Saturday – Wednesday, 3/01 – 3/05. Left the group and went on my own to Panama. Uncomplicated Transit. Uber is everywhere. The drive from the airport presented a revelation. Panama City is enormous (in height). Extremely modern buildings, unlike anything I’ve seen in Central America before. Though there are the inevitable slums in the city, the wealth was unique. In my case the poorer sections of the city were more obvious than normal. There was a large Mardi Gras celebration in the city center, so Uber had to make large detours.

My hotel room was on the 30th floor(!). The hotel had a very small pool that was more daytime night club than pool. Loud music. It was a pleasure to stay in one room for four nights. For dinner I had the Cuban Ropa Vieja, which was a MacGuffin in a TV show I’d seen once.

On Sunday I took a full day tour of the Canal with about 60 others. It began with a bus ride north to a boat that traveled south, through three locks. A guide gave a continuous briefing about the canal. It was everything I hoped to see and learn. It fulfilled a bucket list item. Perhaps the most interesting new thing I learned was that ALL boats going through the Canal need a licensed pilot. Size notwithstanding. We moored in the locks with a 45 foot sailboat that indeed had a uniformed pilot aboard. I had dinner ashore close to the boat. Loud music. I was sensing a consistency.

The next day I joined a small walking tour of Panama CIty’s old town, which the guide pointed out was not the real Old Town, which was destroyed by pirates 1671. This was the old town of the newly rebuilt town. A lot of history, spread over centuries. Many buildings in existence during the Canal construction still exists. Very nice tour. I had a late lunch of perhaps the most delicious quesadilla I’d ever had.

On the last full day I’d planned to literally do nothing. Just take the day off. But I’d expected the pool area to be a quiet, restful place. Not hardly. So I called another Uber and visited the Canal Museum. Very, very modern and well organized. It was like they’d opened it yesterday. The interesting aspect of the museum was its focus on segregation and the resultant unequal treatment. Though the McCullough book about the Canal certainly addressed the situation, the museum dedicated as much as a quarter of its space to it. I was reminded of the Costa Rican guide who many times stressed that racial discrimination was never an issue in Central America.

The return flight was routine. Next trip is a river cruise from Prague to Berlin in May. Nothing is planned after that yet. I don’t know; maybe the thrill is gone.

Wednesday – Saturday, Feb 26 – Mar 1. Traveling every other day is a drag. Yesterday afternoon on the hike out of the waterfall I was bitten badly by some very nasty mosquitos. Today (Sunday) I’m still putting on anti-itch cream.

Wednesday morning some people went on a nature hike. I passed. On the way to our next hotel we tried to find a local festival, only to discover it’s only open in the evening. We proceeded south towards the western coast on a busy highway, stopping at a restaurant for a late lunch. Spaghetti.

Our final resort was a very large development with hotels and condos. Two beaches, many pools. Very hot and humid. I walked to the furthest beach, hoping for a good sunset that never materialized. Others took the bus, which I thankfully rode back in. Dinner was outside. Buggy.

Thursday was a outrigger canoe trip on the ocean, with a beach-picnic destination. I passed again. Didn’t want more bugs, a hot sun, and a picnic meal. I’ve never liked picnics. Because of the precarious nature of canoes and ocean, I wasn’t going to bring a camera. So I just walked around the resort a bit. In the late afternoon everyone made their way to the nearer beach for a beer and another chance to see a sunset. I swam a little. This one was more interesting.

Friday we departed for San Jose and our final night. On the way we cruised a tidal river that had crocodiles and an abundance of birds. It was perhaps the most rewarding event in the whole trip for me. Worked on my birds-in-flight skills. Afterwards we sat through traffic for what was a supposed to be a 90 minute drive. Three hours later we arrived for a 3PM lunch, 5 minutes from the hotel. Our Farewell Lunch was in an Argentinian restaurant. It was a silly event to close out the trip.

I left Costa Rica on Saturday in a very routine fashion.

Observations: This was a “Learn and Discover” trip to see how Costa Rican’s vacation. At every hotel it was more normal to see Costa Ricans than people from the USA. We did not experience the parts of Costa Rica that other visitors rave about when they come. I would not come back to where we visited, but I can certainly imagine how nice it would be in other parts of the country. Rafting, horseback rides, boating, zip lines, beaches, all are great fun for the vacationer.

Tuesday, February 25. Horseback ride to a small falls. Walk to a larger falls, where we swam at its feet. Another walk to a series of hot springs of differing temperatures and depth, with the option to apply mud. I dipped my feet into 113 degree water, briefly. Didn’t use mud.

Monday, February 24. Long bus ride to the western part of Costa Rica. Vastly different climate. A “dry” rain forest at this time of the year. Shifting from 80 degrees and 80% humidity to 90 and 50%. Stopped at a cocoa farm for a loooong tour of their spice garden/cocoa trees and a demonstration on how cocoa is refined. Fun guide. They don’t convert their cocoa into (milk) chocolate products. Lost my interest right there. A single tamale for lunch.

