Pat and Norm's World Cruises and other adventures

Honolulu, Hawaii

Posted on January 28, 2017 by patmathews

January 28, 2017

First, let me post a picture from our event yesterday of Tricia Blake, our around the world hostess and me. And yes, we had a few drinks!

Today we returned to the Pearl Harbor memorial. We had been here a few years ago when the new theater was being built. It is done now and very nice! They redid the film too.

Here are a few shots from there. The Arizona memorial and the Missouri are the highlights.

Our guide was Lehua, and she knew so much about Oahu. Her father was the fuel supervisor during the attack on Pearl Harbor. He lived through the attack and of course told her many stories before he passed away. She told us that the country was more concerned about sabotage from the many Japanese living in Hawaii (37%) which left them sitting ducks for an airborne attack. No sabotage was ever proven.

It is the 75th anniversary of the attack. Oil is still leaking from the ship Arizona which is visible in the water. The legend is that until the last survivor is dead, these black tears will continue. This visit was as touching as the last, especially the part about those who survived the attack wanting their ashes to rest with their shipmates when they die. Divers take the ashes down into the hull of the ship. There are 4 survivors left.

Our wonderful guide…and also bus driver!

We then traveled over the mountain on one of the 3 interstate highways. Interstate, you might ask?? Hawaii does not connect to any other state! This was designated by President Eisenhower to connect the military bases together. They are called H1, H2 and H3. If you go too far, you reach H2O! They were built at a cost of $80 million per mile…the taxpayers funded it.

Here are some shots of the scenery on the other side from crowded Honolulu. By the way, it is the 12th largest city in the US.

Lots of chickens here, they have no natural predators.

We had a tour through the Punch bowl cemetery and then the city on the way back to the ship and will meet new people today as the first segment of the cruise is done and the second from here to Auckland, New Zealand, begins today. Another lifeboat drill, sigh!
By the way, the Indian Banyan tree here which I had in a previous post, can grow as big as a city block!

Tomorrow we go to the island of Kauai and are doing a tour with just 6 other people. The weather has been spectacular so hope it continues!

Posted in Excursions, January, World Cruise 2 | 3 Comments

Hilo, Hawaii

Posted on January 27, 2017 by patmathews

January 27, 2017

Well, before I get to the day in Hilo, I must tell you about my fame (not in a good way) in the casino last night. As I have mentioned, I like to play blackjack. I am conservative in that I take a certain amount of money and if I win it is a bonus and if I lose, it is entertainment. Well, on this ship they have a secondary bet you can make called “jolly jacks”. Basically if you get dealt any 20 as the first 2 cards, you get paid on that bet regardless of whether you win the hand. The amount varies-you can bet as little as a dollar and I don’t even know the highest amount, because I never play it. I consider it a sucker bet because you lose the money almost all the time. 4 to 1 is the payoff for any 20 and it is more if they are matched. The highest odds are if you get two jacks of clubs and the dealer also has blackjack. Those odds are 1000 to 1. Yes, you read that right…

Well I got that hand, and no, I had not placed that bet. So everyone in the casino, the cocktail lounge next to it, etc, came over to see it. Sri, the casino manager even took a picture because he wanted to prove that it CAN happen. I am sure everyone was thinking “why didn’t that stupid woman have a bet on jolly jacks???”. So I am apparently now famous (not in a good way) throughout the ship and I still don’t bet on jolly jacks. Also, I even lost my blackjack bet on the hand since I had 20 and the dealer had blackjack. Good thing the casino is closed for 2 nights as the regulations in Hawaii prohibit it from being open while in Hawaiian waters and we will be here for 2 more days.

Anyway, on to the day in Hilo! We have been to the big island of Hawaii twice before and to Hilo one of those times. It is on what is called the Big Island, the Volcano Island and the Orchid Island. Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea are the large mountains and they are snow covered at the top. There are world renowned observatories up there at 14,000 feet. This is the wetter side of the island and there are many waterfalls and even rainforests here. Hawaii produces most of the world’s macadamia nuts and the Mauna Loa visitor’s center, which we have visited in the past, is both interesting and the samples very tasty!

