Golfo Dulce, Costa Rica
Finally a late morning wake-up call! So, not too early this morning, we disembarked to visit one of the highlights of our trip, a botanical garden called Casa Orquideas. Literally in the middle of nowhere, our hosts Ron and Trudy MacAllister have established their own small heaven-on-earth. Over twenty-five years ago these two Americans decided to build their home in Costa Rica, and in order to fulfill their love for gardening, became surrounded by native and exotic plants. This hobby has developed into our good luck! We visited their garden: calabash, cannonball, sour sop, cocoa, strangler fig trees, and many other species of trees welcomed us into their dominion. The plants we saw included heliconias, bromeliads, orchids, and ferns, plus many species of birds. Our morning was topped with warm waters as we swam off the stern of the ship.
The afternoon was as warm as they come. Waiting for the sun to lower in the sky, we enjoyed a great presentation by Federico Chacon on rainforest interconnections and then prepared to disembark to various activities. Our first kayaking experience, a bird-watching walk along a public road, and a Zodiac cruise among the mangrove forests were the choices. The birding proved to be fantastic: trogons, toucans, aracaris, woodpeckers, kingfishers, and many more were added to our list today.
After a very enjoyable day, we bade farewell to Costa Rica and headed on to the second country of our adventure: Panama.
Finally a late morning wake-up call! So, not too early this morning, we disembarked to visit one of the highlights of our trip, a botanical garden called Casa Orquideas. Literally in the middle of nowhere, our hosts Ron and Trudy MacAllister have established their own small heaven-on-earth. Over twenty-five years ago these two Americans decided to build their home in Costa Rica, and in order to fulfill their love for gardening, became surrounded by native and exotic plants. This hobby has developed into our good luck! We visited their garden: calabash, cannonball, sour sop, cocoa, strangler fig trees, and many other species of trees welcomed us into their dominion. The plants we saw included heliconias, bromeliads, orchids, and ferns, plus many species of birds. Our morning was topped with warm waters as we swam off the stern of the ship.
The afternoon was as warm as they come. Waiting for the sun to lower in the sky, we enjoyed a great presentation by Federico Chacon on rainforest interconnections and then prepared to disembark to various activities. Our first kayaking experience, a bird-watching walk along a public road, and a Zodiac cruise among the mangrove forests were the choices. The birding proved to be fantastic: trogons, toucans, aracaris, woodpeckers, kingfishers, and many more were added to our list today.
After a very enjoyable day, we bade farewell to Costa Rica and headed on to the second country of our adventure: Panama.
