The N. Amsterdam arrived to the bay of Puntarenas, Costa Rica, around 5:30am. It was earlier than the usual time, due to the tide and currents, according to the Captain's talk yesterday. In addition, he added that the ship would need to leave the port after 4:30pm, also due to the tides. And if any of the guests came late, they would miss the ship, and need to pick it up in Guatemala. And even though the When & Where paper stated the all aboard time was 4:30pm, Valerie announced that it was now 5:30pm. Not sure everyone heard that, but at least many will not be late. It's the bus trips that they had to worry about, as they are always late.
Breaking down some money into smaller bills at the front desk, we discovered that 500 people were on tours today. That will mean fewer folks in town. And we were also the only ship in port today. Although it was not mentioned in today's newsletter, we had to wear masks getting off and on the ship, as well as wear them through the gate at the end of the pier. It was not requested that we bring our Covid vaccination cards with us, but it was suggested we bring them just in case. We always do, and we always wear the masks.
We went off of the ship by 10:30pm, and walked the long, hot pier. Walking at a fast speed towards us, there was a couple of folks, one of which had forgotten her mask. She was told by the local authorities that she had to mask up, or would not be allowed onshore. To save her time, they did sell masks for $5 each. However, they refused to pay that, and headed back to the ship for their own mask. We have to add that the weather was hot and humid already at this time of the morning. Locals were on the beach and in the water already. Lots of kids were in the mix, and that's when we remembered it was Easter Week and the kids were out of school. Today we went straight across the street after picking up a local map. This took us into the main shopping district of the spit.
Remembering a very nice shoe store up the street, we went there to check it out. All of their shoes are made in Brazil, and made well. But there was one problem, they did not carry my size at all. The highest number they carried was size 8, but I wear a 10. No luck there. Turning left, we followed the main street to Victoria Park. Then we found the Cathedral of Puntarenas and went inside for a bit. It was cooler, since a breeze had picked up. Thank goodness.
Two blocks up the street from the church was the Lita Perez Stadium, surrounded by dozens of cafes and cantinas. We think when there are soccer games, this area is very busy. Today it was very quiet, because the locals do not go out in the heat of the day. Heading towards the beach, we continued towards the end of the spit, where the nicer hotels and restaurants are located. There is a really nice hotel there by the name of Las Brisas, where we have enjoyed lunch a few times. We would come back here after we explored the end of the peninsula.
There are a few narrow walking piers where you can walk out and catch the breeze, or go fishing perhaps. There is a place to sit, and cool down with the sea breeze. When we went to the third pier, we saw two young cats popping in and out of the boulders there. Obviously feral, they must keep the rodent population down. Then we walked past the lighthouse and a public swimming pool, which was full of local kids and their parents today. This whole entire beachfront was filled with locals cooking chicken skewers, and making Spanish-style food. Sure smelled good. The moms and grand moms did the cooking while the dads took the little kids swimming in the surf.
The Barrio el Carmen district is located here, and seems to be the hot spot of the peninsula for bars and cafes. It is close the Ferry Terminal also. From here we circled back to the beach and ended up at Las Brisas once again. Even though it was much more crowded than the last time we were here, we were in dire need of something cold to drink, so we went inside their patio restaurant. We were seated at a small table for two right behind some potted palms. The breeze was blowing really strong now, although it did feel good. So we ordered two bottles of Corona beer, while still looking at their menu. We have to mention that the menus were rather large, and plastic covered. When the beers arrived, the breeze took hold of my menu and slammed it into the bottle of beer. It happened so quickly, we had a hard time stopping the spilled beer from cascading off of the table and into my lap, down my leg, and into my shoe. A nearby diner (local fellow), came over with a handful of napkins to stop the flood. Oh how embarrassing was that??? Our waitress came over and helped clean the table, then had to mop the floor, as it was tile. The breeze never did let up, and we worried that the catsup and mayo bottles might fall over as well. And we had not even ordered yet. Anyway, we did get one plate of chicken nachos, with cheese, beans, and chimichurri. We deducted that chimichurri was salsa. And really good. So after 5 beers and one huge pile of nachos, the bill came to $33, or the equivalent of thousands of colones, the Costa Rica money.
From there we headed back along the beachfront sidewalk. It is lined with a tree-studded park where locals can rent a tented table and chairs for the day. Food vendors are set up along the road side, cooking all sorts of Spanish food. One specialty is called the Churchill, which looked like a smoothie with real fruit on the top. Bet they are really sweet. Most of the beach-goers up at this end were local families with kids. We did not see one HAL passenger up this way, maybe because it was one very long walk in the heat.
Heading back, we stayed on the main street, then went to look to the souvenir tents under the trees. Guess what? Most all of the souvenir stalls had been removed. There wasn't one to be found. Seems that the restaurants have taken over their spots. It is possible that these vendors moved to the street side and out of sight. Maybe Covid sent them elsewhere. Too bad as we wanted to look for the wooden trivets we use at home. None to be found, we went back to the pier.
Both of us showed our cards, then the guard asked me to open my bag, which I did. Then the next guard scanned me with a wand, and asked about my knee. Satisfied I answered correctly, he said you are good to go. Back on the ship, we had to put our bags through xray, and I had to be wanded. The knee again. Speaking of knees, I am approaching the tenth month mark, and seem to be doing OK. At least I am able to walk quite a distance, as long as we take breaks along the way. The beer didn't hurt either.
Getting back on the air-conditioned ship was nice. Back in our room, it was even better. We stayed there working on photos and relaxing on the veranda. Around 4pm, a seven member local band and dancers put on a show near the gangway. They played and danced for an hour, even though the bus tours did not get back until much later, they still performed.
The ship finally left in the dark around 6pm, much later than the Captain had stated yesterday. Guess the tides were not going out that fast as he thought.
Tomorrow will be a day at sea, instead of going to Corinto, Nicaragua. Not a big loss, we did get a $3 per person refund for port charges. Wow. Still do not know why that port was cancelled.
Dinner was back in the dining room with starters of spring rolls and salads. Both of us had the wiener schnitzel and it was good as always. One scoop of coffee ice cream and a small chocolate éclair finished the meal. We had another chef visit us, so we inquired about some items missing on this cruise. Such as the sweet and sour pork. He said you can get that in the Lido at lunch every day. We did not know that. However, if we wished, it can be pre-ordered through our waiter. Anything we wanted, he would be happy to do. He added that the dinner menu was being adjusted now, since we are eventually heading for Alaska. He said they were able to buy mahi mahi and blue marlin in port today, and it would show up on the menu even tonight. It did. Now we are wondering if that is why the daily dining room dinner menu has not been posted early in the morning, since they are "cleaning" out their stores? In fact, the menu was not changed until before dinner last night. We use that site on the TV to decide where we will dine for the evening. Like yesterday, nothing appealed to us for dinner, and we went to the Tamarind.
Passing through the Billboard Onboard, we found many guests singing along with the duel piano player and singers. They had the crowd singing along with them, reminding us of the old TV show, Sing Along With Mitch. Remember that one? This venue seems much more popular than the BB King's Blues with this particular crowd.
Bill & Mary Ann
PS Checked into the disembarkation coming up in San Diego, and found out there have been no changes. Teresa will do more research and let us know if there are any changes with docking times.
Thursday, April 14, 2022
Report #117 Puntarenas, Costa Rico Wednesday April 13, 2022 6am To 6pm Cloudy And Very Hot 85 -90 Degrees
