Day 09 East - 01/10/22 - Puntarenas

Puntarenas, Costa Rica is a port we have visited a number of times.  Our last visit was on the Maasdam on an Easter Island voyage.  We did a fabulous crocodile viewing trip then, so this time we decided to do a more historical tour so we booked a trip into San Jose to visit the National Theater and Central Bank Museum.

 

The ship arrived on time around 8am and berthed on the starboard side of the long finger pier.  Shortly after we docked, the Regent Seven Seas Explorer pulled in and berthed on the port side of the dock.  Supposedly it's one of the most expensive cruise ships on the high seas.

 

We reported to a standing room only main stage shore excursion assembly point just before 9am for a scheduled 9:30am departure.  We waited and waited and finally clearance was given by Ian.  And we waited some more.  The Peruvian shore excursion lady even gave her cruise life story. Finally she started calling guests for tours.  But not ours.  She explained that the delay was due to the other ship having arrived and nobody could be on the dock.  Plus all of the buses had to back down the long pier as there was no turn around capability.  Add to that that Costa Rica had a mandatory temperature check and vaccine card inspection and a health questionnaire.

 

Finally with three groups left to be called, our tour was called and I was stunned at how few people were on it.  Only 15 people. Most people were on wildlife tours.  We made our way off the ship, through the vaccination status checkpoint (I used the photo of my vaccination card which the agent took a picture  of) and found our bus.  With only 15 passengers on a 60 person bus, there was lots of room to spread out although most people used front seats. We later learned that 15 people was less than the minimum but that the Tour was authorized to still go. We sat in the very back with expansive clean windows to enjoy the view.

 

Lenar, or Len for short, was our guide.  The ride into San Jose was 1.5 hours and he talked virtually the whole way. At the National Theater, we left the bus and headed on into the theater.  It's a classic old theater completed in 1897.  At this time,  the stage area was being renovated.  For me, the most surprising thing was that the entire main floor about 100 feet in diameter could be raised and lowered using human powered levers and gears not unlike animals that grind corn or flower walking around in a circle while affixed to a lever like spokes on a wheel.

 

On the second floor is the presidential suite and the mahogany wood casings are polished like glass and have the original ornate hinges and latches.

 

The Central Bank museum was next to the theater and was a relatively small museum built underground with 3 floors like an air-raid shelter with a number of blast resistant doors to protect the artifacts.  On the lowest floor were the pre-Colombian artifacts.  All the displays were in Spanish and English. The second floor was the next eras in their history and the top floor was a coin exhibit and a gift shop.  I would note that I saw at least 8-10 McDonald's on the drive into the city and around the theater complex were many typical American fast food restaurants.

 

We re-boarded the bus and left the central city using the same route we had come in by.  We stopped for lunch at what turned out to be at a complex owned by the tour company.  The lunch was a chicken and beef buffet which was quite good.  One of our table mates, John & Bonnie, also have a son in law who was a retired Navy Prowler Navigator like our son in law and served at the same Navy base on Whidbey Island.

 

Back on the bus we retraced our route back to the port with a stop at the El Jardin souvenir shop which I think we have visited before. The beautiful sunset greeted us as we reached the port area.  Along the way I spotted a monkey in  a tree. We arrived back at the port about 45 minutes before the required 6:30pm onboard time.  We ate a quick dinner before I positioned myself on the promenade deck to watch the last guests arrive. 6:30 came and went with the gangway still in position.  Finally at at 6:50 two busses rolled in.  Our late departure must have set their schedule back. It's one reason to book ship sponsored tours:  they wait for late returns.

 

I had hoped to see the departure, but the 7:30 BBC multimedia presentation with the Lincoln Center musicians playing live accompaniment of 7 Continents One Earth was being shown.  This is a new production for us.  It certainly wasn't crowded like the James Bond movie last night. At 8:10 we felt the bow thrusters come on indicating our departure.  At 8:20pm after the presentation was over we went back out on the promenade deck to see the darkened pier receding in the distance.  Since I failed to stay awake during the first showing, we went back for the second showing and I made it through successfully, my wife didn't.

 

Heading back to our room we checked out deck 9 aft and I was able to snap a pretty nice picture of the moon with the P900 Nikon camera.  There's also a pretty significant cricket infestation there as well. We can't see them, but the chirps are quite noticeable.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day and it will be good to catch up with my blog.  Stay tuned.