Spam was brought to the islands for servicemen during WW II as it was not perishable and lent itself to the cuisine here when introduced to the locals. Thanks Martha and Sandy for more info on that. When I said I didn’t know why, I meant because I despise Spam!

In the morning, we had breakfast while watching this sunrise.

We then walked to the Lili’uokalani Gardens which were named after Queen Lili’uokalani who donated the grounds. It is known as one of the best examples of an Edo-style garden outside Japan and features pagoda, footbridges, koi ponds, statues and a traditional tea house. All of this with a wonderful view of the ocean. We loved our visit there.

In the afternoon, we were treated to an Elegant Hilo Bay Affair, an Around the World Cruise Event. It was at the Wainaku special events center. It was to be at Volcanos park but they had an eruption and we could not go there. We had open bar and an Elegant Pupu menu. We were entertained by music, storytelling and the winners of the Merrie Monarch Festival which is known as the world’s leading celebration of hula. It was a gorgeous day and the setting was under tents at the ocean’s edge. All of the tables had magnificent orchid arrangements.

All. in all, a lovely day in Hilo. I don’t know what was the best… The scenery, the event, the gardens, land, no rocky waters or 4 bars on the cell phone!!

Tomorrow on to Honolulu.

Posted in Excursions, January, World Cruise 2 | 4 Comments

Still at sea on the way to Hilo, Hawaii

Posted on January 26, 2017 by patmathews

January 26, 2017

At last, we arrive in Hilo tomorrow!. The past two days at sea have brought 80 degree weather and much calmer seas. This is especially good for the people who depart the first segment in Honolulu on Saturday since we have had those rough sea days. Lots of people by the pool today and we enjoyed breakfast and lunch outside on the terrace. We probably will have dinner outside too as it is a Pan-Asian theme tonight, and we love the food of that region. Of course all of the food is terrific, it really is known as the best at sea.

We are now 5 hours behind east coast time and it seems strange that it is already afternoon at home when we are having breakfast.

Here is a photo from San Diego that Marie took. For some reason it wouldn’t download the first time so she kindly sent it again. The ship on the left is our ship, the Insignia. The one on the right is the Star Princess which is 4 times as big!

We have been busy on the sea days as usual. We both finished our first quilt squares. As I posted before, Norm did the Around the World logo and I did the square representing Nicaragua. He is getting lots of compliments as so far he is the only man who is participating! Maybe others will be inspired. Norm is now going to do Petra and I am still deciding.

Here are some of the other squares that people are working on. The one with the clothesline uses the little clothespins that we get on the miso glazed sea bass wrapped in a hoba leaf, a lovely dinner item. In the background are the tags that are put on our clothes when they go to the laundry- our suite number. Sukey has been collecting them from many of us for this project.

We have been going to the enrichment lectures by Dan Ostler www.ostler.com

He did one on whales, one on sea turtles and todays was on Pearl Harbor. Very interesting, as he is so well prepared and knowledgeable. A couple of things I didn’t know- whales are able to use only half their brains when they are sleeping. Sea turtles return to the same beach that they were hatched from 20 years later when they lay their eggs. Sometimes this can be a swim of 1500 miles or more. No one knows how they remember, but they do!

We also had a session with some of the senior staff where they answered questions from the guests. There were lots of questions and I won’t try to write about all of them. We did learn that this ship uses 1500 eggs and 200 pounds of butter a day!

Last evening we were invited to dinner with Chantelle from Brisbane, Australia – the Oceania Club ambassador, and Rohanca from Cape Town, South Africa, the Destinations manager. Joining us were sisters Mary and Georgina who were on the last world cruise with us. It was a really fun evening. We learned that the 2018 world cruise is already sold out! They will be announcing the itinerary for 2019 in about a month, so stay tuned.

About Hawaii- native Hawaiians believe that the first hula was performed by a god or goddess. Because of this, it is considered more as a sacred ritual than a form of entertainment. The movements of the hands and body have specific meanings. They may represent animals, plants and even war.

