Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Our first day in Costa Rica left no doubt as to why this area is called the rainforest, but we’ll come to that later. The morning found us just outside of the port of Golfito, once an important banana-producing town; Golfito is nowadays a “free zone” or duty free zone where local tourism is attracted. At 7 a.m. the immigration authorities came on board to make our entry into Costa Rica legal. Once we were cleared, we repositioned our vessel a few miles north towards the small beach of San Josecito, where Ron and Trudy McAlister have found their home for the past 25 years. We disembarked onto the pebbly beach onto their phenomenal botanical garden, called Casa Orquidea. With a somewhat misleading name, the place is so much more than an orchid collection; the native and introduced species of plants offer an incredible array of flowers, fruits, and aromatic spices that will also be to the amateur gardener, a very frustrating feeling…I should also probably let everyone know that even those of us that live in Costa Rica do not have gardens like this one. Today we had a fantastic example of what dedication and a green thumb can do. After our visit to the garden most of us headed back on board to either swim from the stern or take a ride on our infamous “Torpedo Blaster.”
This afternoon, we were reminded of how this forest acquired its name. As the good troopers that we are, we left our ship under a quite light drizzle, which grew on to a bit of a strong rain, but did this stop us? No way! Walking on a gravel road for birding, taking Zodiac rides at high tide, and kayaking up a river were offered and all of the activities were full. Rewarded by the sightings of sloths, cotingas, tanagers and other species of birds, we all made it back to our ship for a warm shower and hot cocoa or coffee. We can hardly wait for our next day!
Our first day in Costa Rica left no doubt as to why this area is called the rainforest, but we’ll come to that later. The morning found us just outside of the port of Golfito, once an important banana-producing town; Golfito is nowadays a “free zone” or duty free zone where local tourism is attracted. At 7 a.m. the immigration authorities came on board to make our entry into Costa Rica legal. Once we were cleared, we repositioned our vessel a few miles north towards the small beach of San Josecito, where Ron and Trudy McAlister have found their home for the past 25 years. We disembarked onto the pebbly beach onto their phenomenal botanical garden, called Casa Orquidea. With a somewhat misleading name, the place is so much more than an orchid collection; the native and introduced species of plants offer an incredible array of flowers, fruits, and aromatic spices that will also be to the amateur gardener, a very frustrating feeling…I should also probably let everyone know that even those of us that live in Costa Rica do not have gardens like this one. Today we had a fantastic example of what dedication and a green thumb can do. After our visit to the garden most of us headed back on board to either swim from the stern or take a ride on our infamous “Torpedo Blaster.”
This afternoon, we were reminded of how this forest acquired its name. As the good troopers that we are, we left our ship under a quite light drizzle, which grew on to a bit of a strong rain, but did this stop us? No way! Walking on a gravel road for birding, taking Zodiac rides at high tide, and kayaking up a river were offered and all of the activities were full. Rewarded by the sightings of sloths, cotingas, tanagers and other species of birds, we all made it back to our ship for a warm shower and hot cocoa or coffee. We can hardly wait for our next day!
