Puntarenas

Our port of call was Puntarenas and I’d just like to start by saying that I’m going to call the city and region Puntarenas and not Punta Arenas. Wikipedia agrees with me and says the former, as does a Costa Rican travel website, while Google and several other sites say both with the former being the region and the latter the city. That’s all kinds of confusing and doesn’t really tie in with how the place seemed to be pronounced by our guide during this day. Furthermore, there is already a Punta Arenas in Chile and if you follow that link you’ll see that we know this for a fact because we went there back in 2016. Having two places with the same name takes that already-present confusion and ratchets it up a notch into hella confusing territory and we’ve already got my writing on this site to perform that function. So, Puntarenas it is.

We started the day with tug boats helping to manoeuvre Star Princess into position on the pier jutting out from the peninsula that served as the city’s cruise port.

There wasn’t much in the way of clouds in the sky and what we could see tended to be distant and mostly over mountains that could be seen inland. Our first impressions of Puntarenas and Costa Rica in general based on views from the ship were positive ones but everything seemed so low to the ground. I can’t say for certain that I was expecting anything in particular but this flat, mostly green landscape that seemed like it was one high tide away from being washed away wasn’t it. Even the mountains felt small.

Costa Rica is probably most well-known for its coffee and its wildlife. We like coffee and we like wildlife and if you’re so inclined when you’re visiting the country on a cruise ship then you can easily find excursions that will take you off to see either or both of those things. As much as we like coffee and wildlife, though, they aren’t priorities for us when we’ve travelling somewhere new; we much prefer places of historical or cultural interest. For that reason we would be taking a Princess Cruises excursion to the country’s capital city, San José, to see a few buildings with historical significance.

With San José being a fair distance from Puntarenas this meant our excursion started not too long after the ship was cleared to disembark. The pier didn’t appear to be very wide as we made our way down the gangway onto it so it was a bit of a surprise to see buses parked up on it ahead of the ship’s bow. There was a little bit of confusion as several excursion groups merged together, trying to work out which bus everyone should be on. During a quick hunt ahead of the main pack to see if I could work out where our bus was and quite why nobody appeared to be moving, our tour stickers were spotted by a Princess representative who directed us to the first of two buses allocated to our group. Thus it was that we accidentally jumped a queue of about forty other passengers on our tour and, being British, this was both a horrifying thing to realise and also infinitely enjoyable to experience on account of its naughtiness. Not only that but we were directed to a mini-bus rather than a full-size one owing to the number of people who had signed up for this excursion, a fact which pleased me immensely as it meant fewer people to wait around for whenever we would need to return to the vehicle.

Since the mini-bus could only hold a limited number of passengers we didn’t have to wait around long before we were off towards San José, a journey due to take around ninety minutes. We got our first, unexpected taste of Costa Rica’s wildlife appeal as our bus pulled up at a set on traffic lights on the peninsula of which Puntarenas was a part when the driver attracted the attention of our guide who then pointed to our left and explained how iguanas were, you know, just a thing that you’d see in the cities there. I was quite surprised both by how fast the iguanas moved and how aggressive they were to one another.

Panamanian White-Faced Capuchin Monkeys

Our second, unexpected taste of Costa Rica’s wildlife occurred a little while after this. The bus suddenly started slowing and pulled over by the roadside behind several other buses that had done the same thing. Our guide then explained that the trees along the road here were inhabited by a troop of Panamanian White-Faced Capuchin Monkeys. Despite their name, the capuchins are indigenous to and spread across the forests of all of Central America. We eagerly got off, keen to see if we could spot our relatives and this proved to be a lot easier than we’d expected as the capuchins seemed keen to come and look at us too.

Of course, the reason that the capuchins were coming close was because they knew that they would be rewarded for entertaining us tourists and making our trip more memorable. Capuchin monkeys are omnivores with a diet that mostly consists of fruit and insects and our guide brought along some food for the animals which he started handing out to some of us from the bus so that we could offer it to the monkeys. I’m pleased to report – and I’m sure you’ll be pleased to hear – that no insects were among the offerings.

