Revisiting Costa Rica

Day 14 – 16 October 2026 – Sea Day

 

Today we had the Mariner luncheon, where those of us who have joined the Holland American cruise line membership program are served a special meal and thanked for our loyalty.  Kind of a nice perk on a sea day, and the food is always a bit nicer than the usual lunch menu.

 

However, there was some announcement in the middle of the meal that we didn’t quite catch – the captain couldn’t make his usual speech, he had been called back to the bridge.  But there was some rumor that our ship helped with equipment for some rescue or boating accident nearby, which might have delayed our arrival in Costa Rica tomorrow.  The captain announced that we should be able to make up any lost time during the rest of today and tonight.  I’m hoping to get more inside information during dinner, since I’m now curious.  Especially after last summer’s non-rescue at sea on the Oosterdam!  (Post note:  We still have no idea what this was all about!)

 

Day 15 – 17 October 2026 – Puntarenas (Puerto Caldera), Costa Rica

 

Richard and I have been to Costa Rica previously for five week trips, the most recent being in 2011 before we started our world travels.  I practiced blogging about our travels on that 2011 trip, if you want to read about those adventures.   

http://phebeandrichardcostarica2011.blogspot.com

 

With cruising, there’s never enough time to spend more than several hours in each port.  People purchase or arrange excursions, but half the time seems to be spent on a bus while driving to the site, and then back to the ship.  I’ve learned to just wander around whatever town we stop at, and see what is available right here.

 

Today, we arrived in Puntarenas, a medium-sized town on a really long skinny peninsula on the Pacific side of Costa Rica.  We docked at a pier, and I wandered on into town, despite the threatening skies.  There were all sorts of murals on walls as well as painting on the pier itself.  I moved some chairs around to get photos of the fish and coral, though I especially enjoyed the sea turtles! 

 

Given that rain appeared imminent, my first pursuit was walking down the beach and dipping my toes in the ocean.  The sand is black due to the volcanoes in central Costa Rica; all that lava turns into igneous rock, which erodes into black sand along the 
shores.

 

After my feet dried off, I headed to the Pacific Market – it isn’t a huge market, but there were probably twenty or so tables with all sorts of arts and crafts items.  Some were more artistic than others, such as the man who used molted feathers to create images of various local birds.  Others had the basic touristy tee shirts.  It quite a mix!

 

I found a pack of postcards, a few featuring my favorite, the friendly blue morpho butterflies.  There are also shots of Volcan Arenal with glowing lava flows, and the ever-adorable capuchin monkeys.  Costa Rica really has incredible biodiversity, with something like twelve distinct micro climates due to the topography of this small country that is roughly the size of West Virginia.  The country has both Pacific and Caribbean coasts, rainforests, towering mountains, and cloud forests!  You can also drive across the continental divide here – all of that in one small country!

 

There was a man with unique tee shirts, and it turned out each one was a monoprint – meaning only one printing of the original design.  He explained he “paints” on glass, puts the shirt on top, and has a press it goes through to make the print.  (I told him that in English, we call this a monoprint.)  I found a wonderful shirt with a few sea turtles for Richard – just too cool to pass up.

By now it was raining fairly hard, so I stayed under the various canopies and wandered a bit more.  Bought very little, mostly just chatted with people selling things.  Always good to practice my skills in Spanish, which are fairly minimal.

The rain let up enough for me to dash across the street and have a cappuccino.  Yes, it was a warm day – but with the rain, and being damp, I was chilly and a hot drink sounded good.

 

I eventually walked back to the ship, in a light rain much of the way.  This seems to be typical weather in Costa Rica, a light misting rain that isn’t strong nor heavy enough to qualify as real rain.  But damp enough to wet clothing, hair, and skin all along the way to the ship.  Oh well, at least it wasn’t as steamy hot as most of our previous port calls.  The rain also enhanced the colors of one painting on the concrete pier, the traditional folk art style painting with flowers, arabesques, and curlicues!  It looked so much better after the rain!

 

Richard and I both like to sit on our balcony and watch as our ship moves away from the pier or dock, and heads out of the harbor.  Tonight we had a subdued sunset, and then a tugboat that kept its bright lights on to assist our captain with backing up and turning port (left) at the same time.  It’s just interesting to watch.

 

Plus tonight we had a light show!  Lots of lightning in the distance, behind the coastal hills – creating sort of a backlit effect on those hills while also lighting up that section of sky!