Day 4 Costa Rica

1-9 Day 4 Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

We had an 8:30 a.m. Excursion planned for today – the Tortuguero Canals. We boarded a mini bus and drove out of the town area (very seaport kind of town) and into more of the country side. We learned a lot about Costa Rica from our excellent guide, Irene. For example, Costa Rica means “rich coast” in Spanish. When Christopher Columbus discovered this country, he saw that all the people had lots of gold and emeralds, so he assumed it was a rich country and thus named it accordingly. He later found out that it was a very poor country and that these valuables had been purchased fom other parts of Central America.

Costa Rica has a very high literacy rate (90 plus %) and the government pays for a very good educational system available to all citizens of the country. It provides scholarships for those who can't afford it. So, most of the people in this country are educated and aren't interested in manual labor – so their “illegal immigrants” are from surrounding poorer countries. However, the difference is, they treat them like they are citizens.

Another interesting fact: Costa Rica used to be a big coffee exporter, but is no longer. Vietnam (surprised us) is the #1 coffee bean exporter in the world. So, Costa Rica no longer competes. It concentrates on quality beans rather than quantity. Costa Rica's #1 export is Intel's microchips. A lot of their employees are trained the local universities. Bananas rank as the #2 export for Costa Rica.

Costa Rica has no standing army (similar to Switzerland) and has had universal health care for six decades. It is also known for its strict environmental laws. Limon is its busiest Caribbean port.

Our first stop was to a banana plantation. We thought this was going to be a boring stop, but were surprised by how interesting it was. First we saw lots and lots of banana plants – not trees. Banana plants (look like trees!) grow with two stalks, only one producing bunches at a time. That way, when one stalk is cut down, the other is still there producing more bananas. We saw the whole process from the bunches on the tree to the putting them in the boxes for shipment. Blue bags are put around them while they are on the tree. That is to protect the workers/pickers from tarantula and snake bites (these pesty little biters like to plant themselves on the banana bunches.) As the plastic bags are removed (and yes, recycled!), the bunches go through an extensive washing/cleaning process from being hosed down to smaller bunches being picked off and washed in huge tubs of water where they are also sorted. The too ripe ones get sent to another area to be recycled (Costa Rica is very “green” in every way!) The ones saved for market are then dried off and put in shipping boxes. This whole process takes place on the individual plantations. The workers are paid a starting salary of $300 every six months. For them, this is more than sufficient because the plantation owners pay for their food and housing. Each plantation has a little community of its workers with schools for the children (paid for by the government). And you guessed it, these are not Costa Ricans for the most part.) After the “tour,” we headed off for the canals. Aside: the Costa Ricans don't eat the bananas that are prepared for market. They eat the smaller ones with “black spots” on them because they are much sweeter and better!

We arrived at the canals and boarded little boats (Mawambas) to cruise through the jungle canals known as Costa Rica's “Amazon” because of the surrounding rain forest. It was a fun adventure. We saw different wild life: a caiman (a small crocodile), all kinds of birds, howler monkeys playing in the trees (we had seen these when we were on the lake in the Panama Canal on a former trip), iguanas, and sloths. There are two-toed and three toed sloths distinguished by their color. At first I thought the guide was trying to count their toes with the binoculars! They are VERY lazy animals (make the Australian koala bears look manic) and come down from their trees only once a week – and that is to poop at the bottom of the tree. We also saw beautiful flowers and lots of green everything along the banks of the canals. These are man-made but protected by the government. However, I was surprised to find some small homes and “restaurants” (using that term rather loosely) at different spots along the way. For the most part, however, it was mainly just muddy brown waterways with green on both sides. The weather was perfect – not too hot, no rain. Upon returning to the dock, we enjoyed a calypso band and some refreshments. We sampled watermelon, pineapple, and bananas – with a local beer – interesting combo!

Back at the pier (only a 20 minute drive), we stopped at their little market and bought a rosewood back scratcher for Ted! I tried it – you'll love it, Ted. Don't know anyone who likes a back scratched as much as I do as Ted!

Back on ship, we had a late lunch (Thai!) and then took a wee nap before dinner. We had Costa Rican dishes as menu options, so Doug enjoyed the black bean soup and I had the beer battered shrimp. Both were good. After dinner we went to see the comedian Max Dolcelli. We had never heard of him, but he was one of the comedy writers for several seasons for Saturday Night Live. He was only fair, but did give us a few laughs. Good way to end a very good day.