Monteverde is a beautiful small town with old world charm
1 horse power or 100 horse power…
and a modern life style with lots of shops and tourist adventures like zip lining, rock climbing, and hiking the nine hanging bridges. We opted to take the morning off and just walk around town.
Remember these Kodak signs…
We went in and out of the many souvenir shops and looked at the unique items.
Souvenirs abound…Butterflies of Costa Rica…
There is a lot of beautiful hand crafted wood furniture available in this area and they will make to order if you know what you want.
Wood table tops…Mango wood vases…
Suzi loved these hand carved mango wood vases.
In the afternoon we joined our other tour mates for a tour of the Don Juan Coffee plantation.
Don Juan Coffee, Monteverde, Costa Rica…
We saw the coffee plants
In the coffee fields…
and Cacao trees growing and learned about harvest techniques,
Coffee & chocolate drying…
drying, grading,
The coffee roaster…
roasting and finally
Which roast do you like…
drinking and eating.
Fresh ground chocolate…Suzi meets Don Juan…
We also got to see the process used to turn sugar cane
Hand grinding sugar cane…More grinding…
into brown and white sugar,
The syrup of their labor…
molasses and Costa Rican moonshine known as “Guaro”.
Our “chariot’ arrives…
One final treat was a ride in a true Ox cart.
Twin ox boost…The view from behind the tails…Seating for as many as you can pack in…
Who knew ox carts have no suspension?
Our hotel in Monteverde…
Our last day on the tour was a travel day back to San Jose, Costa Rica. We checked out of our hotel in Monteverde and boarded our bus back to the big city.
On the bus again…
Along the way, we saw beautiful vistas,
Costa Rica countryside…
and even some wild life just hanging out in the trees.
which first headed to Arenal, the home of Arenal Volcano. As we traveled through the countryside, one stop we made was in Sarchi, home to the Guinness Book of Records’ world’s largest ox cart
The World’s Largest Ox Cart…
and also an ox cart factory where ox carts are built and meticulously hand painted.
Artist hard at work…
Ox carts started out as a way to transport goods and people from town to town and from inland towns to the sea ports.
History, by the wheels…
In the early 20th century, families began painting the carts and the style of painting could be used to tell what area and what family the ox cart came from.
History on wheels…
As more modern ways of transporting goods and people came about, ox carts were used less and less but the painting got more elaborate.
A wheel being renovated…Work in progress. All done by hand….
Currently, ox carts are used mostly in parades and celebrations but are even still used for transportation for some local farmers.
Another stop on the way to Arenal was at a local school that Gate1 Tours has “adopted” and provides with some support. As we drove up,
Anxiously waiting for the bus to arrive…
all the kids were waiting for our bus. As we got off the bus,
Being escorted to class…
a child took each of us by the hand and escorted us into their school. We sat down and watched as the children performed local dances for us.
Tiny dancer…Even coaxed some of the Gate1 folks to dance…
They sang the Costa Rican National Anthem and
Singing for us…
God Bless America for us. Then, they showed us around the school,
The computer lab…
the computer lab, lunch room, and playground. It was obvious to us that they took great pride in their school. Our visit came to an end and we loaded back up in our bus and headed to our first overnight stay at the foot of the Arenal Volcano.
Arenal Volcano…
It’s much cooler in Arenal than San Jose and the cool air was a welcomed pleasure. We stayed in La Fortuna at a lovely hotel
Our “Hotel”…
with a great view of the volcano.
The volcano from our casita…
Our first full day by the Arenal Volcano, we hopped aboard our trusty bus and headed toward the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica to the town of Cano Negro for a boat ride down the Cano Negro river. As we headed across the green country side, our tour guide, Ricardo, said we were going to stop and see some of his “family”. We stopped and he went to the fruit stand and bought some bananas. As he came back,
Did you say bananas???…
several LARGE iguanas
We LIKE bananas…
appeared from the bushes and began clambering for the bananas.
Bananas good…
A real feeding frenzy.
