Back again with an internet connection on land in Central America…who knew that internet access would be better in a third world country than on the ship. And, it´s a great deal….$1.00 for an hour´s worth of time.
We visited Guatemala two days ago, had a sea day and are now in Costa Rica, where we did break down and do a tour of the area. As some of you know, Mike has a train fettish. The only tour we could interest him in was a combination tour that included a train ride, a bus ride and a ride on a river with Crocodile Dundee…Costa Rica style. So, this is what we did. We were loaded onto a bus in Puntarenas, Costa Rica right from our ship and were taken to the small train on which we spent the next hour. Mike was interested in this because the brochure said that the train was 100 years old. Once we saw the train, Mike determined that this could not be true, which put a damper on the ride from the beginning. At the end of the ride, we all decided that we could have skipped this part, as the train took us through some very nondescript places that were not that interesting. However, we did learn that a main crop of Costa Rica is cantelope, which I did not know. We also learned that other crops for this country include bananas, pineapple, watermelon, mangos, papayas and cashews. The tour guide brought a cashew from her tree at home for us to see…..an interesting experience.
We then motored on to the river ride. This, I thought was fascinating. As you may know, Costa Rica is kown for their eco systems. We piled into a small power boat and chugged along. We saw a wide variety of birds including the frigate bird, grand egret, and hawks. Very interesting. The highlight was the crocodiles. I have been to the Florida everglades, but have never really seen one of these things up close. We had the opportunity to have an up close ad personal look at these guys. Some crazy tour guides were in the water with them and enticing them to stand up in the water by offering chicken parts. I don´t know about you, but if this is the best career path that can be had here in Costa Rica, I would be poor! WOW! At the end of the tour, we were served fresh pineapple, melon and bananas. We were also given coffee. We all sampled these delicacies and are hopin that we don´t come away with a GI issue. So far so good.
Talking about GI issues….our ship has an outbreak of the Norovirus. On one of the first days, we had to make an extra stop to let someone off that was really sick. We really don´t know if it was the virus or something else. They, of course, don´t share too much information in order not to cause a panic. It was an interesting experience after having just come off of a job where I was the one who had to decide on how much informaiton to share about certain issues. It´s a little different being on the other side of things. Anyway, we are no longer allowed to serve ourselves any food, drinks, etc. so that we don´t spread disease. We are also instructed to use hand sanitizer each time we enter the dining room. Carrie, our travel buddy, is beginning to rebel. She has a point. The sanitizer doesn´t work after awhile. People should be encouraged to wash their hands. Gene observed some staff leaving the bathroom without washing their hands. Not good!! But, at least they were not working in the kitchen.
That´s all for now..until the next connection. Tomorrow is another sea day, so I´m thinking that more sleeping is in order. ZZZZZZZZZ…………
Travel With Betsy 
January 13, 2013 at 7:57 pm |
So…Doug and I are here at work after a great morning of shopping! This is our blog….bla bla bla…. glad it’s a good trip since we are living through you vicariously! Miss ya! Hi Mike!