Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Welcome to Costa Rica! Our first day in a new country began with clearing customs in the town of Golfito. With a gorgeous setting of lush forested hills surrounding a deep bay, Golfito once harbored the United Fruit administrators, but is nowadays better known for the duty-free port established by the government in 1990.
Once cleared into the country, we repositioned the ship a little bit northwest and found the warm waters of Casa Orquideas. So much more than just an “Orchid Garden,” Casa Orquideas is a beautifully landscaped private botanical garden overlooking the sea. The owners of the garden, Ron and Trudy McAllister, invited us into their home of the past twenty-five years. In this garden you can see what the spices and herbs in your kitchen and garden look like on the vine or the tree, and taste them if they are in season. We saw ginger, vanilla, black pepper, chili peppers, cacao, cashew, mangos, papaya, as well as many beautiful orchids and familiar houseplants in their native habitats. Most of us could only marvel in their perseverance and determination to transform an otherwise regular piece of land into a botanical wonder. After the whole morning on shore, when most of us were filled with images and pictures, we returned to the ship to continue our adventure.
During the afternoon, we divided into two groups; some of us would start walking and others would start on a Zodiac cruise. There were a couple of us who decided to kayak among the mangrove forest. Both the walking and the cruising proved to be very rewarding to everyone. Sloths and toucans, parrots and ibis, otters and northern jacanas were just some of the creatures that welcomed us into their home. Coming back on board a double rainbow reminded us of how small we are in the scheme of things.
Welcome to Costa Rica! Our first day in a new country began with clearing customs in the town of Golfito. With a gorgeous setting of lush forested hills surrounding a deep bay, Golfito once harbored the United Fruit administrators, but is nowadays better known for the duty-free port established by the government in 1990.
Once cleared into the country, we repositioned the ship a little bit northwest and found the warm waters of Casa Orquideas. So much more than just an “Orchid Garden,” Casa Orquideas is a beautifully landscaped private botanical garden overlooking the sea. The owners of the garden, Ron and Trudy McAllister, invited us into their home of the past twenty-five years. In this garden you can see what the spices and herbs in your kitchen and garden look like on the vine or the tree, and taste them if they are in season. We saw ginger, vanilla, black pepper, chili peppers, cacao, cashew, mangos, papaya, as well as many beautiful orchids and familiar houseplants in their native habitats. Most of us could only marvel in their perseverance and determination to transform an otherwise regular piece of land into a botanical wonder. After the whole morning on shore, when most of us were filled with images and pictures, we returned to the ship to continue our adventure.
During the afternoon, we divided into two groups; some of us would start walking and others would start on a Zodiac cruise. There were a couple of us who decided to kayak among the mangrove forest. Both the walking and the cruising proved to be very rewarding to everyone. Sloths and toucans, parrots and ibis, otters and northern jacanas were just some of the creatures that welcomed us into their home. Coming back on board a double rainbow reminded us of how small we are in the scheme of things.