Just hanging out…
Back on our bus again, we made our way to the Cano Negro river. Once there, we got on the boat, said good bye to our fans on the dock,
Our fans…
and headed down the river. Our guide, Ricardo, was excellent at pointing out all of the various wildlife along and in the river…including a crocodile with babies, bats on a tree, lizards, turtles, monkeys and even a water cow!
Momma and the “kids”…Crocodile…Great American Egret…Can you spot the bats?Here they are…Long Nose Bats…I’m flying…NOT…High up in the trees…Montezuma Oropendola…The border…
Time to turn around…
Sitting in the shade… Cormorant…Hanging around…Howler Monkey…Watching for food…Boat Billed Heron…Laying in the sun…River Slider Turtle…Drying the wings…Colorful lizard…Basalisk LizardMore wing drying…Anhinga…
Once we arrived back at the dock, we boarded our bus and headed back to our hotel, looking forward to the next adventures on this tour. Oh, here’s the picture of the water cow…
We arrived at our new home for the next month, dropped off our suitcase and backpacks and ventured into town to check it out.
Main street…
We stayed on Isla Colón (pronounced Cologne) and life is a very laid back.
Bocas Town…
Bocas is full of tourists, backpackers, surfers, hostels and happy hours.
Bocas Town…
Many of the restaurants overlook the water and, as a result, there were postcards everywhere we looked.
Across the bay…From Restaurant Tom…
We did some snorkeling and the underwater world here is as pretty as the sights above water.
Fire Coral…Fish…Scuba divers…Starfish…
There are water taxis available to hop to neighboring islands and we enjoyed the fun of island hopping for lunch or dinner, sometimes hanging out and snorkeling.
Water taxis…Water taxi welcoming committee…Cosmic Crab on Isla Carenero …
We spent a day on Isla Bastimentos with some new friends and had lunch at The Firefly.
Isla Bastimentos…The view from shore…The Firefly…Island home for sale…Smiles of the children…
Life is peaceful here.
Tranquilo…
We toured Finca Los Monos Botanical Garden. This is a 25 acre privately-owned paradise.
Finca…
The owners moved to Bocas more than 16 years ago and cleared jungle land to build a house and plant some flowers.
Flowers…
After six years of clearing and planting numerous varieties of flowers and palms, a decision was made to open the gardens to the public and provide tours.
Ponds…
The grounds have become a refuge for howler monkeys,
Howler Monkeys…
butterflies, iguanas, numerous species of birds and even several sloths.
Another howler monkey…
We were fortunate enough to see a group of howler monkeys hanging out and swinging through the trees.
Lyn…
Lyn, who owns the 25 acre refuge along with her husband Dave, provided a wealth of information. She is a self-taught botanist and her energy and excitement about the area and the plants is very contagious. It was a wonderful day.
Paki Point…
We made more than one trip to Paki Point to relax and watch the surfers.
Surfing…
Besides good food and surfing, Paki Point is also known for the artwork
Artwork…
one of Panama’s premier artists, Ronaldo De Dedas (Rolo), has left there on the walls, tables, chairs and everywhere including several murals of his “mamis,”
Mamis…
visions of Mother Nature shown through symbolic representations of Panamanian and other Latin American women.
A beautiful setting…
A trip to Bocas is not complete without a visit to Paki Point
Our journey started with a trip to the city and then out to the Gamboa public dock by the Gamboa Rainforest Resort.
Gamboa Public Dock…Waiting for the boat…The Watch Pelican…
At the assigned time, and under the watchful eye of a pelican, we boarded our boat and headed out into the Panama Canal and off to Jungle Land for our overnight adventure.
Rialto M Christensen…
We passed by the massive dipper dredge, Rialto M Christensen. Dredging of the canal is an on-going process.
Aerial view…The huge bucket…
We continued through the canal, keeping watch on the buoys that mark the shipping lane.
Buoys in the canal…Buoy repair station…
And of course the ships that were headed through the canal.
Ship in the channel…
Also along the shores of the canal is the Titan Floating Crane built in Germany in 1941.
German Crane…
The crane is said to have a lifting capability of 700 tons and is used to lift the gates of the locks for maintenance. Also in the channel is another type of dredger. This one uses a large rotating ball to cut into the bottom of the channel.
