Moin
Costa Rica! Having changed clocks back one hour to agree with the local time, sunrise seemed quite early but a few people appeared on deck to see the spectacular rugged mountain skyline of this small country. After breakfast we docked in the port of Moin where the main product of the Caribbean lowlands, bananas, is loaded onto ships to transport all over the world. Ahead of our dock space they were loading a small “banana boat freighter, but for us a comfortable bus was waiting to transport us inland and then along the coast. En route ship’s naturalist and Costa Rican, Isa Salas told us about her native country and about some of the natural history of the area. We stopped briefly at a banana processing facility to get a closer look at the plants. Suddenly a shout was heard through the bus and the driver halted quickly. To our surprise a three-toed sloth was out in the open climbing down a large cecropia tree.
Arriving at the end of the road we had a chance to stretch our legs before boarding a flat bottom river boat to travel along part of the Tortuguero Canal which parallels the coast almost all the way north from Limon to Nicaragua. The Captain of the boat was an excellent spotter and driver. With his abilities to see wildlife combined with our sharp-eyed naturalists, we had a wonderful time seeing many birds and a few rainforest mammals. A small group of mantled howler monkeys were lazily sitting in a large tree back from the river. A real treat was hearing them howl or growl. Nearby a tree was festooned with large pendulous purse-like nests of montezuma’s oropendula. Again we were close enough to hear the strange electronic gargling song of the large males. Further along another three-toed sloth was spotted but this time it was two. A small baby clung to its mother’s stomach as they both nestled in the crotch of a small tree. Another group of howler monkeys gave all of us excellent looks and then we glimpsed twice spider monkeys swinging through some dense shrubs. Probably a highlight for many was a very accepting northern jacana which walked with its long toes on the floating vegetation along the canal. The driver also showed us his secret, which was the nest of this interesting bird. After such a wonderful trip at Tortuguero we returned to the Sea Voyager for lunch and left Moin to set course for tomorrow’s adventures.
Costa Rica! Having changed clocks back one hour to agree with the local time, sunrise seemed quite early but a few people appeared on deck to see the spectacular rugged mountain skyline of this small country. After breakfast we docked in the port of Moin where the main product of the Caribbean lowlands, bananas, is loaded onto ships to transport all over the world. Ahead of our dock space they were loading a small “banana boat freighter, but for us a comfortable bus was waiting to transport us inland and then along the coast. En route ship’s naturalist and Costa Rican, Isa Salas told us about her native country and about some of the natural history of the area. We stopped briefly at a banana processing facility to get a closer look at the plants. Suddenly a shout was heard through the bus and the driver halted quickly. To our surprise a three-toed sloth was out in the open climbing down a large cecropia tree.
Arriving at the end of the road we had a chance to stretch our legs before boarding a flat bottom river boat to travel along part of the Tortuguero Canal which parallels the coast almost all the way north from Limon to Nicaragua. The Captain of the boat was an excellent spotter and driver. With his abilities to see wildlife combined with our sharp-eyed naturalists, we had a wonderful time seeing many birds and a few rainforest mammals. A small group of mantled howler monkeys were lazily sitting in a large tree back from the river. A real treat was hearing them howl or growl. Nearby a tree was festooned with large pendulous purse-like nests of montezuma’s oropendula. Again we were close enough to hear the strange electronic gargling song of the large males. Further along another three-toed sloth was spotted but this time it was two. A small baby clung to its mother’s stomach as they both nestled in the crotch of a small tree. Another group of howler monkeys gave all of us excellent looks and then we glimpsed twice spider monkeys swinging through some dense shrubs. Probably a highlight for many was a very accepting northern jacana which walked with its long toes on the floating vegetation along the canal. The driver also showed us his secret, which was the nest of this interesting bird. After such a wonderful trip at Tortuguero we returned to the Sea Voyager for lunch and left Moin to set course for tomorrow’s adventures.
