Casa Orquideas & Esquinas River, Costa Rica
After more than ten hours of cruising, we entered Costa Rican waters before the sun was up. Our Second Mate, Harold, did all the clearing-customs papers for us while we were just enjoying the first morning light.
Our morning outing brought us to a hidden garden in the middle of nowhere, where Ron and Trudy MacAllister, from New Hampshire and Pennsylvania respectively, arrived in 1974, and after 5 years of trial and error tropical farming, they relocated to this 70-acre property on a small bay part of the greatest Golfo Dulce.
Their goal was to raise enough products to support themselves. During these struggling years of growing crops they became aware of the great flora diversity in their own property. So they started a small garden with plants of the tropical rain forest that surrounds this stunning area of the country. Within the garden there are many plants that are exotic to this country and continent, orchids from Southeast Asia, fruits from New Guinea, palms that bloom once in their life and then die, birds of paradise from Madagascar that grow as tall as 20 feet, and more, a lot more, like the colorful heliconias (picture), hibiscus, bougainvilleas, and coco trees among many more.
The heat and humidity of the tropics was diminished by a refreshing swim from the stern of the Sea Voyager. For lunch, the galley delighted us with a wild rice and salmon with teriyaki sauce. Such a delicious meal could only lead us to a mandatory nap. After recharging our batteries we were ready for our second outing of the day: a Zodiac cruise through the mangroves and rainforest, where some of us got to spot a three-toed sloth, a raccoon, white ibises, boat-billed herons, green herons, snowy egrets and a tiger-rat snake. We ended another great day with delicious piña colada cocktails and a mild, mellow sunset.
After more than ten hours of cruising, we entered Costa Rican waters before the sun was up. Our Second Mate, Harold, did all the clearing-customs papers for us while we were just enjoying the first morning light.
Our morning outing brought us to a hidden garden in the middle of nowhere, where Ron and Trudy MacAllister, from New Hampshire and Pennsylvania respectively, arrived in 1974, and after 5 years of trial and error tropical farming, they relocated to this 70-acre property on a small bay part of the greatest Golfo Dulce.
Their goal was to raise enough products to support themselves. During these struggling years of growing crops they became aware of the great flora diversity in their own property. So they started a small garden with plants of the tropical rain forest that surrounds this stunning area of the country. Within the garden there are many plants that are exotic to this country and continent, orchids from Southeast Asia, fruits from New Guinea, palms that bloom once in their life and then die, birds of paradise from Madagascar that grow as tall as 20 feet, and more, a lot more, like the colorful heliconias (picture), hibiscus, bougainvilleas, and coco trees among many more.
The heat and humidity of the tropics was diminished by a refreshing swim from the stern of the Sea Voyager. For lunch, the galley delighted us with a wild rice and salmon with teriyaki sauce. Such a delicious meal could only lead us to a mandatory nap. After recharging our batteries we were ready for our second outing of the day: a Zodiac cruise through the mangroves and rainforest, where some of us got to spot a three-toed sloth, a raccoon, white ibises, boat-billed herons, green herons, snowy egrets and a tiger-rat snake. We ended another great day with delicious piña colada cocktails and a mild, mellow sunset.
