a GMC truck chassis. We head south along the coast and then turn inland, traveling along the Banano River past the little community of Bomba, which is where the pumping stations are located for Limon’s municipal water supply. We driver further along the Banano River and then stop for a walkabout. Eric points out all sorts of flora and fauna, include the Golden Orb spider, a Balsa tree, and a red Poison Dart frog.

JoeTourist: Puerto Limon &emdash; Ticos swimming in the freshwater near the Caribbean coastal beach

We carry on along the river and then turn off the road into a banana plantation, where we stop to have a snack and listen to Eric as he explains all about the banana business. Eric mixes a drink called a “Missile”, which is a local liquor called Guaro, a squeeze of local (sweet) lemon, and topped up with Fresca. I prefer to have a local Imperial beer, but those who try the Missile say it is very smooth and refreshing. The good weather is still holding as we return to the ship by 1:30PM. As we travel along the coast there are many Tico families swimming and playing along the shoreline since it is Sunday. Of course they all stop to wave when they see our bus – a bit of a contrast from my experience in Colombia, where the locals either ignored the tour bus or just stared at us.

It is a welcome relief to get back on board the ship, which is really starting to feel like a home away from home. We depart on time, with the First Officer piloting us this afternoon. We now head for the port of Colon to transit the Panama Canal tomorrow morning.

Puerto Limon
Puerto Limon
14 photos
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San Blas Islands

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2011 Incan Empires Cruise

Saturday, November 26, 2011 – Day 6 – San Blas Islands, Panama

JoeTourist: San Blas Islands &emdash; Cuna woman in traditional dress with Molas and young girl

It is 10:30AM and there is great excitement aboard. Everyone is milling about waiting for tenders to go ashore to what must be the tiniest island destination for a cruise ship: Carti Tupili Island, which is one of the San Blas Islands. There are Cuna Indians in canoes circling the ship as we anchor, waiting for all those US$ to flow into their eager hands…or in this case diving for coins being thrown down by the passengers. I stay on the ship this morning since I want to avoid the madness of jostling for the first few tenders. I use this time to catch up on my travel journal and blog, and take some photos of our approach to the islands. I partake of the delicious BBQ lunch served on the Lido pool deck, and then decide it is time to get a tender ticket and go ashore. I only have to wait a couple of minutes before my tender leaves.

There are hundreds of Cuna Indian women and children selling stuff. The women are mainly selling Molas, handmade delicately sewn artwork made by arranging brightly coloured fabric into layers and patterns. Others, especially children are offering themselves for photo ops at $1 a shot, with some just looking incredibly cute, while others offer puppies, kittens, rabbits, birds and even a monkey as additional props for the tourists to photograph. Some men are also selling wares: mainly carvings from coconut wood or husks, or artwork. I find this all rather sad to see, and since the whole scene mainly turns me off, I catch a tender back to the ship after about 15 minutes of walking around.

Of the 378 islands and cays in the archipelago, 49 are inhabited. As you can see by my photos, the inhabited islands are densely populated – every bit of each island’s land mass is used. There is no electricity from the grid available on these islands; only power from generators is used for a few hours each day as households determine their needs and what they can afford in fuel costs. Transportation to the islands is poor to non-existent unless you own your own seaworthy boat. There is no fresh water available on these islands. Water must be brought in by boat. These islands consist of sand, and are essentially at sea level – there is no elevation to speak of.

San Blas Islands
San Blas Islands
12 photos
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Costa Rica to Canada flights

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2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

March 8, 2009 – Sunday – flying from San Jose, Costa Rica returning to Victoria, Canada

I’m up at 5am because I set my iPhone alarm, and it changed to Daylight Saving Time overnight. Costa Rica doesn’t observe DST, so the alarm is an hour early. I go back to bed for a half hour and then get up, have a shower, and finish packing. I haul my big bag down to the lobby and then give the room one last check before leaving. I’m prepaid, so check-out is easy. The front desk calls a taxi for me and I’m at the airport in a half hour. The taxi was off the meter, so I paid US$20 instead of 10,000 Colones – about double, but the guy was worth it. Perhaps I made his day.

They pull the American Airlines 757 to the Gate 3 jetway at 7:30am, so things are happening. As they board passengers at the Delta gate, they are doing another security check of carry-on bags. They don’t allow any liquids such as bottles of water and pop as you board aircraft in San Jose. As we board, they search all bags even though we have already passed through security before getting to the gates, but they sell this stuff in the gate area – goofy!

