Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Our one day in beautiful Costa Rica and our excursion turned out to be pretty much of a bust. Costa Rica is such a beautiful country and I was looking forward to a short hike in the rain forest and seeing tropical birds, flowers, plants and such. We’ve stayed at the La Pas Waterfall’s Peace Lodge in the past (such a wonderful place!) so I had envisioned something similar.

welcoming Oceania to Costa Rica

beach near port (bus window shot)

We were mentally prepared for a possible 1 hour 20 minute bus ride to Jaco where we planned to ride an aerial tram ride through the rain forest, then have lunch followed by an hour's walk in the rain forest. We each took a book to read on the bus to make the trip shorter. We were off to a good start on Hwy 34 when our bus joined a long line of cars waiting to cross the Crocodile Bridge which runs across the Tarcoles River. One side of the entire bridge was completely blocked off due to construction – ugh! Unfortunately, this highway is heavily trafficked and police were only allowing a limited number of cars and buses from one direction to cross the bridge at a time. The result: cars, trucks, buses and motorcycles backed up for miles – just SITTING.

The Crocodile Bridge with the huge crocodiles below is a well-known tourist attraction, so much so that souvenir stores and restaurants have built up around it and there are even bathrooms right at the bridge. Pedestrian walkways run on both sides along the entire length of the bridge. 

Our excursion might have been an “ok” experience under normal circumstances. However, with an ongoing bridge situation, Oceania’s Destination Services should have anticipated problems and scratched that offering. The result was that a 1 hour 20 minute drive turned into 2+ hours going and over 3.5 hours on return! To say we were all tired of being in the bus would be an understatement. It’s more accurate to say we were all exhausted! 

Suffice it to say that 5.5+ hours on a bus to ride an aerial tram through the rain forest was a disappointment. We saw one toucan at a distance (I wasn't fast enough to catch a photo), a few hummingbirds and an occasional butterfly – not exactly what I would call exciting. The ride itself was kind of peaceful though, with a nice breeze at times while suspended high in the canopy and serenaded by a choir of cicadas. 

 

view from our aerial tram

Following our tram ride, we were served a traditional Costa Rica meal (black beans, white rice cooked in coconut water, chicken and vegetables) after which some of us walked for maybe a half hour with our guide while she pointed out different plants used for cooking or medicine. We also spent a few minutes inside a butterfly house which was uncomfortably warm inside. I so wanted to get a photo of the beautiful iridescent morpho butterfly. I did see a few of those but one would never light long enough for me to snap a picture. Here's one from a different trip to Costa Rica.

 

adult blue morpho lives 2-3 weeks

butterfly house

dead owl butterfly

 

 

different varieties feeding on banana

lobster claws

cocoa pod

1 plant = 1 pineapple per year

heliconia

Shortly after 3 p.m. we all boarded the bus for the l-o-n-g ride back to the port. We finally made it back around 6:30 p.m. We cancelled our specialty dining reservation (which was at 6:30), showered, ate a quick dinner in the Terrace Café and called it a day.