WorldTravelReynolds

The housing was just sad here and the roads need a lot of work.

Hard to believe, but we dodged yet another hurricane! Hurricane Julia. She moved up over Nicaragua which is north of where we are now. However, she did cause some rough sailing. Winds and rough water provided a rough night on the ship. We are so thankful sea sickness isn’t a huge issue for us. The top deck was closed after many chairs started flying. Those were promptly tied down.

The Flags of Costa Rica

We also watched as the water in the pool turned into waves and spilled over onto the deck. They created their own surf rider! This morning we got up early to see Puntarenas Costa Rica. We have never been. During our world tour we planned trips to South America but as you know Covid stopped that. It is so nice to finally be able to start working on those dreams again. Although we are traveling by cruise ship, we are at least traveling and for that we are blessed and thankful. On our way to the horse show to see the Andalusian horses, our tour guide gave us some good information about the country.

Their working stables.

Puntarenas appeared to be a very poor area of Costa Rica. The housing was very dilapidated and sad looking. Bars on all windows of the doors and outside the home that looked as if it would fall at any minute. The size of Costa Rica is about the same size of West Virginia and has 3 main exports. #1 export surprisingly is not coffee, it is Bananas and 2nd is Pineapple. This area is very plush and green. They have an area for planting for rice in the rainy season and melons in the dry season.

The plush mountains were so green

Not watermelon but cantaloupe and honeydew. Some people think this is a rainforest but it’s more of an inter tropical zone. Meaning no real seasons such as summer and fall but rather rainy and dry seasons. It does not snow here even though there are some very tall mountains. During the dry season the beautiful green forest loses all its leaves and even fires are prevalent like California.  The strangely interesting part was that they run a DNA test on all babies born and hold the father financially responsible for 25 years in raising the child. 

I loved this sign and the “bird” outside the ship

It rained immensely during our entire 1½ hour trip to see the horses. Luckily the show was in a covered arena and the bus driver dropped us off right at the entrance. None of us got wet.

The little boy thanking his horse before mounting him.

We couldn’t hear or understand a thing the announcer was saying and didn’t hear anything about the history or how and why the Andalusian horses perform. So, we tried to enjoy the horses as much as possible. They were beautiful but the performance was quite underwhelming.

One of the performers with a Javelan

We did experience the dresses, hats, and riding attire prevalent in the Spanish region. There was a little 5-year-old boy that came out and worked his horse with a light whip that was so adorable and cute.

A mare and her baby

We also watched as a mama and her baby came out. The mare watched as her little filly ran and jumped around like she was free for a day! It was adorable. After the show, we headed back and stopped at a market to buy souvenirs. Here we bought some Costa Rican coffee beans and added a Christmas ornament to my collection.

The womens dresses were beautiful

When we returned to the ship, I was watching these 3 guys by their car (while at a stop light), and they were taking turns to relieve themselves by the trees. Guess they have a shortage of banos (bathrooms) here too!

Our next stop will be through the Panama Canal in two days. It’ll start at 6 am and we should be through all the locks before dark.  This is what we came for! Tomorrow we will attend a seminar on the history of the Panama Canal. It should be interesting so stay tuned.

May God bless you and keep you safe!

Chuck & Lea Ann