Day 17 - Limon, Costa Rica

My tour had a meeting time of 7:00 am so I had to get up at 6:15 (way too early)!  The tour was called "Train, Canal and Countryside".   We were the first tour off the ship and we loaded the awaiting coach with our driver, Carlos, and our tour guide, Alex.

We had a short ride to where we loaded the boat for the canal ride.  We were able to see a variety of wildlife along the way - sloths, monkeys, birds, and bats.  The boat would stop and turn around so that everyone was able to see and photograph the animals.

It was also interesting to see the homes along the canal.  Since it was Sunday, many people were home and waved to us as we passed.  Most of the homes we saw were small with few partitions within the house to allow the breeze to pass through.  Alex told us that the houses we saw with barred windows had them to help keep the animals (as well as humans) out.

After we left the canal boat there was fresh fruit as well as iced tea and water, clean restrooms, and a small souvenir shop.  We then boarded the coach for a 45 minute drive to the train.  We passed though banana plantations on the way - bananas are not indigenous to Costa Rica but are now an important crop.  The trains stopped running in this area of Costa Rica about 20 years ago - the one we were on has the actual old cars but now they only take tourists.

The ride was really bouncy - not sure if it was the tracks, the suspension of the car or a combination of both.  We stopped twice along the way.  The first was to get an up close look at a monkey that was sitting in a tree close to the tracks.  The second stop was because there was an animal on the tracks (never heard what kind).  We were then transferred back to the coach and driven back to the ship.

Within the gates of the port is an open air market with many stalls selling native crafts as well as the ubiquitous T-shirts.  I managed to resist since I am going on another tour when we reach the Pacific side of Costa Rica.

Half of the people at the dinner table did not show tonight.  They were making an early night of it because the transit of the Panama Canal begins at 6 am and we lose an hour of sleep tonight.

Today is Australia Day so there was an Australian music sing-along in the pub so I dropped in for awhile.

Another early morning tomorrow!

Blue egret

Tiny bats

A monkey

A sloth

Houses and street scenes

The interior of the train

Smooth sailing until next time!