Puerto Limon, Costa Rica (Monday, February 19)

The story goes that Puerto Limon had another name, but its reputation as a place sea captains could get lemons to stave off scurvy ultimately smothered the city's former name out of existence.

We docked at 8:15.  The weather looked threatening; a threat that never materialized.

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Today's Tour:  CARIBBEAN TRAIN, ECO CRUISE & COUNTRYSIDE

Ride on board historic but recently restored narrow gauge-train that will give you an open-air feeling and allow you to enjoy Costa Rica’s Caribbean region to the fullest, then take a relaxing cruise through a network of canals.

During the 20th Century, Railroads gave birth to Costa Rica’s banana industry and their routes passed through incredible landscapes as you will discover. In addition to the lush scenery, sloths, monkeys and other colorful creatures inhabit the area along the tracks and catching sight of them will provide an even more interesting ride through this region of Costa Rica.

Following your train ride, you'll board a boat and cruise through Tortuguero’s impressive network of canals that are sometimes referred to as 'the Amazon of Costa Rica'. Your leisurely navigation of the canals will likely have you spotting various waterfowl, white-faced and spider monkeys, and many other animal species along the banks. After your cruise, you will be treated to some fresh fruit, ice-cold water and soft drinks.

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We did the tour backward, going on the boat first and the train second.  

Port Limon was not quaint. It had what appeared to be a rundown functionality. We passed a park where Pam remembered seeing her first sloth the last time we were here.

Arriving at EcoJungle Cruises, we boarded a boat for a one-hour tour. 

Almost immediately, we saw a sloth, well part of a sloth, it's head being concealed by almond tree leaves.  

A while later, we got a better view of one.

We continued up the river, which for some people who live along it serves as an alternative to taking the road.

We had a few other sightings and sites...

At the far end of our ride, we passed under a bridge leading to a new marine freight terminal.  Costa Rica is prone to earthquakes.  At the top of each column was a dampener to minimize vibration being transmitted to the bridge itself.

Having dawdled our way upriver, we sped back down it, thumping a couple of submerged objects along the way. 

Some refreshment, and it was back on the bus for our transfer to the train.

Along the way, we passed near the new marine freight terminal.  We were told that due to the time and expense for shipping goods through the Panama Canal, for years Costa Rica had a prosperous transfer business from coast to coast.  There was concern that with the opening of the new, larger Panama Canal locks that business might evaporate, but demand remained strong with the potential of getting even stronger, hence the building of the new terminal.

Although almost impossible to make out in the picture, the crane on the left is on the pier.  The other two cranes are still on the ship that delivered them to the pier.  The logistics of shipping machines that massive and then offloading them must be daunting.  According to our guide, the cranes were made in China.  Presumably there was an assembly location much closer to Puerto Limon.

The train ride was fun.  The ancient cars were pulled by an antique diesel engine.  The narrow gage track made the cars skinny; cozy seating for two each side of the center aisle.  We went backward along the track for a while, stopped, then forward past our starting point to the end of the ride several miles further along.  We saw homes, schools, an oil refinery and jungle.  The ride lasted an hour.

birds' nests

crossing over river on which we had our boat ride

Disembarking the train and boarding our bus, we returned to the ship.

The ship was scheduled to depart at 5:00 PM, however, a three-bus tour that was due back at 4:15 was, for some currently unknown (to me) reason, seriously delayed.  The buses did not arrive at the pier until 8:45.  This created a problem.

• 230+ nautical miles distance to the Panama Canal.
• Top speed of 20 knots.
• Scheduled time for beginning of transit 9:00 AM tomorrow
• We cross a time zone during the night, advancing clocks one hour.  

There have probably been some frantic phone calls seeking a later passage time.  It will be interesting to see what the morning brings.