Puerto Limon, Costa Rica

Steve allows a photo as we enter the port of Limon, (lemon in Spanish) Costa Rica.  It was established in 1502 when Christopher Columbus landed here during his exploration of the new world.   It was founded as a port in 1870 to accommodate the export of bananas and grains from Costa Rica.  In the late 19th century, Italian, Jamaican and Chinese people came to help build the railroad to inland San Jose.  Many of them stayed and so this city of about 55,000 residents in the general area are mainly of Afro-Caribbean descent.  They have their own language Limonese Creole but also speak Spanish.

The terminal building at the end of the orange cone walkway was filled with artisan stalls.  We made a note to check it out later in the day.

The tour we elected to join included a rainforest walk, a canal cruise on the peaceful Tortuguero Canals, also known as the Caribbean version of the Amazon, and a bus ride through the countryside.

As soon as we left the ship, we boarded a bus which drove us through part of the city.

You will notice that many of the businesses and homes have bars.  Everyone works during the day so they want to protect their possessions.  It is not a wealthy area and they do their best protect their homes.

Limon is the 6th largest city in Costa Rica and has two port terminals for shipping and cruise ships.  The city is not very touristy.  Even though there are many beautiful beaches, most people travel through it on their way to Tortuguero National Park or Cahuita National Park.

We arrived at a covered pavilion to board boats for the scenic cruise down one of the Tortuguero canals.  A group was playing live music and there were bathrooms and drinking fountains.

Our boat driver and guide were pretty good at spotting wildlife and exotic plants and they eagerly shared their exotic discoveries with us.

Right away we saw lizards, birds and a sloth in a tree.

There is a lizard on a big leaf in the middle right of the picture below.

This part of Costa Rica has dense mangrove plants living in the wetland areas.

This old train carried tourists around other areas of the rainforest and canals. Their air conditioning was supplied by opening the windows.

Steve had his usual "hawkeyes" when it comes to spotting animals.  This photo shows a black animal in the lower middle left and another brown one directly to the right.  They are both monkeys.  It was hard to zoom in enough to take photos and still try to see them moving around in the trees.

There were several smaller black monkeys swinging through these trees.  Two monkeys are located in the lower right hand quadrant.

Here is another sloth literally swinging through the trees.  This was so fun to watch.

You can see the monkey a little better in this photo hanging from the big center limb about 2/3rd of the way to the top.

Several buildings along the canal were deserted and dilapidated.  I expected the land along the canals to be more expensive and desirable.  It didn't look expensive though.

Banana plants grow naturally in this climate and area but they also grow them on plantations for harvest.  Each plant produces one big flower which precedes the development of one huge bunch of bananas.  After that the plant is often cut down as it will not bear fruit again.

Below is a picture of a cacao nut hanging on a tree in the rainforest.

The guide shows the inside of the cacao pod which contains many seeds.  Those are roasted and crushed to make chocolate products.

This is a termite nest built in a tree in the rainforest.  Termites are a huge problem so most of the houses are made of cinder block or cement with metal roofs.  It rains about 133" per year.  The wettest months are July, Nov., Dec., and January.  The average temperature is 79 degrees F.

Banana flower and the beginning of a bunch of bananas.

The rainforest was beautiful.  Below is a ginger plant.  It is not the ginger plant that produces the popular spice.

Below is a coconut palm tree.

When we finished our walk through the rainforest on a paved trail, they had set up a fruit buffet for us.  The pineapple was mouthwatering.  It was a very nice refreshment break to eat fruit and drink water or lemonade.

Then we boarded our air conditioned bus for a ride through the countryside.  The photography is disappointing.  I found it very challenging to take pictures from a moving bus but I gave it a valiant effort.

I took this picture because on the other side of the trees is the beach and the ocean.  There were ordinary small houses flanking the road all along this area.

Here you can see some of the shipping vessels docked in the port.

Here is another picture of the cacao pod.  Our tour guide cut it open and allowed us each to sample a seed.  You just pop it in your mouth and suck the white gel-like coating.  It is very sweet and fruity tasting.  It doesn't taste like chocolate.  She warned us not to bite into the seed itself.  She said it needed to be roasted before it was safe to eat.

Below are photos of the banana plantation.  The banana bunches are covered with very large blue bags.  Since they spray the plants with insecticide from the air, they put the bags over the bunches of bananas to protect them.

Lots of children were gathered under this pavilion.  I don't know if it was a school or what.

Below is a school.  The school kids seemed to wear uniforms.  I saw some kids lined up outside in the courtyard.  It appeared they were practicing for some kind of a program.

The city area is somewhat rundown due in part to many earthquakes in the area.

We arrived back at the ship early enough to catch afternoon cookies and scones.  This particular day, they had a yummy carrot cake, ( one of Steve's favorite desserts" and oatmeal cookies too.  Steve hit the jackpot.  So we boarded the ship to enjoy the afternoon "scones."  Then we got back off to check out the artisan terminal which was close by.

It turned out to be quite unique and fun.  Most of the artists were making their wares right there.  Most of their items were handmade and not imported from China.  The vendor made leather bags and purses.  Steve bought a new fanny pack and I got a purse.

Here is another cacao pod.  There are many seeds inside.  This company roasts them and then coats them with brown sugar and a variety of spices from cinnamon to jalepeno.

Here is the whistle maker

This guy made jewelry.  You will see the necklace I bought from him in one of the last pictures on this post.

The people of Costa Rica were extremely friendly and nice.  They tried very hard to please and they were not aggressive and they didn't try to chase you down or guilt you into purchasing their wares.

This night we had dinner in the Asian restaurant.  I am wearing my new necklace.

Here is one of our sail away photos as we left Costa Rica.  We were happy that this area wasn't very touristy and we felt like we got to see more the way the people really lived and worked.  They smile a lot and are grateful for your business.  We really liked the people we met in Costa Rica.