Tuesday, April 18- from Panama to Costa Rica

The ship passed into Costa Rica during the night.  Before we could get off the boat we had to be processed by Customs & Immigration.  They’d collected our passports and forms before we left the hotel Saturday.  Eight people in uniform got on the boat and joined the Captain in the lounge.  The Captain had the staff bring everyone coffee and he chatted amiably in Spanish with the supervisors, discussing the weather and the trip thus far, while the officials scrutinized forms and stamped the passports stacked in two waterproof plastic containers.  I wanted to take a picture but sometimes government officials are sensitive about that and I wanted to stay out of trouble.  In about half an hour, everything had been signed, stamped and delivered.

At breakfast, I got into conversation with another passenger, a retired Navy man who had known Admiral Grace Hopper (the first female Admiral in the US Navy and a pioneer in computer technology) and could tell stories about her.   My fellow passengers on UnCruise are always interesting!  

As usual, I'd signed up for as many things as possible.  In the morning we took a skiff excursion through the mangroves, where I saw 3 out of the 7 known species in the world.  Mangroves, which have been destroyed in many places, are extremely important as barriers against flooding, shelters for newly-hatched fish and other vital purposes.    We saw monkeys and iguanas, as well as white and green herons.  

 I had a massage at noon, followed by lunch at 12:30, kayak/hike at 1:40.  Great massage, and it was included in the cost of the cruise.  The kayak paddle turned out to be 1.5 hours and I was a bit concerned about my shoulder, which was recovering form a labrum tear due to a fall while ice skating 2 months before (I refuse to act my age) but my partner, a travel agent from CA, and I, kept up.  

We visited the Saladera, an eco-resort and hiked through the rainforest.  Cameras have caught ocelot, coati, anteaters, jaguar.  We saw a toucan; someone else spotted a large egg on the ground. The guide radioed to the boat; the consensus was that it belonged to a curassow, which is endangered but so plentiful at Saladera they hadn’t known that.  Their eggs are typically laid on the ground but better-hidden.  It's possible that a predator was threatening the female so she laid her egg in a more vulnerable spot.  This is another example of why I love the crew on these ships!

I went to bed early, pleasantly exhausted.  The sunset was beautiful but I didn't take pictures- they never capture the real thing.  A

Monday, April 17- Snorkeling around Granito de Oro

As usual, announcements were made the night before about available excursions and, as usual, I was in heaven.  I woke up at 6 AM for a 7 AM birdwalk, where we saw Capuchin monkeys, emerald hummingbirds, a barred antshrike and black vultures, in addition to a black iguana.  

A termite nest.  The guide ate a few.  Some of my fellow passengers did, too, and said they tasted minty.  I took their word for it.

 Granito de Oro used to be a prison.  It was opened in early 1900s, closed only in 2004 and  mostly held political prisoners in Noriega’s regime.  (The ship passed by one of Noriega's former houses, which was in ruins.) They were allowed to roam the island and some 200 were unaccounted for when it closed.  Many believe it's haunted and some Panamanians won't visit there.  One fence had a sign noting that Tito the crocodile might be in the area, but we couldn't find him.   

I took a kayak out before lunch, then went out snorkeling after lunch around Granito de Oro.   I don't have an underwater camera, but here are a few pictures taken by the video crew who accompanied us.

Getting ready.

Fish, glorious fish.

Some people are just show-offs. 

Among others, I saw a Moorish idol, hawkfish, clownfish, guinea pufferfish.   A storm blew up as we were almost done.  It missed us but created a lot of wind and excitement. I took a nap in my room, then went on to happy hour. 

Wednesday, April 19- the Native (monkeys) were Hostile

Today's hike was labeled a "Charger hike", meaning that it was strenuous.  The leader had asked me the night before when I signed up if I understood what that involved and I appreciated his caution- if there’s someone in the group who can’t handle it, it’s not fun for them OR the rest of the group.  I told him I was training for a 35-mile bicycle ride next month.  That seemed to make him happy.  

Reached the top!

The hike wasn't that strenuous but it was long- 3.5 hours, then it took over half an hour for the skiff to arrive because they were repositioning the ship.  The scenery was beautiful, of course, but the most interesting part of the hike was an encounter with a colony of white-faced capuchin monkeys after I’d already been very excited at the sight of a few individuals in earlier hikes.  The guide had some intimidating instructions before we approached the colony:  don’t smile (baring your teeth is a sign of aggression).  Don’t make eye contact.  Don’t point a camera at them for prolonged periods.  I ducked past them and a few were already making “get out of my territory” noises.  Two people behind me got delayed because there were alpha males following them (apparently angered at the steady parade of people in their territory) and they were trying to figure how to leave without being attacked.  (White-faced capuchins may LOOK cute but the guide said she once saw a group of them surround a female howler monkey and take her baby away from her). 

In the forests I noticed blue morpho butterflies- the large, blue ones with iridescent wings.  I never got tired of encountering species I'd seen only in zoos before this trip.