World Cruise Day 31/152 - Puntarenas, Costa Rica again - one month in, and it's a croc!

Cruise day: 31/152
Ports days: 11
Sea days: 20
Countries: 4
Continents: 1
Ports: 7

Day 31 - a full month.  Hard to believe that we've wrapped up 1/5 (or 20%) of this journey, probably because the change in itinerary means that we haven't gone to too many places. For us, only Panama is new so far, although our visit to Costa Rica before this cruise was on the Caribbean side, so I'll give partial credit for newness to Puntarenas.  After our second visit to Panama, in two days, that will all change as we start attacking new ground.

Today is our second visit to Puntarenas on this trip, the last one coming on January 2, exactly three weeks ago, also on a Sunday.  This time, we chose an optional excursion - Jungle Boat and Crocodile Safari.

We docked in Puntarenas at about 6:30 AM this morning.  Running a cruise ship is a logistics exercise in every way.  Port activities, food, supplies, crew, entertainers, fuel - you name it, it all has to happen to make a trip possible.

This morning, it was fuel and supplies. They were starting the fueling operation early this morning.  We were still taking on fuel around 4:00 PM. 

Part of the issue is the design of the dock in Puntarenas.  It is very long, two lanes wide, and has no place to turn anything around.  This means the fuel tankers have to back all the way from shore to the ship on a narrow strip of concrete.  The tour busses have to do so as well.  Holland America's MS Zuiderdam was docked next to us today.  Here's a look down the dock toward shore.

The tour busses are lined up and ready for passengers after backing all the way down the dock.

Aaron, the cruise director, notified everyone that there would be a delay disembarking the ship.  Here's why.  The Zuiderdam has reported COVID cases on the ship.  Here on the Viking Star, we are 100% COVID-free.  Zip, zero, zilch - no cases on board.  So, as a means to continue protecting us, we were held until all the Zuiderdam's busses departed so that we had no opportunity to intermingle with their passengers.  OK - I'll wait a few minutes.

Even with the late start, everyone was in a good mood on bus #9, and off we went.  Our first stop was at El Jardín Restaurante & Souvenirs - a large shop and restaurant.  We browsed souvenirs, sampled local fruit, juice, coffee (not us!), and beer (not Arlona!). They also had clean restrooms, and that was the most important part of the stop for many.

This iguana popped up for a cameo.

Arlona fondled the coconuts.

After the stop, we continued on our way to the Tarcoles River.  We boarded our tour boat and set off in search of wildlife!

The Tarcoles River is home to over 50 species of birds, monkeys, raccoons, squirrels, insets, and of course, crocodiles.  Its brackish water is saltier than fresh water, but not as salty as the ocean.

Along the shore in several areas, our guide, Maria, pointed out teak trees that are being farmed. Teak wood is water-resistant, termite-resistant, and durable in humid and salty climates.

I will give a shot at identifying as many birds as I can, but I am not really a "birder", so if I am mistaken, let me know and I will update this entry.

We saw several scarlet macaws.  They were so beautiful that I never got my camera up for a photo.

Tricolored heron

Terns and cormorants

Perhaps sandpipers?

Cormorants

Pelicans and a great egret

Pelicans in a tree - I had never seen this before!

Magnificent frigatebirds were fishing!

The sheer number of magnificent frigatebirds in the air was nuts - they were everywhere.

Little blue heron per reader comments - Black crowned night heron

Roseate spoonbill - the darker colored is the male

Hawk per reader comments - Snail kite

Not sure - perhaps a tiger heron?

Osprey

Not a bird!  This is a termite nest built up in a tree.  It helps keep it dry in the rainy season.  Macaws and some other birds will lay eggs in the nest to keep the eggs warm. I'd guess was 15"-18" in diameter.

Snowy Egret

Great blue heron

Black vultures

Whimbrel

Sandpipers, I think...

These little blue birds were flitting all over and were really fun to watch.  I think they are mangrove swallows, but I'm not sure.

Our boat ran aground multiple times.  The tide was out and the water was quite shallow, sometimes only a few inches.  The captain would reverse the engines and power us out!  We heard stones flying and saw water was spraying. I'd hate to see their motor and prop maintenance bill!

Crocodiles

The real stars of the show were the crocodiles.  We saw four or five.  A couple just popped up and then submerged quickly.  But, we were lucky to find a couple of crocs that weren't too shy and were willing to post for a photo or two.

This was the big one.  An informal way to estimate the length of either an alligator or crocodile is to estimate the number of inches between the midpoint of their eyes and the midpoint of their nostrils.  one inch equals approximately one foot in overall length.  If that is accurate, then we estimate that this one was somewhere between 10 - 12 feet in length.

After returning to our ship, we tossed in a load of laundry and enjoyed lunch.

Tonight's dinner featured wok cooking. Arlona had a bowl with noodles, pork, and veggies. I went more traditional with fried shrimp, tilapia, and onion rings.  Arlona sampled the dragonfruit sorbet and really liked it.  Again, I went traditional with chocolate gelato.

A long day and an hour time change forward tonight mean an earlier retirement to our room.

Tomorrow is another sea day en route to Fuerte Amador (Panama City), Panama on Tuesday, and a jungle boat tour and monkey watch.