Lake Nicaragua

Mexicana, Frontier and Delta flights all take off while we wait for our flight departure, which leaves on time and arrives in Dallas/Ft. Worth a few minutes early. I’m seated next to two young Tico guys on the flight out of San Jose. There are some terrific views of Lake Nicaragua, and the coasts of Honduras, Belize and Galveston as the flight angles across Central America and the Gulf of Mexico. We are served an omelet for breakfast, which I appreciate, since I missed the breakfast they were going to serve at the hotel starting at 7am.

San Jose to Dallas/Ft. Worth to Seattle to Victoria - flight map
San Jose to Dallas/Ft. Worth to Seattle to Victoria – flight map

In Dallas/Ft. Worth I’m departing from gate A9 for Seatac, which is located in the original terminal. It is still nice, but not as grand as the D terminal where I departed for San Jose on my way down a couple of weeks ago. I take the train to get to this terminal. The train is designed better than Seatac’s since it is elevated and it is also behind the security lines, so I don’t have to go through that ordeal again. Oops I should be at gate C17 instead of A9 – back on the little train and 15 minutes later I’m there with time to spare! The flight attendants on my first flight gave me the wrong gate for my ongoing flight, so from now on I’ll just check the display boards once I get into the airport terminal.

We are flying through slush as we approach Seattle, but it clears by the time we are on final approach. Needless to say I’m wearing my coat in the terminal – so cold compared with Costa Rica! It’s controlled chaos at the Horizon Airlines gates, but I have lots of time before my 11pm departure to Victoria. Lots of people are waiting for flights to Kelowna, Edmonton, Montana, and other destinations. I strike up a conversation with some folks who are flying to Montana after vacationing in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – their first trip outside the USA. They have premium Tequila stashed in their checked bags. I don’t have the heart to tell them it will either be smashed or stolen by the time they arrive home.

My flight to Victoria leaves on time, and thank goodness my checked bag shows up in Victoria all in one piece. I clear Canada Customs and Immigration and take a taxi home, arriving around 1am. When I get up in the morning, there is snow coming down!

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Tamarindo to San Jose

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2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

March 7, 2009 – Saturday – flying from Tamarindo to San Jose, Costa Rica

We are up early again this morning, and take one last walk down the beach looking for turtles. We find two dead baby turtles, however we also see 32 tracks leading to the sea, so most of them obviously made it early this morning after hatching.

I have an 11:15am flight with Nature Air (no longer operating) from Tamarindo Airport to Pavas Airport in San Jose. My friends are also leaving Hotel Las Tortugas this morning, driving to San Jose using transportation arranged through Swiss Travel. I try to get a ride to the airport, but their driver doesn’t want to cooperate, so I take a taxi instead…another US$30! My flight is delayed until 1pm (taking off about 1:15pm) however this is a direct 45-minute flight to San Jose. I add to my aerial photo coverage of the Costa Rican countryside on the flight, since there are clear skies.

High oblique of urban development in the valley, and cloud-covered Poas volcano

The taxi from the airport to Hotel Casa Roland only costs 2,000 Colones (about $4). The hotel is really funky, with corridors and lobbies all over the place, the rooms are decorated with fine art, folk art and sculpture and antique furniture, and there are ceiling fans throughout the place, including one in my room. It is about 30ºC in my room – a welcome relief from the afternoon heat at Tamarindo, however I still want to cool things down a bit more, so I figure out how the air conditioner works and get the room temperature down to 25ºC. I then have a bit of a siesta and work on my computer afterwards, since the hotel has high speed wireless. It’s sure nice to travel in a country that is so well connected to the Internet.

I have dinner at Paragon Restaurante (now closed), which is recommended by the hotel, and is right across the street. It is a fancy place and they give a 10% discount for hotel guests, but the place is empty except for one couple. I have a glass of Chardonnay wine, a chicken breast with roasted potatoes and vegetables, and an Americano to finish. The total with taxes is US$15.29 after the discount – very reasonable! I leave the servers a couple of US$ as a tip and get out of there. The service is impeccable, the food is excellent, and yet there is nothing Costa Rican about the restaurant, so it doesn’t appeal to me. It’s as if I was in a restaurant back home.

