Clicking on the photos will enlarge them!!
Our position on the maps is the yellow arrow in the red circle.
This is our position today at 1:00 pm when we arrived at Golfito. This is a new stop for Regent and us. There is no dock so passengers will be tendered ashore in the ship's life boats as they did in Grand Cayman.
We had about 20 of these birds flying along all morning with us. I enjoyed their antics as every so often they would just fold their wings back and dive head first into the water.
BACKGROUND INFO:
Golfito is a new destination for us! It is the southern most port town in Costa Rica and lies just across the border from Panama. Golfito literally means “little gulf” as it is on Golfito Bay. This little bay lies in the much larger Golfo Dulce bay. In the mid 1900’s Golfito was a major banana growing region but labor unrest, declining markets, rising export taxes, and a banana disease closed the United Fruit Company here. Now palm oil plantations have replaced all the old banana plantations. Tourists started coming here in the mid 1990’s to enjoy sport fishing, some of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica, and the Golfito National Wildlife Refuge.
WHAT WE DID TODAY:
Thankfully we did not tender today but docked at the little pier here. A US Coast Guard cutter is docked just in front of us. The Coast Guard works with the Costa Rican government in interdicting drugs.
This was my tour for today. Rebecca did not go and that was a good thing as the trail was rocky, steep at times, and through streams. She would NOT have liked that!
The entrance to the Wild Life Refuge. Actually I did not see much, if any, wild life.
The guy in the orange shirt is Walter, out guide. He was excellent.
This is a termite nest. They are above ground down here.
We walked down a rugged trail nearly a mile and finally got to this waterfall. The water was from underground streams. Our guide said the water was clean enough to drink. I'm not trying it though.
This is the trail. The tour was 3 hours long and included some fresh pineapple and tea. It was very hot and humid in the refuge even though it was mostly shady. Not one of the best ever tours but interesting none the less. Also got some exercise so can eat more tonight.
It is now 5:00 pm and I am about to publish this post then hit the shower. I got photos posted before many passengers returned to the ship. We have not decided where to dine this evening. The dinner menu for Compass Rose doesn't appeal to us so may go up to the Italian restaurant, Sette Mari. After dinner we will go to the show as the comedic pianist is doing another show and we enjoyed his first one. The ship is sailing at 8:00 pm for Puntareanas, Costa Rica. Just a short trip tonight.
WHAT WE DID LAST NIGHT:
There was a beautiful sunset yesterday as we were cruising up the west coast of Central America. I thought we may get to see a green flash but didn't. It is rare to see the flash which occurs just as the sun disappears. The atmospheric conditions have to be just right.
This is the veal parmesean the 6 of us had for dinner last night. The pieces were huge and enough for two people. It tasted good but NOT the way I like it prepared so I will work with chef Michael before it is made next time.
From right to left: Susanne Peters, Mary Wheeler, David & Melody Hermann. After dinner we went to the theater for the first production show with the ship's singers and dancers. Rebecca and I did not care for the show OR the cast of it. I walked out before it was over. We MUCH prefer the Jean Ann Ryan shows and casts.
Upon returning to our suite I was checking my email and FaceBook before hitting the hay. We were heartbroken to see that our long time friend, Fred Bondi, had passed away. We met Susie and Fred on a Regent cruise several years ago. They live in Vienna, Austria, and they showed us around Vienna when we were there in 2013 on our European river cruise. Fred was to be 94 in May. Susie is from Cincinnati. Not sure what her plans are now.
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