Limon, Costa Rica Narrative

25th January

Today our stop is in Costa Rica and the province of Limon, which occupies the whole eastern side of Costa Rica, from Punta Castilla to the Sixaola River. Its capital is Limon City, with a population of 90,000. The terrain is flat and marshy, especially in the coastal regions and in the north, but it gets progressively more mountainous going toward the south.

Christopher Columbus actually named Costa Rica (rich coast) in 1502 under the assumption that the land was filled with precious metals. The earth never yielded gold and silver, but the name was perfect for the wealth of natural beauty and flawless climate.

Costa Rica is one of the oldest democracies in the Americas; its first election held in 1889. The few times a tyranny tried to gain the upper hand it quickly failed. In 1949, the modern constitution abolished the army and directed the countries resources to education, social programs and economic development. Two generations have grown up without knowing war. Costa Rica has twice been nominated to receive the Nobel Peace Prize and this was awarded in 1987. This award was a truly merited recognition of the Costa Rican way of life.

Hot and humid, average temperature 82 degrees F. The rainy season starts in May and finishes in November. The warm dry season is December to May, though temperature differences between the seasons is very slight.

The official language is Spanish, yet English is taught as a second language in all public schools, so there will always be people who make themselves understood and try to understand you, with a “poqui-tico (tiny bit) of English.

Costa Rica has a sizable export economy from agricultural produce (coffee, bananas, meat, sugar and cocoa). Tourism began expanding and generated major income for the national economy in the 1980s.

Today’s excursion was to the Tortuguero Canal, situated in the Tortuguero National Park, which is a most important nesting area for green, leatherback and hawksbill turtles. Extremely rich flora and fauna grow in the park because of the heavy annual rainfall. The park has a unique system of natural and man-made canals that serve a waterways for transportation and exploration.

We had an early start setting our alarm clock for 5.45am as we had to be on the quayside at 7.00am. We drove through the town of Limon, which is the poorest town of Costa Rica and this was evident by the standard of housing. We were soon through the town and past the banana plantations and soon arrived at the Canal. We then pulled in to a secure area and were followed by three police motor cyclists who have been following us from the ship. Waiting for us was a calypso band who greeted us with lively music, after a brief stop we boarded our covered jungle boat (similar to those used in the film African Queen). The boat cruised very slowly along the natural canals, stopping frequently to view the wild life ranging from two fingered Sloth, three fingered Sloth, Iguana, Bats (see photo), a small cayman (a type of alligator/crocodile), and a Golden Oriole, plus many local birds. At first we had difficulty in spotting the wildlife, but soon got our eye in and everyone was spotting different birds, hiding in the foliage. Unfortunately, Geoff’s camera was not capable of picking out these small birds, so has promised himself a more powerful camera before our next trip. After a fantastic two hour cruise we returned to the quayside, where again the calypso band was there to greet us and a welcome drink, along with local fruits. At the end of the tour Doreen found out that on the island there are over sixty different types of snake, twenty two of which are poisonous.

After another short break we boarded our coach and drove off to a banana plantation. En route the coach driver stopped to point out more Sloths in the trees. He stopped once more and picked a breadfruit, which was passed around the coach, showing how effective the red dye is (our tour guide rubbed some of the seeds on the back of her hand, which turned quite red). On arrival at the banana plantation we were escorted around to see the growing bananas, where they explained how the bananas are cultivated. We then went to the factory, where the bunches of bananas are first cut into hands, go through a washing process and are then individually wrapped and boxed up for transportation. A very labour intensive operation.

It was an extremely hot day and we were only too pleased to return to the air-conditioned ship, after, of course, a brief stop at the market stalls within the port, where Doreen purchased four t-shirts. It was still before midday, so we had the afternoon for relaxing on the ship, after our early start.

By the way, we forgot to mention that there is a game you have to play in today’s post. It is a type of “Spot the Ball” game. Can you find in the photos A Sloth, Bats, a Bird and an Iguana?

A day at sea tomorrow