San Juan & Central Valley, Costa Rica
San Juan & Central Valley, Costa Rica
27 photos
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Tamarindo – days 4 to 6

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2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

March 4, 2009 – Wednesday – Hotel Las Tortugas, Tamarindo, Costa Rica

My friends knock on my door at 6:15am wanting to walk down the beach to see if there are any turtles. We don’t walk quite as far as we did yesterday morning, but we see some baby turtle tracks in the sand leading from a nest pit in the sand to the waterline. There are also some egg fragments in the nest, but no sign of the baby turtles. We see a very colourful orange and blue crab on the way back, who has quite the attitude when I get close for a photo.

Since the restaurant doesn’t open until 8am, we make some coffee in my friends’ room and then go up to my room to enjoy it on the balcony. There is a warm breeze as we sit in the rocking chairs and chat – what a wonderful way to start the day.

There were some intense colours in the sunset with reflections off the ocean swells this evening as we sat on the beach enjoying our time in such a sublime place.

It’s good for the soul to have a day for yourself…nothing planned, no obligations.

March 6, 2009 – Friday – Hotel Las Tortugas, Tamarindo, Costa Rica

This is our last day in paradise. Tomorrow we travel back to San Jose and leave for home on Sunday flights. If we had known about Liberia being an international airport, we could likely have saved ourselves a day’s travel time and the expense of transportation to and staying in San Jose. File this away for future reference, if I ever return to this part of Costa Rica.

I have delicious banana pancakes and fruit for breakfast, which we’ve enjoyed several times during our stay. We have to watch out for the Magpie Jays when eating meals on the dining patio. By lunch time it is very hot at 39ºC (100ºF) in the shade and windy – often the case while we’ve stayed here. I cool down by joining some young Tico men in the pool this morning, and then listen to some music on my iPhone while I recline in a hammock. Lunch is chicken quesadillas and fresh watermelon juice.

We take photos of a couple of green iguanas, which are on top of the nearby roof – they love the heat. I take video of the pelicans diving into the surf to feed.

Tamarindo
Tamarindo
52 photos
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Tamarindo Estuary

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2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

March 3, 2009 – Tuesday – Tamarindo Estuary, Costa Rica (day 3)

My friends and I are up at 6am in order to be picked up at 7am for a taxi ride to the Hotel Bula Bula, the starting point for our two hour motorboat trip up the estuary. Since we’re up so early, we have time to quickly go down the beach in search of turtle tracks. We find no new tracks but some turtle egg remnants are around a former nest, and there is a Frigate bird soaring over the beach. We return in time to take the taxi to our launch point for the boat trip. We have time for a very nice breakfast in The Great Waltini’s restaurant (now closed), where they have a tame parrot who entertains everyone with his antics.

Crocodile in the water

After breakfast we board the little 8-seater boat and wind our way through the narrow channels of Estero Tamarindo, a national wildlife refuge. Since we depart at 8am, the temperature is pleasantly cool. We see lots of birds, a group of Howler monkeys, and a couple of crocodiles. We return to our launch point by 10am and our taxi is waiting to take us back to the hotel. Cost of the boat trip is US$25 each, plus US$10 each way for the taxi – breakfast extra of course.

My friends join me on my balcony and bring some cold coffee to sip while we watch the action at the pool. After they leave, I take my iPhone and earphones down to a hammock and spend an hour listening to music before wandering up to the restaurant for lunch – a beer and a quesadilla. What a life! We meet Wilson, the owner of the hotel, who is a real character with lots of stories to tell.

I return to my room to download the latest photos from my cameras to have a look at the results from today’s excursion to the estuary, and I also check my email from home. I am really enjoying having my notebook computer with me while I travel. It gives me something familiar to do, helps me to stay in touch with home, and I can process the travel photos I’ve taken. Of course, on this particular trip I’ve also used it to process my astrophotos, so I can see if I’ve had some success the previous night.

I do some laundry in the bathroom and hang them over the rail to dry in the hot afternoon sun and strong winds – they are dry in an hour! After tramping around in the muck to see the Howler Monkeys this morning, I decide to also wash off my running shoes, and put them out on the balcony to dry overnight.

A crowd of people gather on the beach to watch the spectacular sunsets each evening. As with elsewhere in the tropics, the sun sets in about twenty minutes…by 6:15pm it’s all over. I’ve taken some good photos of the sunsets over the last few days. Getting some subject matter in the foreground is always a challenge, but the colours are spectacular.

