GLOBAL ODYSSEY 2010 BLOG #8: PUERTO LIMON, COSTA RICA

Maybe it was a mistake for the two of us to take a massage at the spa on board ship. Not that the pummeling and kneading wasn’t first rate, but after 50 minutes of such treatment, there was no way that we were going to make dinner in the La Fontaine Dining Room, less a formal dinner. Instead we hit the Lido, where the food was first rate, and then “sought the great white biscuit” to be ready for Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, early the next morning.

Breakfast in the room was about fifteen minutes late. Everybody else having had the same . Tugs helped us land at the port facility, which is one of three in the region. Carlos Solera, who hails from Costa Rica, had told us not to expect too much of the town, which was spot-on. The port is way nicer than its immediate surroundings and is one of those places you’re glad booked a program! The Amsterdam has this drill down pat; we were very efficiently disembarked to find ourselves in what looked like a New York City canyon, with the Amsterdam towering on one side and her sister ship, the Zuiderdam (or was it the Prinsendam?) towering on the other. Suggestion for Holland America– it wouldn’t have changed our plans, as we wanted to see something of Costa Rica, but on similar occasions, it certainly wouldn’t hurt to offer a shipboard tour of the sister vessel.

Anyway, Holland America offered seven options for tours: (1) Coastal Highlights & Banana Plantation, (2) The Tortuegro Canals, (3) Caribbean Train, Eco Cruise & Countryside, (4) Rainforest Aerial Tram, (5) Sloth Sanctuary & Jungle Canoeing, (6) Rainforest Horseback Riding, (7) Veruguana Rainforest Aerial Tram & Research Station. We picked #4 as being the longestand we’ll give you our feedback below.

The only other tour we heard anything about is #3 – the couple who went on it had enjoyed the eco cruise and countryside segments, but reported that the train was old.


OK, Rainforest & Aerial Tram. This seven-and-a-half hour segment involves about two hours of travel to the site – adjacent to one of the country’s national parks – and an equally lengthy return. The bus time was not wasted, however, as our guide started lecturing right off the bat and kept it up for all four hours except for a thirty-minute siesta. We’d rate him as superior, and the countryside to and from the site well worth the look. Outside Puerto Limon, things get, well, more scenic. We caught a glimpse of some of the country’s volcanoes (both active and inactive) and saw a three-toed sloth and later his two-toed relative up trees by the side of the road.

They apparently play it by ear at the reserve, sending you on a “nature walk” if the line is too long. We were able to get right aboard. Each car holds six, as well as the local guide. Ours was knowledgeable and, once he warmed up, almost as good as our group guide. Unlike a zoo, what you see can really vary. We saw no monkeys, but another sloth, as well as several Morpho butterflies, a white hawk, and learned a lot about the profuse vegetation. The tram goes out at a lower level, returning at treetop height, which allows you to see two strata of “habitation.” Cars pause at intervals, though it is the luck of the draw whether you are near something interesting or not. Another group spotted a toucan, partially made up for by the fact that Sam saw one flying over the road on the bus trip back. On the guided walk, sights ranged from “trap-door spiders,” to tapir prints to, yes indeed, army ants (as the guide noted, “The only army in Costa Rica!”).

The tour included lunch with chicken, rice, beans, fried plantains, corn, fruit, etc. The refuge also has a shop with high prices, but a good selection of books in English, as well as Spanish (though surprisingly, no animal track casts). We were a bit disappointed to find that the celebrated Costa Rican frogs are apparently out only in the early morning, nor did mention of a butterfly (“mariposa” – makes you wonder what Yosemite’s Mariposa Grove was actually named for …) exhibition materialize. Still, we both consider the outing time well spent and worth doing for visitors with limited time. Made it back to the ship with fifteen minutes to spare before departure (lengthened to forty-five as some passenger is/was in the hospital).

Next? Transit through the Panama Canal….