We arrived in Puntarenas, Costa Rica as the pastel colors of the sunrise were coloring the sky and the Magnificent Frigatebirds were flying behind and around us.
We had booked a full day excursion with stops at a botanical garden, a coffee plantation and lunch.
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| Our meeting place for excursions (especially ones that were first thing in the morning) was usually the Princess Theater on board. |
Here are a couple photos my husband took along the drive from the window of our bus.
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| Iguanas |
Our first stop was Jardin Botanico Orquideas in La Garita, Alajuela, Costa Rica. They especially focused on orchids.
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| It was a windy day and the bamboo really dances in the wind and plays a song as the stalks clank against each other. |
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| It's hard to see but there is a large poisonous ant in the center of this photo that will give you a fever that lasts for several days. |
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| My husband is always amused at how close I get to insects to try and get a good photo. In this case, I was hesitant to get any closer (for good reason!) and so my photo of the ant wasn't as close as I would have liked. |
We then got back in the bus and moved on to a coffee plantation and found more beautiful flowers there. Costa Rica is just full of beautiful flowers.
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| A coffee plant |
The "plantation" we went to was more of a processing plant. They don't grow many coffee beans themselves but dry, peel, and process the beans from local farmers. Although coffee is a year-round crop, the best coffee beans are harvested in the couple weeks after the wet season going into the dry season.
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| Coffee beans being dried in the sun |
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| This is after they have already been partially shelled. |
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| The whole beans before they are shelled |
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| Coffee plant wood makes good firewood - Coffee plants mature after two years and last about twelve years. |
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| Bags of coffee beens from different farmers. |
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| This machine is involved in the drying process. |
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| Stone Water Filter |
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| A traditional pour over coffee maker that is still commonly used in Costa Rica. You add grounds to the sack and then pour hot water over them. |
We had a traditional Costa Rican lunch at the plantation of fish, rice, beans, plantains, vegetables, and salad.
The plantation had an observation area with some views of the area plus a butterfly garden that I didn't get to spend much time in.
After leaving the plantation, we enjoyed some beautiful scenery of the mountains as well as drove through a traditional town. Here are a few photos taken by my husband.
Our final stop was a souvenir shop on a hill with a neat garden behind it.
As we descended from the mountains back to the cruise ship, the temperatures climbed. It had been quite comfortable most of the day for us with a nice breeze and temperatures not too hot but down by the port, temperatures reached 90*F and I'm not sure where the breeze was. The bus drove down the pier and dropped us off right at the ship (and then had to back up the length of the pier because it couldn't turn around). My husband and his Mom decided to get out of the heat and boarded the Emerald Princess. I wanted some ship photos so made the trek in the heat back down the pier and to the beaches on either side of the ship.
The sunset as we sailed away at the end of the day.
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