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Tamarindo – day 2

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2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

March 2, 2009 – Monday – Hotel Las Tortugas, Tamarindo, Costa Rica

My friends return from their morning walk on the beach and tell me about the turtle tracks they saw. I grab my camera and take my morning walk along the beach at about 8am. The day heats up quickly at this location, so it is important to get out as early as possible if there is any outside activity to be done. I find the turtle tracks and while I’m taking photos a woman approaches me to tell me she saw a turtle returning to the sea about 15 minutes ago just up the beach a bit further. She suggested I get out on the beach a bit earlier and try to see one. I thanked her for the suggestion, since the turtle tours are not offered in this area after Feb 15th.

Female turtle tracks leading to a nest on the shore margin

There are lots of surfers out this morning riding the waves that are breaking just offshore. There is a woman with a Canon 600mm telephoto setup on the beach taking photos. What a monster lens! Apparently she is from a local surfer shop, where they sell packages which include taking photos of their customers as they ride the waves. The winds are strong and the surf continues throughout the afternoon, so the surfers are out there until the Sun sets.

I am settling into a lazy routine here at the hotel. After last week, it is nice to have little planned, so I find a hammock setup in the shade and listen to a Rick Steeves podcast on my iPhone. He had Fred Plotkin as a guest, who is a travel food writer, has written a book about Italian cuisine, and lives in Italy for six months of the year. He has some valuable insight into Italians and their food and wine. I well know how fanatical Italians are about using fresh, locally supplied food! A more recent Rick Steves interview with Fred about Italian cuisine.

Avellanas the hotel dog having a snooze on the beach

This evening’s sunset over the Pacific Ocean is spectacular (see banner image above). People are walking and playing on the beach while this light show goes on to the west. Of course I’m out there too, and meet Avellanas the hotel dog, who is having a snooze on the beach now that it’s cooler.

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Tamarindo – day 1

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2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

March 1, 2009 – Sunday – Hotel Las Tortugas, Tamarindo, Costa Rica

I had only finished my first cup of coffee and placed my order when my friends join me for breakfast. Afterward, we do some computer work in the Wi-fi area near the front desk, since there is no Wi-fi in the rooms or other areas of the hotel. I walk the beach this morning – a sublime day with light winds, clear skies and not too hot. There are a few Ticos (local Costa Ricans) enjoying the surfing. Later in the morning, we have some coffee in my friends’ room, since they have a fridge and a coffeemaker.

I have a very good chicken quesadilla for lunch. The rather slow Internet allows me to post four astronomy photos to my online gallery and also setup an email account on my notebook computer so I can maintain contact with home. There was no connectivity at La Ensenada Lodge where we were staying previously, so it’s nice to be able to catch up with friends and family.

We make arrangements with the hotel staff to on a boat trip up the estuary to see the birds and other wildlife. Initially, we read in the pamphlet about renting canoes and a guide, but none of us are too keen on the canoe concept, so this boat trip appeals to us. Cost is only US$25 each for about a two hour boat trip, so we book it for Tuesday at 8am. That will get us back to the hotel before it gets too hot.

Here on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, the winds often pick up in the afternoon, sometimes being quite fierce. The temperature also climbs to the point where it’s uncomfortably hot, so afternoons are a good time to take a siesta or hang out in the shade by the pool, which is protected from the wind.

My friends and I enjoy beer, natcho chips and salsa around 6pm, and eventually ordered dinner. I enjoy a local mahi mahi fish burger, since I am still pretty full from the quesadilla I had for lunch. My friends order a Tico entrée and a palmito (palm heart) salad to share between them – a good idea to get some variety and keep the cost reasonable.

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San Jose to Tamarindo Flight

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Feb 28, 2009 – Saturday – Flying from San Jose to Tamarindo, Costa Rica

2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

This morning I share breakfast with several of the Southern Skies group before they leave for home. I also hook up with a couple from our group to share a ride with them to Pavas airport (Tobías Bolaños International Airport), where we catch a flight to Tamarindo. My friends I’ll be spending the next few days with in Tamarindo have arranged for a private driver and van to drive them to Hotel Las Tortugas. I’m glad to be flying to Tamarindo, since it takes about an hour, whereas my friends will be on the road for over four hours.

Nature Air (no longer operating) charges me US$25 for my overweight bag, which I expected since they have a strict 35lb limit for baggage because they use Twin Otter aircraft. They also weigh each passenger (including carry-ons), so they are pretty careful to avoid overloading their aircraft. Pavas Airport is small enough to make it easy to find the airline counter you are looking for, and the staff are casual, friendly, and helpful.

