a pinprick of light pierces the night.... To the left are the fast
receding red, green, white and gold lights of Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
It looks like a huge cross all lit up on the top of a hill, standing
alone in the darkness and creating its own path of light across the
water right to my balcony floor.. The bow wave is creating a bright
white wake and a beautiful sloosh sloosh sound and the lights from the
cabins create almost an eerie light on the water surrounding the hull.
The black is solid and the lights over Limon have created an orange glow
in the clouds over the town. It almost makes me cry to be able to see
all this - its just beautiful! We stood on the balcony, glass of wine
in hand feeling very very thankful, grateful and blessed.
When we went into Cartegena on Tuesday, we came away feeling as if we
had a 'hamburger day' - not the 'gormet meal day' we expected. We
still left happy, satisfied and amazed at much of what we saw, but
still. But today - oh today was the gormet meal day, with desert, and
cherries and ice cream all piled up really high!
Oh - we had great success last night with the rolled up towel in front
of the door that allowed the balcony door to stay open all night long -
just glorious! Two things happen without that towel there - the
temperature gets very cold in the cabin and a continuous whistling sound
pierces the air continuously as the cold air sneaks under that door.
Every now and again I would wake up, smell the sea air, hear the bow
wave and gently float back to sleep with a huge smile on my face and in
my heart. Oh boy - I am getting soppy! We were both awake at around
5am this morning, ready to watch us come into Puerto Limon, Costa Rica.
The sunset was watered down by the clouds, but when I first got on deck
there was not a single soul out there! No one in the corridor, elevator
or on the deck - quite weird for a minute - but totally wonderful. I
watched as the sun's rays poked holes in the clouds and created bright
silvery sunlight puddles on the ocean surface. Limon got closer and
closer and I found
myself breathing deeply. I never thought I would say it or think it -
but I just love these so called third world countries....... They smell
good, the fruit is just amazing and people smile and make eye contact.
Everyone seems to use common sense in huge dollops and there are very
very few signs telling people not to do stupid things like jump into the
water or something.
(Going to watch a show - back later ) Oh the show was hilarious! It
was comedy and I laughed till I cried and almost could not breathe - lovely.
And so we oh-so-gently nestled up against the pier here in Costa Rica..
the huge blue ropes dragged by about three big men and dropped over the
...... oh the name has gone! That big solid thing they tie the ropes
to! And out came the cattle gates to try to make sure that people like
me wont walk the wrong way and take photos of the jetty from a different
angle.... It works mostly. It does not take us long to get off the
ship - we have to clock in and out with our 'sea pass', that credit card
thingy they issued us with at Fort Lauderdale. Wow, that feels like a
lifetime ago already! But in just a few minutes we were walking up the
jetty and were met with a huge, totally rediculous parrot waiting to
pose for a picture with us.... yes, we did. And yes, we now have that
one too.
So we find our tour group, join the line and head for the bus, the
Constellation (commonly known as "the Connie") hovering on our right
side looking very elegant indeed. We hopped on the bus and off we
went.... around town for a few minutes and then we headed up to Veragua
Rainforest. Those roads were just glorious - a few people were
complaining that the road was rough, but it was just a narrow dirt road
full of potholes and we did not miss any of them - nothing much wrong
with it by Costa Rican standards..... I really do enjoy driving through
the countryside like that - makes it a slower ride and we are able to
see more and if it had been a good road.
The countryside is incredibly green and lush and there are so many
different types of flowers all over the place, toucans in the trees,
small little houses with kids tumbling out of them waving with
everything they have at us. We even got shown 'the finger' by one
little boy of about 8 years old - he looked as if he really enjoyed that
:) The fences are all growing - anything stuck in the ground either
grows or has something on it that grows. Huge dead trees just filled
with bromelia plants is a common and weird sight. We crossed over some
'religeous bridges' - those are ones that you pray to get to the other
side - they are only just big enough for the bus to go over.
The driver was great in spotting interesting things and stopped at the
top of many hills so that we could fill our cameras. The guide on the
bus was really good and kept us interested with all his information.
Soon we turned off onto an even worse road and then we were there -
Veragua Rainforest. This is a privately owned project that aims to
educate as many as possible, kids especially, to the benefits of keeping
wildlife and the forests thriving. It is also privately funded and
totally by Costa Ricans. What a beautiful place it is. The forests are
thick and filled with everything one can imagine in a forest... huge
towering trees, vines of all types and sizes, greens of every shade,
little red and green and brown frogs - I got some lovely photos of the
tiny red frog with black spots - apparently very poisonous.