The local cuisine (which we will have tomorrow at the world cruise special event in Hilo) reflects the settlement and immigration in the Hawaiian Islands. Pineapple is still a major crop here. Who knows why but Spam is popular here and is referred to as the Hawaiian steak! They consume the most Spam per capita in the US. I won’t be having any of that, thank you!

The plate lunch (called loco moco) is two scoops of rice, American macaroni salad topped with a hamburger patty, a fried egg and brown gravy. No thank you on that one too. We do have the menu for tomorrow’s event but I will wait to post it after the event. No Spam or loco moco on it.

We have seen several good shows during these sea days too, Colleen Williamson was an especially good singer. Tonight, though, is the guest/crew talent show. Who knows what we might see. Last cruise there were some pretty crude joke tellers!!!

Ok, onward to Hilo. We have visited the big island of Hawaii twice and have been to Hilo. We will explore in the morning and we leave for the event at 1:15.

Posted in At Sea, January, World Cruise 2 | 2 Comments

At sea on the way to Hilo, Hawaii

Posted on January 23, 2017 by patmathews

January 23, 2017

We are on the second day of 5 sea days on our way to Hawaii. Sea days are always full of activities from golf putting to Baggo bean to classes of every kind. There are two different people doing photography classes and they are sharing a lot of editing techniques and iPhone/iPad tips. They are also having a photo contest. We each submitted and will see the results just before we reach Hawaii. David Smith, one of the photography lecturers, was on our previous cruise, and at the class showing the contest submissions, he always provides feedback on the submissions which is really useful. We have never won, but we learn each time.

The weather has been quite rough, with waves of 25 feet. It has not bothered us but many are not feeling well and none of the venues or classes is full. Yesterday we kept up with the football scores. The games were not broadcast but Sky sports showed excerpts so we knew what was happening. There happen to be a lot of disappointed Green Bay fans on board as it turns out. Not us, we have no preference really. Well as long as Dallas is OUT we are happy. We hear they will show the super bowl in the theater though. What I miss is the Australian Open. I keep up with the scores on the internet but nothing is broadcast here. Of course, I am always rooting for Federer.

Our performers for last night could not go on due to the rocking of the ship, so they showed a movie instead. And today they showed Captain Fantastic in the afternoon. Being the movie/TV junkie that I am, I went and even missed the blackjack tournament! Interesting movie. Last night was Bridget Jones’s Baby. Have to admit I nodded out in that one.

Norm chose our room well. We are right in the middle of the ship so the movement is much less here than on either end.

Here is a picture of Norm and Ed Beck after our afternoon visit in San Diego. We had such a good time catching up.

I am continuing to work on my needlepoint and my quilt square, will probably complete the quilt square in the next day or so and will take another picture then. In the maantime, Norm has decided to do one. Anna, the coordinator of the project, suggested he do the Around the World in 180 days logo. So he took on the challenge. Here is his work so far.

We are also doing some good reading as the library on this ship is wonderful. Our kindles are loaded and neither of us has turned them on. I am now reading All the Light We Cannot See and just finished Hillbilly Elegy. Highly recommend both.

And meeting more new people every day. This morning I chatted with someone who had on a Long Beach Island sweatshirt. She and her husband vacation there, and the friends they are traveling with are from Philadelphia.

Apparently there have been quite a few falls with the rocking of the ship. Every time the cruise director makes an announcement, he reminds people to use the handrails. We heard that someone fell off a stool in the casino too. They took someone off by ambulance in San Diego, don’t know the reason for that one. I have to admire the waiters, they look like they are dancing as they balance the dishes and meals.

Yesterday I also missed the blackjack tournament for a great reason… the first of many hot stone massages. Just a wonderful and relaxing 80 minutes.

So, all is well on this first leg of our journey. We have a special Around the World event in Hilo, hoping for sunny skies. It was to be in the Volcanos National Park, but they have had an eruption, so it will be in an event center next to the park. Stay tuned for all the details!

