Panama Canal 2015 28 Feb. Day 9

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This morning we arrive in Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica. We have opted for a "Discover Costa Rica" bus tour, which quickly leaves Puerto Caldera behind and starts climbing.

Costa Rico was reputedly named "Rich Coast" by Señor Columbus himself after the rich flora and fauna and after the hoped-for mineral riches. The natural beauty of this country is astonishing. The Pacific side, where we have landed, is extremely mountainous, with broad valleys cut by rivers where towns and cities are nestled. It is manifestly dry, though very hot, and many of the trees and plants we see are clearly waiting for the advent of rain, which will start in May. The flowers are fantastic: a hundred different shades wherever you look. Many of the most beautiful flowers are actually on trees, including magnolias and many others that we do not know. Wherever possible, the land is cultivated. We pass by fields of peanuts, sugar cane, corn and other vegetables and fruits. Coffee, one of the country's major exports, does not grow here in the lowlands.

Our first stop is a rest stop where there are souvenirs. The handicrafts for sale are beautiful but definitely on the pricey side. We continue climbing, and the roads become increasingly bumpy. We are seated in the back of a small 20-person bus and consequently are well shaken by the time we reach our first major destination, the town of Palmares, situated in the caldera of a long-extinct volcano. We walk through the the attractive central park, resplendent with blooms and tall trees, but the main attraction here is the Church of Palmares, which apparently has miraculously survived several earthquakes that have severly damaged the town. The secret is reputedly to be the mortar joining the stone bricks, which is made partially from whole eggs. We walk around the church and its enclosing gardens, all very attractive. The temperature here is perhaps 27°C or so, not humid, and there is a nice breeze, so we find the weather quite pleasant.

Back on the bus for another hour of shaking. Our guide Lee is obviously proud of his county's accomplishments. By Central America standards, Costa Rico has been an island of stability in tumultuous times. it is increasingly a tourist and ex-pat destination for Americans, Canadians and Europeans. And because of its relative stability and prosperity, Costa Rico is able to take concrete steps to protect its magnificent environment by promoting sustainable development and tourism.

We have been continually climbing, and we are now at 4500 ft.: prime coffee territory. Coffee prefers to grow not in lowlands, not high in the mountains, but rather at medium elevations, and best of all in volcanic soil. We finally reach our destination; the Doka coffee plantation in Alajuela. Apparently this coffee plantation, established almost 100 years ago, is the largest in the country, accounting alone for 15% of Costa Rica's coffee exports.

The grounds are beautiful: immaculately maintained with a dazzling array of trees, plants and flowers. We are whisked (too quickly for my liking) through stations showing how coffee is grown, harvested and processed. We do find out that coffee beans must first be soaked for several days to remove the outer skin, then completely dried in the sun before being sorted and roasted. As you probably know, the darker roasts, despite their stronger flavour, have less caffeine than the lighter roasts, as caffeine is destroyed during the roasting process. We also learn about pea berries, which are round coffee beans with a somewhat lighter flavour that must be separated from the other beans.

After this all-too-brief educational tour, we pass through the inevitable gift shop (and, yes, we do buy some coffee) and enter the cafeteria where a "typical" Costa Rico meal is ready for us. Our guide has already joked to us that his people mostly eat rice and beans and for variety occasionally have beans and rice. And there is indeed rice and beans, but some tasty beef and onions, chicken, salad and fruit juices as well–and, of course, several different coffee blends to try. A tasty lunch.

Back on the bus. our final major stop of the day is La Garita, where there is a botanical garden, featuring a variety of Costa Rican flowers, plants and trees, with an emphasis on orchids. One of the most interesting things for me is the stands of impossibly tall bamboo trees, an import from Asia. They bang together in the wind and make an amazing sound. The flowers are beautiful, of course, but we have seen more extensive collections of orchids before. There is also a bird sanctuary, which, disappointingly to me, contains nothing more than a half dozen very bored macaws behind chain-link fencing.

That's the end of our tour. We return, thoroughly shaken, to the peer. I am definitely impressed with Costa Rico and want to see more of it. Comparing notes with other passengers, we would have done better to select one of the mangrove or rain-forest tours, which we hear showcased many different kinds of flora and fauna in their natural habitat.

The on-board entertainment format for this evening is interesting. Deck 8, where most of the bars are, has the ship's entire complement of singers and performers moving around to group up in various combinations. We enjoy wandering around to see who is playing with whom at the three main venues. The pièce de résistance is an enthusiastic amateur performance by the ship's Indonesian crew, featuring both folkloric and modern songs.

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