With several buses present and several tour groups doing a similar thing the troop did well out of our visit but I have to confess to a little unease regarding these sorts of interactions with wildlife. I hope that the infrequency of tour buses heading along that particular stretch of road from Puntarenas towards San José means that this is simply an occasional treat for the capuchins and not something they become in any way dependent upon or something that affects their natural, social structures and interactions. Best thing in these situations is to assume that the locals know what they’re doing and not to impose any outsider, moralistic interpretations on something we just don’t know enough about, but it’s not easy.

Anyway, I got some lovely photos of a monkey up close because I wandered around to face a capuchin being fed. Quite what everyone else on our bus was doing taking photos of its backside is something only they know and about which I don’t want to think too much.

In the next cruise diary post I’ll cover the details of the excursion in San José itself with visits to a theatre, a museum, and a lovely lunch too.

The bus dropped us at the pier jutting out from the peninsula on which Puntarenas was located and where Star Princess was docked. Rather than immediately join the queue of people waiting to get through security and back into the wonderful air-conditioned interior of our floating home we tolerated a little more of Costa Rica’s heat and humidity in order to take some photos along the pier.

Predictably, I took a few photos from the balcony once we got back to our room too even though they were remarkably similar to ones I’d taken earlier in the day when we’d first arrived in Puntarenas. Looks often pass between me and my wife in situations like this and if you could read minds you’d probably hear:

These photos won’t be exactly the same as earlier. The light will be different. The clouds will have moved. My earlier pictures might have sensor dirt in a vital spot. A whale might leap out of the ocean.

Sure, Jan.

Food And Drink Aboard Star Princess

We’d had one coffee and one beer in Costa Rica in addition to the water we’d brought with us to combat the conditions so we were keen to grab a drink or two once on the ship. We were also keen to freshen up so after showers had been taken and we’d spent five minutes watching bats flying past our balcony we hit a few locations where the staff were graciously willing to take a look at our cruise cards (or just nod and smile in the case of Vines) in exchange for alcohol.

Just before I put up the photos of the evening’s dinner from the main dining room on Star Princess I’m obliged by law to mention yet again that the food served on this cruise was the best we’ve had on any cruise. Princess do well in that respect generally but everything just felt like a step up this time around.

Deck Party

Several hours after leaving the port of Puntarenas and the country of Costa Rica behind we headed up to the top deck. It was another sultry night on the Pacific Ocean and Princess were putting on another deck party. We’ve never been drunk enough to join in yet but they’re quite fun to watch for a while even if some of the orchestrated dancing between the staff and passengers more resembles a zumba workout than what we’d consider fun.

In the next post in this cruise diary travel portfolio we’ll hit another new country for us, Nicaragua.

It was actually a cloud forest that we visited and this one was part of the San Luis park, north of San Ramon, not quite equidistant between the cruise port of Puntarenas and the capital city, San José. The drive there took a little while around winding roads in the deeply-forested land and with numerous signs of small fires in the hills, but by the time we reached our destination there was a slight dampness to the air. For many people this meant jackets and waterproof coverings, but for us the heat and humidity was enough that we stuck to t-shirts and shorts. A jacket wouldn’t have stopped our t-shirts from getting wet; they’d simply get wet from the inside out.

A short walk brought us to the hummingbird feeders and yes, hummingbirds are blindingly fast. I kept going for faster and faster shutter shots and still didn’t really get anything sharp, but the experience of seeing these frantic little things zip in, out, around, and all over was lovely.

It wasn’t very clear from the excursion blurb provided by the cruise line ahead of this trip but we’d got it into our heads that the trip would mostly involve walking through the canopy on bridges. That was not the case. There were hanging bridges but they were fairly well spaced apart and some were low to the ground, crossing streams or small gullies, while a few were higher up the trails. When things are low down and high up then you know you’re in for more climbing than you’d anticipated and with my wife having a track record of falling nearly every time there’s a set of steps or slope somewhere we were a smidge concerned, especially given the moist conditions everywhere. I’m happy to report that there were no incidents.

In terms of plant life in the Costa Rican cloud forest, if you liked green things – leaves and moss – then you were in for a treat. Actually, we did and do like those things so that was okay, but there were a few splashes of colour from flowers along the twisting, turning, zig-zagging, ascending, and descending trail we followed, including some nice orchids.