Posted in At Sea, January, World Cruise 2 | 4 Comments

At sea, again partially unexpectedly

Posted on January 20, 2017 by patmathews

January 20, 2017

We are at sea today and we also had a sea day on Wednesday. Yesterday (Thursday) we were supposed to be at Cabo San Lucas but when the captain makes an announcement at close to 6 PM before a scheduled port day, you know it is not a good sign. Usually he only makes one announcement at noon each day. He reported that there is bad weather all along the Pacific coast and we could not go to port there, so it was another sea day. The prediction for tonight is heavy gale force winds which we dodged by missing Cabo, and 15 – 20 foot seas. One of the crew from our last cruise is on another Oceania ship in French Polynesia and she said they had 4 days of very rough seas. It is quite chilly too so you don’t see many people out, although we did do our 4 miles on the deck this morning.

First I wanted to post a shot from Nicaragua – where the McDonalds is one of the loveliest buildings in town!

On Wednesday evening we had a special dinner for the world cruise passengers. They closed both Polo and Toscana restaurants and just hosted us, there are about 160 doing the around the world, as I mentioned. It was a lovely evening, our table of 12 was hosted by Tricia and Steve, the Around the World Ambassadors, who live in the U.K. Here’s the menu:

And here is the amazing dessert:

In case you can’t read the menu (it’s pretty small), this was a spiky ice macadamia bomb with a coffee brownie. Sort of like a small baked Alaska, brownie on the bottom, macadamia ice cream and then this wonderful spiky meringue. They must have worked very hard in the kitchen to make these! I just had to have pictures. They make all their ice cream on board and it is awesome!

Last night we had the Oceania Club cocktail party. We learned that there are 362 passengers from the US, the most from any country which is pretty typical. Second is Canada, third, UK, but fourth and fifth were surprising…… Germany and Switzerland. There is one passenger who has sailed more than 800 days with the cruise line. She is one of the people working on the quilt project and I have gotten to know her – will do some tours with her.

On sea days they have a lot of activities. One was the ‘Officers Challenge’ where the officers try to beat the guests in table tennis and other games. They put these flags out on the pool deck on the days of the games.

I have been doing the art classes on some sea days. Today we worked on whales and sea, this is one I am working on.

And the good news is that I won the blackjack tournament today…$150. I had been coming in just one off the money in most of the other tournaments so this was a good one!

Tomorrow we are scheduled to arrive in San Diego at around 10. We do have to go through US immigration face to face, which they do on the ship. We are meeting a colleague, Jennifer and will have lunch with her. Seems like the weather report is for rain which is very rare in San Diego. Jenn texted me today to say that it is pouring there so we will see. Many passengers are going to COSTCO and other stores to purchase things they forgot! We just have a few things to do, but it will be nice to have cell service. Norm got the T mobile plan which has good international coverage, my Verizon plan is usually turned off but it did get the travel pass and used it in Mexico.

Posted in At Sea, January | 5 Comments

Acapulco, Mexico

Posted on January 17, 2017 by patmathews

January 17, 2017

We have been to Acapulco several times so we opted not to do an excursion here. I had an online exam to take in the morning and was quite concerned that the internet would not hold up during the at least 2 hours that it would take. With 2 minor glitches, it worked and I could cross that off my list!

At breakfast, pulling into the harbor!

City view as we arrived

After that, we ventured out for a walk to the Zocalo square and markets. Markets are one of my favorite places to visit and this one was no exception. Mostly local people were here buying everything from chickens (cooked and uncooked) to fruits and vegetables to all kinds of clothing and electronics. The Nuestra Senora de la Soledad cathedral is on the north end of the square and has uniquely shaped blue onion shaped domes and Byzantine towers. It was originally constructed as a movie set but was later adapted into a church.

The cathedral ceiling

Acapulco is the largest city in the state of Guerreo and is a major port as well as a playground for Hollywood stars and millionaires. As a side note, I first visited here in 1979 with a group of friends. We did every activity you can imagine, from scuba to parasailing. We truly burned the candle at both ends, so much so that I actually fell asleep in a disco called Baby’s!. Never quite lived that one down! Don’t know if that disco is still around today.

The most historic building here is the San Diego Fort, which we can see from our balcony on the ship. It was built in 1616 to protect the town from pirate attacks. It now serves as the Acapulco Historical Museum.

