Here’s what we did yesterday and today. Yesterday, in addition to rafting, we had a morning hike through the so-called Rainmaker forest. It’s a private enterprise with a series of hiking trails through the forest, crossing a couple of swinging bridges and passing a waterfall. A nice hike and a couple of new birds, some interesting bugs and stories from our naturalist guide about the flora and fauna of the forest.

Then, the afternoon trip down the not-so-lazy river as previously reported. I’ve included some of my in-river pictures.

Today has been our day at sea. My plan had been to have a leisurely day and get caught up with the blogging I failed to do last night. But, alas, here it is almost 10 PM as I type this. Part of the problem has been some interesting talks on board today that kept me away from the keyboard. Then there was a long dinner – 7:30 to 9:30: – with an interesting couple and a lengthy trading of travel stories. She emigrated to Israel as a young girl from Bulgaria. He’s traveled the world as a technology consultant.

Yesterday on our drive to the Savrege River we passed by mile after mile of palm trees, planted in precise rows, each tree evenly spaced from its neighbor. These were palm oil plantations. The trees produce coconuts, which are knocked down by workers yielding long aluminum poles – must be 20 feet long or longer, I’d guess. The workers, naturally, tend to be Nicaraguans, not Costa Ricans. Machines may be involved in the harvest, but trees near power lines, marked with yellow and red bunting, must be done by hand. Workers face a number of risks, especially from snakes and scorpions crawling around the base of the  trees and of course the ever-present risk of being beaned by falling coconuts.

The nuts are hauled off to a processing facility where the oil is squeezed out for use as a raw material in a number of cosmetic and commercial products. Palm oil is not popular as a food element these days.

Another thing we saw along the way were houses built by the government for people below a certain income level. We saw some of these basic two bedroom houses along the way today.

Judy is providing a writeup of this and other social programs instituted by the Costa Rican government using funds freed up after the army was disbanded. Here’s her report:

During our tours in Costa Rica I, Judy, want to share some of the things I learned. 

Every town, no matter how small has three essential things: a town square, a school and a soccer field. Some would add a fourth requirement: a bar.

The education system consists of mandatory primary school.  These schools are local so no transportation is needed. Meals are provided. Secondary school is not mandatory but our last guide said that at least 90% do go.  Our guide up in San Jose talked about the goal after secondary schooling is that each student is ready for a job, so there are technical programs available. They also have five high quality universities.. In order to go they need to have done well in secondary school and I think they said they take an exam. Literacy rate in Costa Rica is 96%.

The health care and retirement are paid for by a percentage of each person’s salary going to the government for health care and retirement. The total income tax rate is ranges from 0% to 25% depending on income. The top rate kicks in around $40,000. For income sourced in Costa Rica.. Expats pay the same rate and love the fact that earnings sourced outside Costa Rica are not taxed..

Of the 25%, 7% to 11% goes to pay for the universal health care system, Caja. There is a private healthcare system too. Many doctors work in both the public and private systems. WHO ranks Costa Rica’s health care system 36th in the world, ahead of the US.

Costa Rica also provides income for retirees although that system may be seriously underfunded according to some reports.

Today on board we had several great lectures. The first, by a naturalist, gave an overview of Panama, its geography, native peoples and flora and fauna. Another lecturer, this one a Costa Rican, gave us an overview of the indigenous Emberas people in the town of Play Muerto on the westernmost end of Panama. It’s located in the Darian National Park.We’re promised an interesting time with a very friendly group of people when we visit them tomorrow. Stay tuned.

The other speaker today was Tim Martin who described his fascinating career as a wildlife film maker, working for over twenty years around the world for the likes of BBC and Discovery Channel. Today his focus is on sustainable farming in England as well as continuing to produce nature-based films.

So a busy day at sea and a day, relaxing nonetheless after several pretty active days ashore. Tomorrow should be a half day on land. The next day will be the Canal crossing.

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Today, Thursday, January 16, is our Day at Sea. So last night, rather than staying up ‘til all hours, we watched the dance show after dinner and went to bed early.

Yesterday afternoon we paid $20 for pictures of us braving white water rafting down the Savegre River (indigenous word for “savage”) while stopped at Quepos, Costa Rica. I’m posting those pictures now and later today I’ll do my pictures from yesterday’s walk through another rain forest.

You may not want to look at them all – 43 in total – unless you enjoy seeing old people with their mouths wide open paralyzed with fear.

Actually, the Tauck folk renamed the activity from “White Water Rafting” to “River Float” so as not to frighten passengers. In actuality, the river was wild enough for some fun but not all that crazy. The scenery was nice and our guide, Nicolas was fun, expertly maneuvering our raft to provide maximum fun and plentiful face fulls of water.

