Puerto Caldera to San Jose International Airport

The cruise came to an end when we docked at 7am in Puerto Caldera. We had set our alarm for 6am and we went up on deck as the ship approached the port. A pilot boat came out to meet us and the pilot boarded the ship to guide us into the dock.

We finished packing our bags, took them to the reception area and then went to have our last breakfast aboard Silver Explorer. We said our goodbyes to many of the other passengers who were either staying on the ship for the next cruise down to Lima, or were ending the cruise like us and heading home.

We left the ship at 7.30am and waited on the quay for the taxi that we had pre-arranged to take us to the airport. After about twenty minutes, we discovered it was being held outside the port gates and so we were driven to the taxi by one of the port employees, in his own car.

 

The drive to Juan Santamaria airport, San Jose, was almost exactly an hour along a reasonable highway. We drove through lovely green countryside with rolling wooded hills. We didn't manage to take many photos from the back of the taxi, but this one of a church tower against the clouds, I rather liked.

We reached the airport at 9am, three hours before our American Airlines flight, first to Miami and then on to Los Angeles. We met several of the other cruise passengers, who were also flying to Miami. The plane left on time and we reached Miami after a flight of just over two and a half hours.

We then had the nightmare of clearing US Immigration, which took us nearly an hour. When we were finally through, we had to collect our bags and check in for our flight to Los Angeles.The flight lasted a little over five hours and we arrived at 10.15pm. Edward and Kate were there to pick us up and we got to our house at about 11.30pm.

We now have a week in Malibu before we return to London. It's been a great trip and I am really pleased that I have been able to 'tick the box' of going through the Panama Canal, truly one of Man's great civil engineering achievements.

Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park

Our final day of the cruise. We arrived at our anchorage outside the small town of Quepos in the early morning. We all disembarked by Zodiacs to the quay, where buses were waiting to take us to the national park.

It was a short drive to the park and while we were waiting at the park entrance, our guide pointed out this iguana sitting on a fence post.

Our guide led us into the park and, whenever he saw something of interest, he pointed it out to us. Here is a green tree frog.

A howler monkey, high up in the trees, followed us leaping from tree to tree. It stopped long enough for me to take this photo.

The animals of the forest are very tame and quite unafraid of humans, as they are strictly protected by Costa Rican law. This white-tailed deer came very close to us and ignored us completely.

Another iguana that is perfectly camouflaged.

After about an hour, we came to this wonderful beach.

Patrolling the small rest area by the beach was this white-faced monkey who took every opportunity to try and take food from the visitors to the park.

One of the park's strangest creatures is the sloth. This one was hanging upside down above the rest area by the beach. You could see its incredibly long claws that it uses to climb and cling to the trees.

A raccoon was foraging for food close by.

As we neared the end of the walk, the guide pointed out this hawk. It was a long way away and this is the best shot I took. Apparently a distinguishing feature of this hawk is that it doesn't have any talons.

Now here's Wendy's much better attempt!

Another iguana on a tree by the beach.

A beautiful tree-covered rock.

Our guide, Andres, flanked by two of the group.

On our way back to the buses, we had to take small rowing-boats through the mangrove swamp to reach the other side. It was a distance of about 10 yards! We then reached a table set with fresh fruit and drinks to refresh us before our trip back to the ship. It was much appreciated.

Silver Explorer anchored outside Quepos.

We then took the bus back to the ship for lunch, which we had on the aft deck. As we approached Silver Explorer, the chef was watching from a window, pointing at his watch and laughing, as if to say, "Hurry up. It's all ready!" After lunch, we went back to the shore to take a short walk around Quepos. It is a small, rather poor-looking place, but quite interesting, with sculptures along the seafront.

We walked back to the quay and took a Zodiac to the ship. I went up on deck as the sun was setting and saw this interesting 'face' in the clouds, lit up by the setting sun.

The sun disappearing behind the clouds on the horizon.

In the evening we had the Captain's farewell party. Our week on Silver Explorer is coming to an end!

Golfito, Costa Rica

Yesterday evening we had to put our watches back an hour, as we left Panama and sailed into Costa Rica. Overnight we travelled up the coast to the small port of Golfito, which we reached early in the morning. The weather was once again perfect with blue skies and a few clouds over the land.