Flights versus driving San Jose to Tamarindo
Flights versus driving San Jose to Tamarindo

Our flight leaves at 11:45am, which is a bit later than the 11:15am departure time printed on my e-ticket, but who cares since we don’t have to make any connections. I get some really nice aerial photos as we fly to Liberia, and then to Tamarindo. Liberia’s Daniel Oduber Quirós International Airport has flights from American Airlines, Continental, and Air Canada landing here. If I had known that, I would have returned home from Liberia instead of taking an extra day to fly back to San Jose and having to stay overnight before flying home.

The taxi ride from Tamarindo airport to the hotel costs me US$30 – I think the taxi driver saw me coming on that one, since I was expecting to pay $20 for the short drive. The staff at Hotel Las Tortugas are very friendly, although not all speak English, they all understand some of what I say. I am booked into my room #10 as previously arranged, and have some time to settle in and have a shower before my friends arrive mid-afternoon. We have a beer and a chat before they go to their room to have a siesta.

I see the Sun setting at 6pm from my balcony, so quickly go out to the beach to take some photos of the beautiful panorama. There are quite a few people on the beach watching the sunset, which reminds me of Long Beach on Vancouver Island, Canada where my family and I stayed for a few days last September. By the time I return to my room, my friends are ready to have dinner. I take a photo of the Crescent Moon & Venus from my balcony before going to bed. I have turned off the air conditioner in my room, since I want to acclimatize to the local warm temperatures.

Flights - Tamarindo, Liberia, San Juan
Flights – Tamarindo, Liberia, San Juan
28 photos
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La Ensenada Lodge to San Jose

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Feb 27, 2009 – Friday – La Ensenada “Star” Lodge to San Jose, Costa Rica

2009 Southern Skies Fiesta & Tamarindo Coast

As mentioned in my previous post, today’s early morning hours are my last evening under the dark skies at La Ensenada “Star” Lodge, so this will be an all-night effort to observe and photograph celestial objects. I have a good sleep after yesterday’s dinner, awakening at 12:30am and go down to the ridge line where my Astrotrac is setup. My mission is to photograph a widefield of the Southern Cross to Eta Carina region in the southern hemisphere region I can’t see from my home on the west coast of Canada. Once I polar align the Astrotrac, I setup my Hutech-modified Canon XTi dSLR and set my 70-200mm zoom lens to 70mm – just wide enough to frame the Crux and Carina constellations.

Crux and Carina constellations

There are some clouds drifting by midway through my photo run, but I end up with enough two minute exposures to do credit to this field rich of many wonderful celestial objects, including (from left to right): the Southern Cross and Coalsack dark nebula, IC2944/8 nebula, Stock 13 cluster, the Eta Carina nebula, and the Southern Pleiades cluster (IC2602). I’m so excited by what I see in my images, I stay up until after 4am processing them, which results is a wonderful resultant image – just what I was aiming for on this trip!

Tired but happy, I have a couple of hour’s sleep before waking around 6:30am. It is time to pack all my stuff that has spread itself out all over the cabin. Getting it all packed into my main suitcase take some doing, but it all fits and I’m ready to go to my last breakfast at La Ensenada by 8am. All the meals are served buffet style, and have been very good. We say thank you to our staff, have a group photo taken, and then we are on our way by bus to San Jose.

Red lily

We travel the same route we took to get out here until we reach the Central Valley, and then divert to the town of Sarchi. This is a crafts area, and is also our lunch stop. The buffet at Las Carretas Restaurant is very good, and includes complimentary beer or wine, so I have a local Bavarian Gold beer with my lunch (recommended by Jorge). I’m not a shopper when travelling, however I actually purchase a few souvenirs this time. We have another group photo taken, since Jorge was missing from the one taken at the Lodge, and then we drive into San Jose and the Courtyard Marriott Hotel.

Our farewell dinner is held in the Marriott this year – an improvement over last year when we were in a noisy restaurant. This year we could converse, listen to Gary’s and Jorge’s speeches, and enjoy ourselves and the lovely buffet dinner. It was a very nice ending to a trip which I think everyone enjoyed. Goodbyes were said, tips were given to Jorge, and the evening ended. Jorge shared a list of 75 birds he showed the group during our time together, but I certainly didn’t see that many!

Most of our group leave for their respective homes tomorrow, but some of us are staying in Costa Rica for another week. Five of us Canadians are travelling to the Tamarindo area in the northwest corner of Costa Rica tomorrow to get some beach time and just kick back. Walter and Pat (a couple from New York) are going to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for a deluxe tenting experience for a couple of days.