Around the Horn

Day 40: Costa Rica

A beautiful, hot morning greeted us in Puntarenas, Cost Rica. Our original port was supposed to be Puerto Caldera, but the occupation of the berth by a freighter which is reported to be aground, has led to a change of venue for the Mariner. It makes no difference in the days' activities, since the two ports are only 5 miles apart.

Our tour for today was one that is sponsored by the ship, a trip into the mountains near San Jose to visit a working coffee plantation. We had done a similar excursion in Guatemala last February, and were looking forward to the same type of experience.

A two-hour bus ride to the plantation turned into 3 hours due to road construction, but that just meant that we had more time to admire the lush countryside of the province of Puntarenas. Our guide Gilberth spoke excellent english and the driver Gavriel was an expert at easing the 50-passenger motorcoach along the winding Pan-American Highway. Gilberth gave us a running narrative of the history, culture, economics and social aspects of his country.

We arrived at the plantation and were greeted by an enthusiastic staff who handed us delicious iced coffee and fresh fruit as we disembarked from the bus. They gave us a lively tour of the coffee fields and the harvesting and drying processes, even recruiting some of us as 'migrant workers' to rake the coffee beans as the husks dried in the sun. We were then driven to the roasting facility with its heavenly aromas, and taken the rest of the way through the process. A delicious lunch of traditional Costa Rican fare (fish, chicken, beef, rice, beans and fresh fruit) and a trip to the gift shop to purchase Cafe Brit coffee rounded out our trip to the plantation, and we boarded the bus to return to the ship.

Once again our 2-hour bus drive back to the port was extended. After a 25 minute rest stop at a great souvenir store, we were once again on the Pan-American Highway. Unfortunately there had been a traffic accident with a fatality, and the road was blocked for 2 hours. Captain Johnny held the Mariner in port until we returned to the dock, and we hurried onboard to enable him to set sail for Acupulco.

Despite the setbacks and the late return to the ship, we had a great day and I did a lot of shopping at the little souvcnir store. We also came away with samples of the delicious Costa Rican coffee .

Tomorrow: At Sea