Panama Canal - Puntarenas

 14 November, 2023

Sipping and reading

After a day packed with extreme FOMO as we transited the canal, a quiet day at sea was precisely what we needed. I slept in a bit and awakened just in time to grab a small bite in the Solarium, which was just enough breakfast to get me going. I continued to fuel myself with several (cough!) cups of coffee throughout the remainder of the morning. One of the nice perks of sea days, in my opinion, is the availability of coffee in the Solarium for most of the day. I claimed one of our usual tables and was joined by my wife a short while later. We read, knitted (well, I read and she knitted) nibbled on a light lunch from the Solarium buffet, and enjoyed a few beverages while watching the ocean roll by. I may, or may not, have participated in a bit of napping from time to time as well. All-in-all it was a day of blissful "nothingness" 

15 November, 2023

Rio Barranca

We arrived in Puntarenas, Costa Rica in the morning and had just enough time for breakfast before departing on a sightseeing excursion. We boarded motor coaches and drove approximately 30 minutes to the town of Esparza. Some of the journey took us along the Pan-America Highway, which had the largest gutters of any road system I've ever seen. In the town square of Esparza we were treated to a presentation of traditional singing and dancing by local school children, followed by an opportunity to peruse items crafted by local artisans.  After departing the square we took a winding route through the countryside, where we observed wild hogs and primates along the roadside, as well as bananas growing EVERYWHERE. Our sightseeing was punctuated by a stop at what could best be described as a Costa Rican Buc-ee's, just without the fuel pumps. There were trinkets and t-shirts galore along with snacks and beverages. We were given a cup of fresh-cut local fruit (which was sinfully delicious) and offered samples of freshly brewed coffee.

Roadside bananas

Instead of a wall of beef jerky there were vast displays of chocolate and coffee. Apparently there is a huge rivalry between Colombia and Costa Rica over who really has the best coffee, and any self-respecting Costa Rican will quickly inform you that their chocolate is superior to anything to be found in Europe. I purchased a couple of pounds of chocolate in a variety of cacao percentages and with several "enhancements" (nuts, orange, caramel.) I resisted the urge to buy coffee, as we don't have a good track record of making good use of it, and we certainly didn't need any more trinkets considering we're attempting to do some Swedish Death Cleaning and amassing random "stuff" goes against that concept. 

Everyone re-boarded the busses and we continued our trek back to the cruise pier, first through the jungle and then along the coastline for several miles. The harbor was filled with ships at anchor, awaiting their turn to offload and reload before setting off to another port. 

16 November, 2023

Another blissful day at sea, punctuated with napping and a dip in the pool along with all of our usual sea day activities. Having passed the halfway mark of the trip it was becoming more important to extract all the relaxation possible from our remaining time on the ship.

Sunset at sea