At around the lowest point of this walk we were tracking alongside a narrow, shallow stream of water when our guide stopped us and pointed out a viper curled up by a log barely half a metre from where we could all pass in front of it. There was also a small path behind the log that people could walk instead and many in our group did but we’re not bothered by snakes and generally they’re not too bothered by us so this was a great opportunity to get up close to something like this in its natural environment.

From the lowest point then it was pretty much all up on the way back and there was one brief stop on the way which was good in that it gave us a chance for a breather – why do these sorts of things always pause a lot to point things out on the way down and not so much on the way up? – but it was less good in that the reason for this was to point out a lot of cobwebs.

“Tarantulas live in these holes,” smiled our guide. “I’ll just see if I can see if any are occupied and whether I can coax any out.”

I am incredibly pleased to say that our guide was unsuccessful here. We are not spider people.

Back at the entrance to the trail we had a chance to get some food and fruit juices and to fend off questions from fellow tourists and our guide asking if my wife was alright. She flushes easily in the heat and she was in danger of being elected queen of the tomato people (yes, it’s a democratically-chosen position) on account of the general warmth and that last bit of steady upness to the end of the day’s activity.

After a short break there we hopped on our blissfully air-conditioned bus and headed back towards Puntarenas but we stopped on the way at El Jardin for some tourist shopping. As soon as we arrived we realised that we’d stopped here before at the conclusion of our excursion in San José so it was nice to see the same artwork up and to pick up a few items to take back with us once again.

El Jardin gets its name from the beautiful gardens at its rear and we’d have liked to have seen them but the weather had other things in mind. There’s a reason why this part of the world is so green.

In the next post in this cruise travelogue series we’ll have some time to take a bit of a walk around Puntarenas before the ship leaves, something we didn’t do the first time there.

We started by heading east where the maps indicated there was a public park space. In fact this was a very narrow strip of paved areas, the odd sculpture here and there, and some twisting concrete structures that resembled mounted spines of leviathans (assuming leviathans are actually a thing and that they’re vertebrates). Coupled with the flotsam of seaweed and thin tree trunks washed up along the water’s edge and the churned-up dark sand discolouring the sea this gave the area an oddly desolate feel with just enough peace from the gentle cooling of the evening and the white noise of the small rollers breaking nearby to temper the overall bleakness.

We headed back past the pier and the queue of passengers being checked by security before they headed for the ship, making our way westwards along the shore of Puntarenas where there seemed to be more signs of civilisation. There were certainly a few interesting architectural pieces. A large concrete building that was part of the National Technical University had some clear Art Deco styling to it, and while there’s no information online that could be easily found I did see a date on it of 1930 which ties in with the right period. Opposite that, nearer the sea, there was a more modern public space comprising a stage shielded by giant leaves with amphitheatre-style seating opposite it. We like spotting amphitheatres when we travel and while this one isn’t the historic sort we typically go out of our way to look around, we’re still counting it.

Around the outside of the cultural public space there was artwork in a street art style but all themed for the general environment, touching on local people, customs, and the sea. The large open space beside it included one of those popular city signs for the tourists that it’s often impossible to take a clear photo of, although at this time of the day we were very nearly the only people there.

Finally, as we approached the pier we passed by Antigua Capitanía de Puntarenas, a preserved landmark building with some cannons mounted nearby, all dedicated to the maritime history of the city and region. This would be the sort of place we’d very likely visit on a return to Costa Rica but there was no indication that it was open at this particular moment and we were now keen to head back to the ship as we don’t like leaving it to the very last minute.

Our walk along the long pier to where Ruby Princess was docked was interrupted several times for photos out across the water, and near the gangway and security checkpoint for the ship there was some local entertainment provided in the form of carnival characters which, like all carnival characters, felt vaguely threatening.

The all aboard time came and went and we sat out on our balcony with some drinks and snacks waiting for the sail away from Costa Rica. The light faded from the sky, searchlights from the ship danced across the water, and two hours passed before Ruby Princess finally left. We never did find out the reason for the delay but we suspect that an organised excursion returned to the port late and, because it was an organised excursion, the ship waited.

In the next post in this Ruby Princess cruise travelogue series we’ll experience Halloween on a cruise ship before we arrive at Panama for an excursion we were really looking forward to and for which we’d had to get yellow fever vaccinations for ahead of time to do it. Oh boy, I hope nothing happens to spoil those plans!