There are butterflies flitting everywhere and they have the most
gorgeous bright colors, the plants and flowers pop through the thick
foliage, showing off their colors and everything is damp and its humid
in the forest. Just recently a butterfly that had been thought to be
extinct for over 100 years, was rediscovered. Some of the butterflies
are just indescribably beautiful. Unfortunately we saw more of them
mounted on pins than out in the forest... much easier to get a
photograph of them this way though.
After seeing some frogs and toads, snakes and insects we headed for the
sky tram. It seats 8 at a time and took us down to the waterfall......
well, it took us a good way down and then we had a mere 250 steps to
climb -each way. But it was SO worth it! The water thundered over the
rocks, draping itself in all directions as it headed further down the
mountain. Lovely. Then back up those steps we went. We did have a
good break while the mama of a 6 year old took a minute or three pulling
out a huge ant from her daughter's foot. Little Mia screamed blue
murder and was very tired after that scare. Apparently it stings like
heck to be bitten by them. We saw a good solid string of army ants
marching their way across the forest floor, we saw huge huge trees and
owls and oropendula birds, more frogs and absolutely stunning scenery.
The weather was perfect, around 77 degrees and it did not rain a drop
while we were out.
And then we headed back to the ship and we got to see what was on the
other side of the road. When we go in those big buses, I hate just
seeing one side of everything and feel much better after seeing it all :)
Instead of going back to the ship, we headed to the nearby park and some
regular shops..... most of them turned out to be tourist shops but we
did find some interesting things. One guy was begging and when Frank
gave him some money, in coins, he hobbled after us and gave them back
saying that he did not want them. Oh did we laugh.... I guess beggars
can be choosers. We wandered around the shops for a while and then
noticed that the rain was coming our way, so we headed back home again.
Its a really amazing feeling walking up to the ship, and then all the
way down her length, with people hanging over thier balconies yelling
hello and watching it all going on.
Each time we get back on board, everything goes through security again
and we are given a cold soda or water, welcomed back with smiles and
given some more hand sanitizer. No one is complaining - we want
everyone healthy as possible on board. And so we found ourselves
unpacking all the treasures of the day. I really did enjoy the shopping
spree. We are going to have to throw away some clothes to get it all
home! My main find of the day was a very long legged, very rediculous
giraffe, covered with designs and dots.. She is just beautiful.
Gypsy (camera) performed beautifully and filled herself up with almost
800 photos and some video too. Frank did a pretty good job too with
around 150 photos - he takes way too many of me from behind!! Gonna
have to talk to him about that :)
Back in the cabin, we sat on deck with a glass of wine, watching us
leave Costa Rica again.... The boat moves so slowly and its almost
impossible to tell that we are on the go again - well apart from right
now - we are rocking and rolling beautifully! Everyone is walking as if
they are looped..... weaving dramatically from side to side and
clutching at whatever or whoever is closest. We grabbed a seat at the
casino for a few minutes, but came away empty handed, literally. Ah
well. Its raining, which put a damper on our plans of an upper deck
walk, so we sat and had a bit of curry and a samoosa..... and a beer.
I have just been outside and its solid black out there, wind howling,
ship pitching. I had to take my glasses off for fear of losing them
overboard. Now that would not be a good thing at all. We now even have
a shuddering happening which is really nice - makes this feel like an
adventure. Maybe we will be able to leave the door open again tonight.
Today really was a good one - I have this 'aaaaaaaah' feeling about it
all, a smile on my face and happily tired.
Tomorrow morning, Friday, we will be at the entrance channel to the
Panama Canal at 6.30am... so its up early for everyone. The pilot will
board the ship at that time and we should be going through the Gatun
Locks - three stages, between then and 8am. Then through the lakes and
canal and into the other locks - not sure what time. I am going to try
to make contact with my three totally wonderful kids via skype at around
5pm their time. Oh I hope we can get the connection! It wont be for
long, but long enough to wish them all happy Christmas!
And........... here's wishing all of you a really great Christmas and a
wish that 2011 is your best year yet.. only to be outdone by all the
rest of them just waiting to happen.
I never thought that I would enjoy a cruise, but after the first two
days of feeling antsy and finding our way around here, we love it! Even
the full days at sea - its lovely, relaxing and I think we might just
have a problem getting motivated to start working again when we get home!
A lovely, wonderful, rich in experiences day......
love and light
Annie
http://cruisebaggs.blogspot.com
PHOTOS: http://s992.photobucket.com/home/travelbaggs
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