Looking out to sea from the Bay of Golfito.

We had to wait at anchor in Golfito while we cleared Costa Rican customs. At about 9am, we left the bay and moved further along the coast to visit two places. The first was an orchid garden run by a local couple and the second, an animal refuge run by an American woman.

We were joined by local Costa Rican guides who were very knowledgeable and made the visit to the garden very interesting. Below are a few of the photos we took of the plants and their flowers.

Hanging under one of the palms was this tent-making bat.

As we neared the end of our tour of the garden, I saw our ship moored out in the bay with the palms making a perfect frame to the picture.

A giant hibiscus flower.

Looking along the beach near the orchid garden.

We returned to the ship for lunch and then took the Zodiacs to the animal refuge, which was about twenty minutes away. A school of dolphins swam alongside us and, try as I might to get a good shot of them, they always dived below before I could take a photo. The best I could do was this one of the tail of a dolphin, as it dived below the surface.

We landed on the beach next to the animal sanctuary, where they look after animals that have been confiscated from people who have them illegally, as well as animals that are injured in the wild.

We were all introduced to Sweetie, a spider monkey by Carol Crews, the founder of the centre.

The monkey liked to cling to the head of one of the staff.

This is a peccary, a small pig-like animal.

They had two magnificent macaws, which had both been affected by chemicals used by the banana growing companies and, as a result, neither was able to fly.

The refuge had a group of white-faced monkeys. Taking photos of them wasn't easy as the cage wires affected the camera focus, but Wendy managed to take this one, where the wires became a perfect frame for the monkey's face.

A two-toed sloth which looks like a mass of tangled hair!

The sloth's nose can be seen, but its eyes are hidden by the hair on its face.

The incredibly long tongue of a kinkajou, also known as a honey bear.

A tayra, similar to a weasel.

We stayed for about an hour and then returned to the ship. Tomorrow is our last full day of the cruise. We are spending it moored outside the town of Quepos and visiting one of Costa Rica's best known national parks, Manuel Antonio.

Isla Coiba, Panama

After leaving the Darien National Park, we had a run of over 240 nautical miles to our next port of call, Isla Coiba. The journey took us until the early afternoon, so during the morning we had two lectures. The first, given by Patrizia, was about how birds feature in art and religion. Wendy went to this, while I decided to enjoy some of the morning up on deck. The second lecture was by Robin Aiello on tropical fish found in the region. It was very interesting, especially the description of the extraordinary sex life of the parrot fish! The parrot fish is able to change sex at will. There is a dominant male who ensures all his harem remain female. When his powers wane, the females compete to take his place. The dominant female that wins the fight then changes sex. What a complicated life they lead!

There were two walks organised for us on Coiba,  a long and a short one. We opted for the long walk and boarded the Zodiacs for the short ride to the island.

It was a wet landing on the beach and I changed out of my sandals into walking-boots once we had disembarked. The walk took us straight into the rainforest through dense vegetation.

Our guide talked to us about the different plant species as well as the animals that inhabit the forest. We soon heard a howler monkey calling out from the tree canopy. It was very difficult to see it hidden in the leaves, near the tops of the trees. The howler monkeys are herbivores, while the white-faced ones are omnivores. Looking up into the canopy, we could see dark shapes moving through the trees.

The walk took us on a loop through the forest and back to a tiny rocky beach, where we were picked up by the Zodiacs. Wendy decided to head back to the ship while I went to another small island, Granito de Oro, to do some snorkelling.

It was an idyllic tropical island with a small grove of palm trees and a lovely sandy beach. The snorkelling was quite good and some of the group saw a small shark that we had been told inhabited the waters by the island.

After about an hour, I took one of the Zodiacs back to the ship. It had been an enjoyable, but not very strenuous, day of the cruise.

In the evening, we had the Venetian Society cocktail party held for frequent Silversea travellers. There were mentions for those passengers who had spent the most time on ships in the Silversea fleet. Some people have spent over 300 nights on cruises with the company! Afterwards, we had dinner with Bob and Thelma and a very pleasant couple from New Jersey, Arleen and Dick. The menu had an Italian theme and, as always, it was a very good dinner.