Very nice Hacienda resort. Lots of activities available, which we’ll have little time to participate in. Sounds like they have birds. A good sunset.

Sunday, Feb 23. A longish drive to the northern border to cruise the Rio Frio. Great day for some photos. Some very aggressive spider monkeys leapt aboard the boat, driven off by splashing water on them. Not nice monkeys.

Drove up the road to the Nicaraguan border crossing, where we could easily see folks walking off into the forest to avoid the checkpoint. Buses stood by to take paying migrants south.

Had a fantastic dinner of Churrasco (steak).

Some of these photos are from the day before.

Saturday, Feb 22. Against my better judgement I went on a nature hike while rain threatened. To be fair, the choice was hike or sit in the bus for two hours. I’ve hiked in the rain before and know what it’s like. As usual the rain began to really come down at the furthest point. Nothing to see, nothing I really wanted to see. A companion (not the brightest bulb in the box) found a run-over (dead) coral snake and picked it up to show everyone, which got a stern lecture from the Trip Leader about the dangers of touching deadly dead things. In all, a bad morning.

After lunch half of us went on Zip lines. Nine lines. It was a little different than the one I did in Guatemala. Also, the thrill appears to be gone. But it was done under heavy clouds without much of a view. One woman realized on the first line that she was terrified. Literally shaking. Had to be helped down the rest of the lines. It was alarming how panicked she was.

Minutes after we finished, the clouds opened up. The hotel, for reasons beyond understand, has no canopies covered the walkways. Crazy. Shortly after we arrived, the power went out. Not only for the hotel but for the entire town. We raided the gift shop for snacks. Power came back at about eight.

No photos to speak of.

Friday, Feb 21. The school is brand new (2020). Heavy fortified. I mean heavily. Cyclone fencing, Barbed wire tops, doubled metal gates at the entrance, etc. They have a problem with child abductions. Excellent facilities for only 120 students. Four teachers for basic learning, plus a dedicated special needs assistant who roams. Full kitchen. The kids have very nice backpacks and pencil cases. These are well-cared-for children. My balloons were a big hit.

After stopping at a market for food, visited a family. 450 sq ft home, built with government funds after the family bought the property. Large outdoor kitchen. Nice meal. Cute kids.

For dinner we went to a karaoke sports bar with an indoor soccer field (6X6 teams). Adult players, very good.

Thursday, Feb 20. A nature hike was scheduled for the morning. I’d been following the weather and knew that rain was headed our way. I was therefore on the fence about going right up until the bus departed. The walk included an 850 foot suspension bridge, which sounded exciting to maybe hike in the rain. So I got on the bus, but then hopped off when it indeed began to rain. Took a nap. When I woke up the rain had stopped and the clouds had thinned a little. I was able to get some so-so photos of hummingbirds. The grouped returned, saying they had seen no animals in heavy rain.

During lunch it rained buckets. Intense.

We departed after lunch for our next hotel/resort. Saw a sloth along the way, maneuvering the bus into various positions to get a good look. It moved!

The new resort, which has seen better days but is still adequate, has seven pools, some containing hot mineral water. It’s built on a hill without elevators, which is a problem for some people. We’re at the top, the restaurant is at the bottom. I got the feeling that it’s not a tourist resort. More for Costa Rican locals. (We’ve learned that our route doesn’t touch the really popular spots for foreigners. Fine with me.)

Wednesday, February 19. Things are looking up. In the morning seven of us rafted down the Rio Sarapiqui. Some of the rapids were great fun. It’s rated grade 2/3, probably closer to 2 than 3. There were short cascades, followed by calm stretches. I’ve never done rapids that lasted more than a few seconds. These rafts had foot holds (Stirrups) that really helped stability. Lots of wildlife to see. Shame that I couldn’t bring my camera.

The afternoon included an optional tour of a pineapple plantation. I passed. Spent the day searching for birds. A caretaker pointed me to one fantastically beautiful bird, but other than that I had to just sit at the bird viewing bench where they put out food for the birds. Seemed a little like cheating. It’s still too dark for my camera, which is only substandard for it’s poor low light capability. I need sunshine.

Rained like I was in a tropical forest in the early evening. Wonderful sound.

Tuesday, February 18. Drove over a mountain range to reach the eastern lowlands. Spent at least two and a half hours learning (in exhausting detail) about producing coffee, from the field to the packaging. Since I get headaches just smelling coffee, it’s not going to be the highpoint of the trip. It was interesting to note the similarities with wine producing.

The road was straight in no direction. Light traffic. There was always some house or business along the route. Amazingly, just as we crossed the mountain top, San Jose was still visible in the distance. It’s not a big country. Stopped at a nice waterfall.

Lodging is a very remote rustic resort, offering all kinds of nature activities. Surrounded by pineapple fields. Dinner was local fare that seemed pretty normal. Nothing unusual.