Puntarenas, Costa Rica

January 10, or day nine of our cruise, found us in Costa Rica.

The whole group chose to go on a guided tour with Thumbs Up tours: https://www.thumbsuptours.com/inventory/ultimate-puntarenas-highlights. Our air conditioned van, driven by Jorge, was appreciated in the humid 33 degree weather. Mario, our guide, spoke excellent English, and took us to see Capuchin Monkeys as our first order of the day.

After passing by plantations, we were treated to fresh fruit at a local fruit stand, and Gary captured this photo of some delicious “meat” being grilled.

An iguana was also spotted. Our guide told us that the locals call them “tree chickens” in Spanish because of their taste. 😁

Our next stop was the Tarcoles River and Mangrove Forest.

We boarded a boat run by Jungle Crocodile Safari and had a one hour tour spotting many American Crocodiles and up to 58 different species of birds.

We found 23 species of birds. I think this is the Great Egret.

We also spotted more iguana.

After our tour, we looked for the Red Scarlet Macaw bird in the village of Tarcoles and were rewarded after some patience.

Shopping at a local handicraft store was next, and then up the mountain we went into the Carara National Park. We had a delicious Costa Rican lunch of chicken or fish, rice, beans, and plantains at the Carara Ocean View Hotel and Restaurant.

Their staircase was still decorated for Christmas.

View from the hotel

Beautiful orchids at the hotel.

Orchid

Ginger

Unknown yellow flower.

We were taken back down to the port of Puntarenas for a bit of a tour, and then we did a little more souvenir shopping before heading back to the ship.