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I’m enjoying being with our shipmates on this trip. Unlike most folks these days, the men know that shirttails are to be worn tucked in and the women don’t feel compelled to part their hair right down the middle. It’s refreshing to be with people who observe the social norms of polite society.

On the other hand, our fellow travelers are, almost without exception, old. Judy and I probably tip the scales to the old end of the scale, but even the youngsters aren’t spring chickens.

Our trip this morning in from the Le Bellot into shore on the Zodiac boat brought the subject to mind. Our helmsman was competent enough, but I’d much prefer to have Carter at the helm and the rest of the family boosting Nana and me up out of the Zodiac onto the dock with only minor loss of dignity.

In fact, now that I think about it, I’d rather have our BVI crew as shipmates, shirttails flapping and hair any which way, than our current bunch of old fogies. We miss them all.

Today was a shore excursion to take a hike of a mile or so along a trail that spanned three suspension bridges. After an on-shore lunch, we took a boat ride to see mangroves, birds and crocodiles. I’ll let the pictures do the talking. The leaf cutter ants was a real kick. We saw about 20 different species of birds.

We just got back from dinner (9 PM) and our first outing tomorrow starts at 7:15 AM. I’ll upload as many pictures as I can without staying up all night. The Starlink satellite service is slow when shared with 160 passengers.

All 65 pictures are finally uploaded  as of 7 AM  Now off to take some more, hopefully in greater moderation  

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In most counties Mexico and south, Spanish influence is in your face everywhere you go. Not so much here in Costa Rica. Sure, the Spanish language and Catholicism dominate. But when Spanish-era buildings are shaken to the ground they’re replaced with something Costa Rican. 

Our second stop this morning, the Gold Museum, illustrated one reason Spanish influence isn’t as strong as elsewhere: there wasn’t all that much gold in Costa Rica. Some, but nothing like Peru. The Spaniards invested in places where the return on investment was optimal. 

The Gold Museum focused on gold but the largest floor was dedicated to pre-Columbian times.  As in other countries, indigenous peoples were mostly wiped out or assimilated but four indigenous groups, numbering 100,000 members, still exist here today. Four indigenous languages survive, two actively spoken and two “in recovery.”

As I mentioned earlier, the indigenous peoples were already a blend of peoples from the north and south as the Central American land bridge formed through volcanic activity starting 10 million years ago and completing 3 million years ago. The museum showed archaeological evidence of human progress from hunter-gatherer tribes to sophisticated societies with specialized workers and excess time that allowed artisans to create the evidence we see today. 

Our first stop, the National Theatre,  showed how European influence is as strong or stronger than Spanish. During the coffee boom of the late 1900s and early 1900s, Europe was Costa Rica’s principle market. How could the  European coffee buyers be entertained? With a first-rate concert hall. Let’s build them one. Where’s the money going to come from? Let’s tax coffee exports.

That didn’t last Long; Costa Rican coffee was no longer competitive on world markets. Let’s tax imports then. But those import duties make goods at Walmart too expensive. In the end, we were told, 96% of the not insignificant cost came from income tax levied on Costa Rican citizens. 

Almost all of the materials used to construct and decorate the museum came from Europe: Italy, France, Belgium, Germany, etc. The rococo design is straight from Europe too. 

The U.S. has had a big influence on Costa Rica. The banana industry was largely a U.S. creation. Today, the U.S. accounts upwards of 40% of Costa Rica’s import/export trade. 

But whatever the ingredients in the Costa Rican mix, the result is a friendly, reasonably prosperous and stable democracy. 

We drove westward towards Puntarenas and stopped at Sochí for lunch. It’s a town that specializes in ox carts – the traditional way for farmers to bring their produce to market. Brightly painted in traditional colors, ox carts are now works of art. The place we stopped had a small workshop where artists were creating original designs. They also operate a large gift shop offering items created by local artisans. We managed to escape with only a small cribbage board.

Then another hour and a half up the Central Mountain range and down the other side to Puntarenas and our ship the Bellot. The mountain was covered by a dry forest, as opposed to rain forest like the one we were in day before yesterday or a cloud forest like the one at Monte Verde that we visited with Rebecca many years ago.

The Bellot is a French ship. The vibe is of a Mediterranean luxury yacht like a movie star or tech mogul might sail around in . We were warned that long pants and no sneakers are allowed at dinner. We packed for wet landings from zodiacs, which were doing tomorrow morning, rather than fancy. We’ll see how that works out.

The ship’s crew conducted a complete and rigorous life boat drill this evening so this is a by-the-book operation for sure.

WiFi on board is at best hit or miss so far, so we’ll have to see how things work out blog wise. Fingers are crossed.

