Jan 12, 2013 - Finally...the Internet has been down on the ship for two days...

I wanted to post this yesterday, but the Internet on the ship has been down for the past two days. Yesterday began warm and humid and built from there. We had hired a private guide to take us for a short sight-seeing tour and then to Jungle Breezes for a zipline adventure! Our guide, Danilo Hall, was a great find. If anyone ever has a stop in Puerto Limon, we heartily recommend him. After driving us around the area and stopping to point out several families of howler monkeys and a couple of tree sloths (who knew that there was a...

Mar 6, 2012 - Day 8: Puerto Limon

2160 miles traveled as of this morning! Fortunately our excursion for today didn’t have to meet until 10am. That’s good thing because I don’t think I could have moved fast this morning! It was raining when we awoke and rained off and on for most of the day. But this is the rain forest, after all! After breakfast we assembled our water, rain jackets, etc. and went out onto the pier to meet our group. Two groups had gone before us and they encountered most of the rain. We were lucky to have perfect weather for our Zipline adventure – not...

Jan 25, 2012 - At Sea

Today was a day at sea as we make our way towards Jamaica. Our tour company arranged for group leaders to have a tour of the bridge which was very interesting and informative. We enjoyed a Mexican buffet for lunch and then relaxed for most of the afternoon. Tonight was our second formal night. We met for a group photo before dinner and then afterwards everyone parted to attend shows or call it a night. We are scheduled to arrive in Ocho Rios, Jamaica around 9 am tomorrow.

Jan 24, 2012 - Limon, Costa Rica

Located south of Nicaragua and North of Panama, Limon sits on the Caribbean Sea. The climate is tropical and is normally hot year round with temperatures in the 80s and 90s. The highlight of the visit to this part of Costa Rica is the rain forest. For those of us with excursions, some spent some time at a sloth factory, others took city tours, and still others traveled to the Rain Forest Preserve where we took a nature walk through an area of the rain forest then enjoyed an hour long aerial tram ride over the forest canopy followed by a...

Dec 26, 2008 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica - Lemon Port, Rich Coast

Our on-board Travel Guide, Richard, barely stopped short of guaranteeing rain for our canal transit; but, luckily, we had a nice beautiful dry day. Panama gets a lot of rainfall but we are out of the worst of the rainy season now. However, as we docked in Puerto Limon, the rain found us. This was typical tropical rain; one minute a downpour and the next minute dry. All of this rain produces stifling humidity and it felt like a Turkish sauna once we stepped ashore. The camera lens fogged instantly and we had to let it stabilize before we...

Jan 8, 2008 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Another wonderful port of call ;) We sailed into Puerto Limon, Costa Rica, on schedule with clearing weather in the mid-70s F. A visit to the Tortuguero Canals was first on the list today with a 3-hour cruise through a rain forest filled with birds, monkeys, sloths, and an amazing variety of flora. During the return trip to the cruise ship, we visited a Del Monte banana plantation to see the banana growing, packing, and shipping process. Upon returning to the ship - and a nice lunch onboard - there was plenty of time for a stroll through...

Jan 6, 2008 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

1/6 - 1/7 It took us a day and two nights of sailing to get us to our next port, Puerto Limon, Costa Rica. We were kept busy with more lectures, activities and just relaxing while we watch the ocean pass by. When we got off the ship in Puerto Limon there were a number of venders hawking tours of the town and rainforest. After checking them all out we decided to take Randy's tour for $35/person. The tour started with a drive along the coast to one of the many canals that weave their way through the Costa Rica rain forests. We took a canal...

Dec 30, 2007 - Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Our last stop on our cruise before heading back to Ft Lauderdale was Puerto Limon in Costa Rica. The Volendam dropped anchor in town, and we took a shore excursion inland to the Sarapiqui River to enjoy a riverboat trip through the tropical forest. The wildlife and vegetation was incredible. Our trip was topped off with a fabulous Costa Rican lunch right in the middle of the rain forest.

Mar 20, 2007 - COSTA RICA - Puerto Viejo de Talamanca

This place was just as expected - totally beautiful and just how i imagined CR to be....stunning white beaches, lush green jungle, lots of wildlife (mainly monkeys) and a very Caribbean chilled out vibe... we totally loved it and ended up staying much longer than planned..we stayed in a really lovely hostel and just totally chilled out for a few days... We hired bikes one day and cycled the 20km to next beach town Mazanillo - nearly killed me the bikes being so crap and the roads so bumpy, but was good fun and good to do some proper...

Jan 14, 2007 - Cartegena - Columbia

Cartegena - Columbia not Costa Rica The Stevedores on the dock side were loading a large sea container ship with coffee beans bound for Hamburg. It was 6 am in the morning and the sun was shining through our cabin window. Outside the temperature was 32 degrees and there was not a cloud in the sky. It was ten years ago I worked in Bogotá and I never thought I would return to Columbia. Certainly not on the QE2. Several years ago my best friend used to operate out of this side of the world. His name was Boris Papachec. He and I have sailed...

Oct 10, 2006 - Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica

We are now in Costa Rica in Puerto Viejo which is a funky hippy & rasta colony on the Caribbean coast. We left Bocas to catch a 7am water taxi to the mainland in Changuinola. It was a beautiful ride along the coastline protected by a sandspit through the mangroves. We made great time and the ride was smooth. We were intending to then catch a taxi into town to get a bus to Costa Rica. Being the wild adventurous types, we followed the other gringos and got on a bus, realizing 5 minutes in that it was a taxi to the border. Oops. Well, there...

Jun 27, 2006 - Puerto Viejo, Coasta Rica

This was our first stop in Coasta Rica. We made it early in the morning after taking a bus to the border in Siaxola. We literally had to cross the boarder (on foot across a long rickety bridge with transports on it). We stayed at the Rockin J's hostel, however when we arrived there were no longer any rooms....so we stayed in a TENT! Super fun hostel on the beach, with lots of people!! We ran into alot of people we had already met on our trip! The beach was beautiful and the city was very lively! The surf was very intense! So we couldnt...