We saw a bit of everything as we walked around the city. Two things I don’t have pictures of are the HUGE cockroaches (too fast) and the very young prostitutes (too sad to take a picture of).

Not the little mermaid but a wannabe!

Many kids swimming, diving and snorkeling

One of the beaches near the port

Here’s one of their buses. I don’t think these are chicken buses, and we didn’t see any with live animals in them like Guatemala

10 pesos for this fruit, about 50 cents US

Some of the most beautiful fruit we saw, and a very nice lady too!

Tomorrow is another sea day and will be the first of the special world cruise dinners on board. Tonight we will enjoy a Mexican buffet, and on Thursday we will be in Cabo San Lucas.

Posted in January, North America, World Cruise 2 | 1 Comment

At sea. Some random musings

Posted on January 16, 2017 by patmathews

January 16, 2017

We are on our way to Acapulco, Mexico and have a day at sea today. We enjoy these sea days and sometimes have too many things that we want to do. Today, after breakfast, I did my deck walk. Norm is still recovering from his sprained ankle, it happened before the cruise, but he will be joining these walks soon.

I went to a photo editing class, still working on the best way to import pictures into the blog with the slow satellite internet service. It is an exercise in patience for sure.

We happen to have 2 executive chefs on the ship right now, which rarely happens. The French chef, Farid Oudir, will be leaving tomorrow and returning in March. Jorg Becker, the German chef, is here early to replace him. So today we got to see a cooking demonstration with both of them. Very funny as always. Jorg drinks a whole bottle of champagne during the demo. His saying is “how can you drink all day if you don’t start in the morning!?” Somehow he juggles plates and does a great job with the demo, but as you can see, he has the physique to pull it off. We got to taste the Wiener Schnitzel and his grandmother’s potato salad, made by Jorg, and pork medallions, mushrooms favour and sauteed apple flame made by Farid. Delicious.

After lunch, I went to the quilting gathering and began work on my square which will represent Nicaragua. Will keep posting pictures as it progresses. If I get it done I may do another. I am also working on a needlepoint which I haven’t done in probably 35 years!. It may take the whole 6 months.

Then I played in the celebrity blackjack tournament where the dealers were Victor, the general manager, and Leslie, the cruise director. I placed 4th of 14. Unfortunately only the first 3 got prize money!

Leslie is fond of saying “enjoy all of the food. What matters is just that you look good in a car!”. So far we are both doing fine, no weight gain, but we are pretty careful. Such delicious food but we have 6 months to try it all.

So here are some things to say about some of our previous ports and experiences.

When you go through the Panama Canal, you get this “Order of the Ditch” from the Captain and the general manager.

In the Central American countries they use old school buses from the US for transportation. When American school buses reach the age of ten years or 150,000 miles, they are sold at auction. Many of these buses are bought and driven down through Mexico to Guatemala where they are prepared for their second lives. They paint them bright colors and in Guatemala they are known as ” chicken buses”. The name probably comes from the fact that people are crammed in like chickens. One of our fellow travelers is doing a quilt square of a chicken bus.

Here is the beginning of my magnet wall…

Here is the bracelet and copy of the native bird of Guatemala given to us by Jessica on yesterday’s trip.

Tonight we are having dinner with Rhoda and Norman – they were the first people we met in Florida on the way to the ship. Tomorrow, Acapulco!

Posted in At Sea, January, North America, World Cruise 2 | 1 Comment

Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

Posted on January 15, 2017 by patmathews

January 15, 2017

This is Guatemala’s largest Pacific Ocean port. It seems very small compared to others we have visited, but it is the gateway to some truly beautiful sightseeing. Guatemala is about the size of Ohio. The name means “land of trees” and that is very accurate.

Our day started at the extensive handicraft markets at the port. The weaving here is extraordinary. We were ready to depart on our tour so I knew where I wanted to explore when we returned. But before I could go very far, a bird unloaded on my hair and my t-shirt! No time to change, so I just got as much off as I could! No picture to show here!

Our tour today was called “coffee back to nature”. We were in a small bus, just 17 passengers and our guide was Jessica. She was wonderful…more on that later. As usual we learned many facts about the country. One thing is …and this is not from Jessica…that all of these countries claim to have the “best” coffee!! The largest producer is Brazil but the Central American countries all claim best quality.