Ball Dredger…The “Ball”…The business end…
The dirt is then sucked up through pipes and deposited on the shore.
Dirt dump…
Ok, so if you can’t tell, I’m just a big kid and I really like all the equipment that’s used in the daily operations of the canal. On to Jungle Land. Once we got into Gatun Lake, we headed out of the shipping channel and went around several islands just off shore. Up in the trees we saw several Howler Monkeys hanging in the trees.
Howler monkeys…Howler Monkeys…Howler Monkeys…
Our Captain, Juan, handed us peanuts as we floated into another island. He killed the motor and after a few moments, we heard noises on the roof of the boat.
Jumping to the boat…
The white face capuchins jumped from the trees to the top of the boat,
Coming for peanuts…
down the pipes holding the roof and grabbed the peanuts from our hands.
Take and run…
Then its back into the trees to eat the peanuts.
Eating peanuts…
After we all had a chance to feed the capuchins, we were off again to the “hidden” entrance to Jungle Land.
Hidden entrance…In we go…Out the other side…
Once we came out the other side, a beautiful world was revealed to us. Lush green forest and calm blue waters. And there before us was our floating home for the night, Jungle Land.
Home sweet home…A better look…We have arrived…
Jungle Land is comprised of a two story boat, tied up to a three story floating hotel with a one story floating supply area tied to that. Guest rooms are in the center section, on the first and second floors and the kitchen and dinning room are in the two story section.
On our floating home with Juan, our guide…
As the sun went down,
we ate a great dinner and then, after a search for geckos, one of our hosts brought out this little guy.
Janine with the Night Monkey…
This is called a Night Monkey. This little guy was found after its mother had died. As you can tell from the big eyes, it mostly only comes out at night. And yes, she eats geckos like popsicles. The night monkey went back into her cage and we headed out for our night time crocodile hunt. Yes, a real thing.
The hunt…
Our first catch…
Small, but its a start…Caiman…
The way this night time hunt works is by taking a spot light and shining it at the edge of the shore, we watch for the the red reflection of the animals eyes.
Frog spotted on the shore…
We spotted this Agouti next. A large rodent in the same family as the rat and mouse.
An Agouti…
Here’s a closer look.
The Agouti…
Our next sighting and catch was a 40 inch Caiman.
Smile…Captain Juan and the Caiman…How you doin…?Catch & release…
After we released the young caiman, we headed back to the floating lodge for a good nights sleep.
The next morning, I took a few pictures of the surrounding area.
A panorama view…
And I spent a few minutes with Snappy the Toucan
Snappy the Toucan…
Then it was off for a morning of fishing in Gatun Lake. But first, more monkey feeding!!!! Just behind the floating lodge, we put a bit of banana on our fingernails and the Tamarin Monkeys came down for breakfast.
Banana?Ready for breakfast…One of the guides…
Monkeys fed, its off to fishing.
Heading to the fishing spots…
As it turns out, the fishing was just slightly competitive. We had some VERY dedicated fisher people on board.
Julie from Quebec…Janine from Altos del Maria…Juan from the jungle…
When it was all said and done, the only losers were the Peacock Bass that we caught.
The losers…
And we were all winners at lunch when we ate our catch.
Fish lunch…
After lunch, we were treated to a little “fashion” show by the ladies when they modeled the Jungle Land’s Boa Constrictor.
Suzi and the boa…Janine and the boa…Julie and the boa…
Needless to say, some wore it better than others. After the “show” we hopped into the kayaks and headed out to the waterfall, the last place on our agenda.
Kayaking…
My wife opted for the canoe and she was able to get a few shots of the rest of us paddling away.
Yours truly…
We followed a small stream up into the trees and came to a small pond with a waterfall feeding it.
The pond and waterfall…
We took some time for some swimming and diving…
Diving…Not diving…
After cooling off, we paddled back to Jungle Land, packed up our stuff and took the boat back to the Gamboa Public Dock and our waiting ride back to Gorgona. A fun filled, busy 24 hours at Jungle Land.