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Today we boarded our bus, sorry, coach, for a day in the hills north of San Jose where conditions are right for coffee production as well as raising fruit crops like strawberries and raspberries and where cows are grazed for milk production. We also visited the La Paz River Waterfall and Nature Preserve.

In the process, we discovered one indicator of Costa Rica’s economic health. Coffee bean picking, a very much manual job, is done by Nicaraguans who come each year for the harvesting season. They are paid $3 for 24 pounds of beans, which, when shucked and whatnot, produce 4 pounds of coffee beans. A good picker can average ten 24-pound containers a day, 7 days a week for four months. That’s, what, about $3,600? The purchasing value is twice that in Nicaragua, so the workers are happy and the plantation is happy. No self-respecting Costa Rican would work for that kind of money.

I mentioned earlier that agriculture accounts for about 4% of Costa Rica’s GDP. Coffee is a significant portion of that total, but still, it isn’t all that much. The Doka Coffee Plantation that we visited this morning produces coffee, but none for export. It operates on about 150 acres and produces about 15 million pounds of coffee a year. It produces coffee for sale in its gift shop and on line. It’s also featured in high-end restaurants and coffee shops in Costa Rica. So does its contribution to GDP count as “agriculture” or is it really “tourism”?

Incidentally, I have another economic indicator. In many developing countries – Kathmandu, Nepal comes to mind – the power and telephone infrastructure is an absolute nightmare. Yes, I’m an engineer and sensitive to such things, but the hodgepodge of wires, hundreds of them in totally random configuration, are strung from one pole to another. Not here in Costa Rica. All the wires are neat and orderly.

We were shown the coffee production process, much of it manual or with antiquated machinery, that’s been used for 100 years. Until, that is, this year, when modern high-efficiency machinery has replaced the old. Before, coffee beans were dried outdoors in the sun, requiring hourly stirring with a wooden rake and quick-as-a-bunny covering of the crop with plastic sheets when rain threatened. That’s all done by a drying machine now.

I couldn’t independently confirm it, but someone said that the operation had been recently purchased. I’m wondering if the new owners bought the Doka brand and are responsible for the modernization.

The La Paz Waterfall and Nature Preserve, as its name implies, has two main features. We first visited the nature preserve part of the complex. It’s a collection of animals, birds, butterflies, snakes, bugs, and plants. All of the fauna are rescued and brought here for rehabilitation or permanent display if they are unable to return to the wild. Here’s a link to their website if you’re interested: https://waterfallgardens.com/la_paz_waterfall_gardens/

Everything from the largest jungle cats in Central America – Pumas, Jaguars and Ocelots – to the smallest insect and the tiny butterfly eggs. All the big-name birds – Toucans and Parrots and so on. Monkeys, snakes – both venomous and nonvenomous, you name it.

Like the archeological evidence found in Central America, the flora and fauna are imports from North America and South America. It turns out that Central America didn’t become the land bridge that it is today until volcanic eruptions occurred about 10 million years ago. That’s a blink of the eye in geological and even evolutionary timescales. Many crops, such as coffee and bananas, are imports form Europe, Asia and Africa.

I’m an amateur birder, emphasis on amateur. There are almost 10,000 species in the world. My life list is at 75. I only count those that I have photographed and those that appear in front of my face. I don’t do any real active bird hunting to speak of. So it was tempting to add the birds today to my list. But my other rule is that the birds have to be in the wild. Caged birds don’t count.

I’m not going to tag today’s pictures with the name of each creature. For me, naming creatures is not my thing. I like to enjoy fauna for their appearance and personality. Besides, my rapidly anthropomorphizing brain isn’t capable of remembering names of people, places or things for more than five minutes. So enjoy today’s pictures for what they are, nameless though they may be.

The second part of the visit was a hike down to the la Paz river where there are three fairly impressive waterfalls to be seen. The walk down through what is probably termed a cloud forest was quite nice. The foliage was interesting and colorful. Fortunately, there was a shuttle bus near the bottom of the hike so we were spared the entire return hike up the hill.

Then back on the bus for a return to the Marriott, about an hour and a half. We spent a fair amount of time traveling today, and I did make a few images to try and capture a bit of what life is like in Costa Rica.

We passed by the San Jose airport where we witnessed an interesting Costa Rican pastime. Literally hundreds of people gathered around the approach end of the active runway to observe takeoffs and landings. It was like a football tailgate party. Barbecues, ice cream vendors. A pleasant Sunday afternoon time with family and friends.

Tomorrow it’s bags ready at 6:30 AM and on the bus at 8:45. We go downtown for the National Theatre and the Gold Museum. Then, on to Puntarenas and the Bellot for our cruise to Panama and the canal.