We traveled about an hour and a half up into the mountains. We saw many sugar cane fields and learned that they do grow bananas here with water from the mountains. The sugar cane is harvested by hand with machetes and there is a new planting and harvesting every 3 months.

There are many volcanos here and some are active. The last significant eruption was in 2010 when 2000 people died. They had a small eruption from the Pacaya volcano, which is always active, 2 weeks ago.

Pacaya Volcano

We arrived at the coffee plantation, Finca El Barretal, which is 4000 feet above sea level and it was comfortably cool compared to the 91 degree temperature at the port. Our guide there was Victor, the grandson of the owner. This plantation was once the home of Jorge Ubico who was the President of Guatemala. It covers 300 acres.

The beans, first dried, then green, then roasted

Speaking of politics, at the last election here it was a contest between two very disliked candidates- one was a former first lady and the other was a comedian with no government experience at all. The comedian won. We thought Victor was making this up, but nooooo. So our two countries are alike in some ways! Except the comedian part.. Oh, wait!

We learned all about the growing and harvesting of coffee. First we saw that the beans are all picked by hand by workers who make about $6/100 pounds picked. They can pick about 300 pounds a day. The bean is ripe when the outer casing is red. We tasted the bean at that point and there is a sweet coating to it. The plants live about 20-25 years and they are constantly replanting. Once the outer layer is removed, they dry the beans out in the sun and they rake them often to be sure they dry uniformly.

The roaster

Harvest time is October through March. We saw plants of all sizes, toured the production area and watched a video about the process in Guatemala. Then we had the freshly roasted coffee! Yum…

They have a small shop with local handcrafted items. We were looking at some belts when I mentioned to Norm that Jessica had on a belt that was mostly covered by her blouse. He asked her to see it and she took it off, explaining that she had made it. It was beautiful. In a few minutes, she asked me to come with her and she gave me the belt! She said it was a gift and she didn’t want any money for it. This is the character of the people here! Of course we gave her a large tip. We told her to visit if she comes to the US, she said she wanted to see snow, so who knows.

Norm likes it too!

Here’s the belt

Jessica and the gift of the belt

On the ride home she gave everyone woven bracelets that she made. The tradition is to tie two knots, each while making a wish, wear it for a week then cut it off and throw it over your shoulder without looking and your wishes will be granted.

Back at the markets we bought a wooden elephant mask and a woven shawl.

This guy was not for sale!

It was a truly wonderful day!

Tomorrow is a sea day and I will post some random musings from previous ports and show my beginning magnet collection.

Posted in Central America, January, World Cruise 2 | 4 Comments

Corinto, Nicaragua

Posted on January 14, 2017 by patmathews

January 14, 2017

We arrived in port about 9:30 this morning. I was doing my usual hour walking around the track as we made our way through a narrow channel and near the dock. At least we thought it would be our dock. There was a space between two container ships that looked too small for our ship to fit, and we would have to move sideways into it. Well, it was something to see, but there was indeed enough room,(not by much) and the maneuver was quite impressive!

Our tour today was to Colonial Leon and the bubbling mud pots. Pedro was our guide. Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American isthmus. It was also colonized by Spain and is similar in culture to the other countries in Central America. In Puntarenas, we learned that soccer, known as futbol here, is the most popular sport. In fact there, the young players practice at noon, the hottest part of the day, so that when their opponents come, they schedule the matches at noon because they are used to it, but the opposing teams aren’t. They win virtually all of their games and their stadium is known as the “cooking pot!”. In Nicaragua though, baseball is the most popular, followed by boxing and futbol.

One of the colorful markets

Pedro showing us cacao

Another old church in Leon

This is a country that has 29 volcanos and you see them smoking. Mototombo is the largest, it means “mouth of fire”.They are also prone to earthquakes here. It is said that a postage stamp with a volcano on it was one of the reasons building the canal in Nicaragua was abandoned- the fear of a volcanic eruption. You also don’t see any high rise buildings because of earthquake activity. Thankfully we didn’t experience any of that!

