Central America, Part 2

Costa Rica

It was about 0600 when the morning sun was just beginning to give light. We had just crossed the first set of buoys coming into the harbor of Puerto Limón, Costa Rica. The harbor lights were still a ways away. I watched as a small boat came along side to let off the harbor pilot. It was a quick exchange. He will make sure that we enter the harbor and moor safely. It took about an hour to get to our open pier. We went straight in. Sometimes, we have to turn around first and then back in. Today, we were mooring on our starboard side. The ship thrusters softly pushed us sideways without the help of tug boats to our mooring location. Shore workers on the pier and in jon boats were waiting for our lines to tie off. Three line forward and three lines aft were lowered into the water and the jon boat crew carried the lines to the pier. Within a half hour, we were tied off and the gang way set.

We had made transportation arrangement to pick us up at 11am. With a couple of hours to kill, we walked and explored the local area. We learned that Christopher Columbus landed nearby and proclaimed Rich Coast! (Costa Rica)

Costa Rica is best known for its rain forest with plenty of vacation resorts. For us, we wanted to see and do something that was not so touristy. About an hours drive away, we took a riverboat ride through the jungle. We were hoping to see some jungle wildlife and we did!

We saw several sloths. All were hanging upside down from a tree limb. Our guide told us that they spend over 80% of their life sleeping and that their digestion system works better when they are hanging….

We also heard and saw monkeys. Saw one Jesus Christ lizard. It’s call that because they can walk on water.

We saw some really nice art work along our drive. The rich Afro-Caribbean heritage is prevalent.

Panama

Again around daybreak, we entered the harbor of Colon, Panama. The harbor entrance was packed with anchored cargo ships waiting for their turn to enter the Panama Canal. Colon lies near the canal’s Atlantic entrance. It took about an hour to get to our pier and dock. We had a bus waiting for us to take us to Panama City (Panama’s Capital) on the Pacific Coast side about 50 miles away.

Getting from Colon to Panama City was an easy four lane highway all the way. Panama City is huge with sky scrappers over powering the downtown area. We visited the old historic city which was across the harbor from downtown.

Don Bosco Minor Basilica Catholic Church

Parents picking up their kids from elementary school.

Panama Canal

On our second day in Panama, we went into the Panama Canal. We had to wait our turn. About 40 ships cross the canal each day. We were told that some pay as high as a million US dollars to cross (based on ships tonnage). For a cruise ship, its base on the number of crew and guest rooms. It could be as high as $250,000.

Four little locomotives, called mules, one on each side of the ship forward and one on each side aft. A cable is connected to the ship to keep the ship centered in the lock.

A tug boat is close by to insure no ship problems in the canal.

Jamaica ("ya mon")

Our final port-of-call is Montego Bay, Jamaica. We could feel the relax attitude and hear the reggae music as we pulled into port. The harbor waterfront is lined with resorts, sandy beaches and lots of people. For us, we had a ride waiting to take us to a ‘jungle farm to table’ experience about an hours drive away.

Of all the excursions that we have done on this cruise, this adventure was my favorite. Once we got as far as we could with our ride, we then had to board a 4-wheel open bus for the remaining jungle farm portion. The road was not well marked. Thank goodness we had an escort. We crossed streams, had to stop and clear debris and raise tree limbs to proceed. The jungle was dense. Small clearings would open up to be a village. The two we went through were home to the farm workers.

The Jungle Farm

The banana, cocoa and yam farm we visited is maintained by a very knowledgable farmer. I was impressed by how skillfully he explained jungle farming and how he maintains this one acre.