Spring 2016 – Day 7

Today we are in Puerto Limon, Costa Rica and it is one of the few islands that we visit in the Caribbean and Gulf that does not have tourism as their #1 producer of income.  This island is known for their production of bananas and other fruits.  It has beautiful beaches, mountains and even a rain forest.

We had arranged for a tour for the three couples to see a working banana plantation and then take a boat ride in the jungle, followed by lunch at a local restaurant out in the jungle area of the island.

We met our guide and driver just outside the pier and after driving for about 1/2 an hour we arrived at a working banana plantation.  As we drove in we could see hundreds and hundreds of banana trees and then we arrived at the production facility were the stalks of bananas were hung on hooks, with 5 bunches on each stalk.  Then a person would cut the bunches from the stalks and the bunches would go into water, washed and where they were sorted by grade and then packed into trucks or boxes depending on where they were headed.  It was really neat to see all of this production.  I have a video that I will add to the blog when we get home and have high-speed internet.

Then we boarded a 12 passenger boat for a tour down a small river into the jungle.  Along the tour, we saw many, many different kinds of birds, monkeys, sloughs lizards and a very small alligator.  It was a fun trip that took a couple of hours.

After the boat trip we went to this wonderful local restaurant were we ordered fresh grilled red snapper and also some rice and beans.  It was really good.  While we were there a storm blew up and we had to move our table to keep from getting soaked.  It even blew some of the thatch off of the roof.

We then were driven back to the dock where we shopped for a little bit before going back to the ship and yes going up to the food deck to get some snacks.

After that it was time for our nap.

After our nap, we went to the show which was a female singer who was very good and we had also heard her before – but that was just fine.

Then dinner and on to the casino where Barb broke even and Ed had another great night.

There are only a few pictures posted as the camera crashed while downloading the pictures to the laptop and I won’t be able to download any more from today until we get back home.

Tomorrow is Colon, Panama and I have a new card for the camera so there will be pictures!!

Night

Blue bags to keep the bananas protected

Sorting bananas

Very large bird's nests