Transportation here is mostly by brightly painted school buses, but you see plenty of motorcycles, horses and horse carts. Pedicabs are also popular.

Main crops are sugar cane and peanuts. In both Costa Rica and here, people who need it are given a house to live in as well as some animals.

70 % of the country is Catholic.

We first traveled about an hour to the colonial city of Leon where we visited the a Leon cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site. Construction began in 1747. Leon is the second largest city in Nicaragua. The cathedral was built with low towers shaped to withstand earthquakes. We explored the interior and many of us climbed up narrow stairways to the bell tower and then to the top.

After our visit we had some free time to explore the town and we walked through the markets. Most of the shoppers were local and we enjoyed the experience as always.

We then traveled to the town of San Jacinto to see the boiling mud pots. I did take a video but I guess it was too large to upload. Fascinating to see the bubbling and feel the heat of the boiling fiercely beneath the surface.There were many children here who followed us around and of course wanted to sell us the mud and small pots made of the mud. The source of all the heat is the Telica volcano which looms in the background.

Telica volcano

After a wonderful dinner,we are on our way to the show. Looking forward to Guatemala tomorrow!

Posted in Central America, Excursions, January | 2 Comments

Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Posted on January 13, 2017 by patmathews

January 13, 2017

We had an unexpected dinner in Toscana again last night. This would not be anything to write about except for this…. One of the men we had dinner with had forgotten his reading glasses in his suite. He mentioned it to the waiter who promptly brought over a hinged wooden box with reading glasses of all strengths for Bob to try on! Now that’s service!

Our tour in Puntarenas began at 8:30 AM. We headed, with our guide Joe, to the Macaws Sanctuary, El Manantial, which was about half an hour from the cruise dock. On the way, we learned a great deal about Costa Rica.

They plant branches that grow into trees for use to attach their wire fencing!

This is the passage that the buses and pedestrians take to go into town. Scary when two buses pass each other!

Here are some of the interesting facts:

The main source of income is tourism
But, the main export is microchips!
Costa Rica has not had an army since 1949 so they are able to use the money that would have been spent supporting a military for education and health care
Their literacy rate is 97.5%, one of the highest in the world. They have more teachers than police
60% of students go on to college
No bananas are grown on the Pacific side as they need about 7 liters of water per day, which only happens on the Caribbean side
The country is the size of West Virginia and has a population of 4.8 million
They have more Americans per capita living here than any country in the world. Most remain”tourists” which means that every 6 months they must leave for 24 hours, then they can return
Gas and cars are expensive here. They have no source of fuel so it is all imported and costs about $7/gallon US. Cars cost twice as much as in the US
The beaches have black sand, all volcanic
They produce coffee and Joe said the three best coffees in the world are from Costa Rica, Mexico and Brazil, not Colombia!
Bull running is popular here. They do it in a stadium and just run around to stay away from the bull. Mostly while drinking heavily. Yes, he knows it is crazy!

Our guide, Joe, on the left. He has 2 university degrees which cost all of $6000. He is also active with the Audubon society and loves these birds!

Once we arrived at the sanctuary, we walked through the lush area and learned about the birds that are here. The sanctuary is dedicated to the conservation of Costa Rica’s Scarlet and Great Green Macaws. They are diminished in number due to habitat destruction from logging and the unauthorized sale of the birds to the pet trade. It is estimated that there are only 40 breeding pairs of Great Green Macaws in the entire country. Many of the birds have been rescued. Others are bred here and then released into the wild. Many are flying freely and stay because they are fed well. Others are in large enclosures to allow them to heal. They also have some animals that are being rehabilitated. We saw several species of monkeys, tapirs and a beautiful jaguar.

After this visit we drove through Puntarenas. The town is quite poor now because the fishing industry has died due to the commercial fishing. Many people still like to come for the beaches and there are clubs with large pools that local people love to come to for relaxation. We saw many families there as it is a time of school holiday now.

This is a largely Catholic country. Having a place in the cemetery is very expensive. They bury people in vaults above ground, sometimes 6 stacked up. The bones can be removed after 6 years so someone else can have the space!