We awoke this morning to the sound of the water softly lapping against the hull of the Windstar as we past the region of Guanacaste in Costa Rica. The slight motion of the boat rocked us so that we were not sure we wanted to leave our “cradle” and see if it were light outside. After a leisurely morning in the cabin, drinking the cappuccinos delivered by Ram, our cabin boy, we showered and went up to the Veranda for breakfast.
Our itinerary on this trip started just outside of San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. We were so tired that we rested all morning yesterday and got ourselves together to get on the bus that took us the 90 miles to the coast to meet our ship, the Wind Star in Puerto Caldera. (We’ll have to see the capital on the way home).
On the bus, we had a young guide, Carlos, who was very knowledgeable and funny and kept us occupied during the 2+ hour trip. We passed out of the commercial suburbs of San Jose with the car dealerships, McDonalds and factories (including Intel which has offered employment to 2500 people here).
We moved from 3700+ feel altitude at times in the clouds down to sea level when we reached Puerto Caldera. The vegetation changed along the way becoming more and more tropical.
Costa Rica is a fascinating country. It has no army (abolished in 1948) and our guide commented that they took that money and invested it in education. He said that there is a large middle class (60% of the population). Of the 4,400,000 population, about l/2 is in the area around San Jose. The continental divide through Costa Rica means that 1/2 the rivers flow to the Caribbean and the other half to the pacific. There are mountains from which you can see both oceans including a volcano at 11,000 feet (highest mountain is 13,000).
We began getting to know the other 148 passengers on the bus. This is a very informal ship and passengers enjoy hanging out casually. As we boarded the ship, we had the opportunity to get to know more folks and shortly thereafter we did the lifeboat drill (with life preservers and all) and got to know the passengers in our part of the ship. One of the differences between the Windsurf (300 passengers) and the Windstar (148) is the difference between a city and a village. Even though they are both small cruise ships, somehow I find the smallest boat does lend itself more to getting to know people. We sat down at the bar after the drill and became friends with 3 more couples and had dinner with one of them. The folks we met came from all over the US and I understand there are people from around the globe, but we haven’t met them yet.
The surprise when we went up to the aft bar was that it was raining! Not that rain is unusual in Costa Rica. there are two seasons: wet and dry. The dry season starts in December and goes through April. What occurred to me is that I have never had rain on the other 4 Windstar Cruises I had taken! I was spoiled. It rained all evening, but that didn’t interfere with drinks, dinner or our visit to the little casino (two tables). And today it is beautiful, warm and humid. This is a day at sea and now we can see the northwest coast of Costa Rica with some fascinating birds flying along side of us. It is nice to have the day at sea to relax, read, write, learn about the trip ahead and decompress.
Our room is equipped with flat screen tv, dvd player, bose music system with an ipod (provided by the ship) and a very comfortable bed and bathroom. But we are spending time all over the ship which is very comfortable-all 440 feet of it~
I am having trouble uploading photos so more will come when it works better....
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