NOW TO VIEW MY JANUARY AND FEBRUARY POSTS YOU WILL HAVE TO CLICK ON THAT MONTH SO THOSE POSTS WILL BE DISPLAYED.
TO VIEW PREVIOUS POSTINGS USE THE "BLOG ARCHIVE" UNDER OUR PHOTO ON THE RIGHT. THEN CLICK ON THE DAY OR DAYS YOU MISSED. ALSO CLICKING ON THE PHOTOS WILL ENLARGE THEM. I RECOMMEND THAT.
HAPPY EASTER---"HE IS RISEN"
Puntarenas means “sandy point” in Spanish. It is the capital and largest city in the Province of Puntarenas. This province makes up most of the western coast of Costa Rica. Costa Rica was discovered in 1502 by Christopher Columbus but it was Ponce de Leon in 1519 who laid claim to it for Spain. It was not developed until 1840 when coffee production in the inland highlands reached exportable volumes. Initially the coffee beans were transported to the port on ox carts but later a railroad was built from here to San Jose.
There are some 100,000 people living in and around Puntarenas. The white (?), sandy beaches near here attract many tourists. Caldera is the name of the port we are docked in today and is the main and oldest port in Costa Rica. It is the port for cruise ships wanting to visit San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, which is just a two hour bus ride away.
Back in the 1980’s and 1990’s I few to San Jose from Miami as a check pilot on the Boeing 727. Due to the mountainous terrain down here, a check pilot had to fly with Captains on their initial flight into the airport. Costa Rica ranges in elevation from sea level on the coast to 13,000 foot mountain ranges. Costa Rica has quite a large expatriate population (Americans who reside here now). This is because of the economical cost of living, availability of excellent, low cost medical care, and security.
Costa Rica is relatively small at 19,700 square miles, or roughly the size of our state of West Virginia. It is bordered on the north by Nicaragua and south by Panama. The country’s population totals nearly 5 million with over 300,000 of them living in the capital city of San Jose.
Costa Rica is known for its stable democracy and relative security, unlike Nicaragua to its north. It has a highly educated workforce, most of whom speak English. Its economy used to rely heavily on agriculture but now has diversified to include sectors in finance, services to other countries, pharmaceuticals, and ecotourism. However in the past couple of years their Treasury was starting to have a hard time paying its debts.
It is the most visited country in Central America with nearly 3 million foreign visitors back in 2016. Of those, 1 million were Americans. Then covid hit. Costa Rica was a pioneer of ecotourism with its extensive series of national parks and other protected areas. It is a very beautiful country for sure! Around 25% of the country’s land area is in protected national parks. The abundance of fruit trees bearing year round is very important to the over 840 species of birds that have been identified in Costa Rica. Our hummingbirds in Durango may even be migrating here during the winter months. They spend winters in Mexico and Central America.
The country has a 97% literacy rate, and as I said, English is widely spoken here due to the tourism industry. The life expectancy of Costa Ricans is 79 years which is higher that the United States. This is probably due to its healthcare system that is ranked higher than that of the United States. Sadly!!!! It has become a popular destination for “medical tourism” because of the high quality and low cost of their medical services. I flew with several flight attendants who came down here for “boob jobs” and other cosmetic surgeries. I remember one was so proud of her new boobs that she showed them to the copilot and I right there in the cockpit. Don’t tell the FAA!!
LAST NIGHT:
TODAY:
Tuna salad sandwich but I just eat the tuna salad not the bread. Slice of pizza also.
It was sunny this morning but clouding over this afternoon. Rain in the forecast this afternoon. Too hot for me to walk into town. 88 degrees and humid!! I did go up to deck 12 to grab a few photos of the beach at Puntarenas.
We are sailing again at 7pm and the next two days will be at sea enroute to Acapulco. We lose an hour tonight as clocks move forward at 2am. That will put us on Central Daylight Time.
