The timing for this part of the trip is good with morning activities, about 2 hrs of down time before lunch and then a little more down time before the afternoon cruise in a different part of the rain forest.
The Lodge offers free appetizers and fruit juice/ or tea each time we return from being out on the water and at one point a lady with a coffee/tea cart came thru our part of the facility, giving out complementary drinks. The service here is wonderful and we are becoming accustomed to being treated.
The afternoon cruise was in the same boats, with the same guides, but we spread out and didn’t see the other boats but a few times during the 2 ½ - 3 hr boat ride.
During this part of the experience we say different birds, osprey, heron eating shrimp and a burgundy colored bird called a northern jackinaw (realize this is my phonetic spelling, not sure how it is really spelled), toucan and cowbird.
We saw several iguanas, which are also protected. They have been used for food.
The afternoon cruise was a bit drier, however our shoes and clothing were already soaked from this morning.
We don’t have an over abundance of clothing to change into because for this part of the trip, we were instructed to pack enough for 2 days in an overnight bag to be taken to the Lodge. The rest of our luggage waited at the previous hotel, until called for by our bus driver. Sooo I had one pr. of shoes (soppy tennies) and two pair of socks (also soppy). I went to some meals barefoot rather than slosh. My hat, hard to describe- think braided cloth, was too big before getting drenched, when it dried, it shrank and fits much better. Many folks were in the same situation, not realizing that we would need more changes of clothes. Most didn’t have room for anymore stuff in their carry on luggage anyway. Oh well, it was an adventure. The reason for the carry-on thing is that we came here by boat, and they would have to have sent a second boat for our stuff. It worked.
Two other things of interest about the Lodge are the bed decorations and the bathroom request.
When we returned to our rooms after our afternoon adventure, our bed was decorated with towel swans which had a bright red hibiscus nestled in the beaks. It was so lovely, I didn’t want to shower or mess up the bed, but the swans eventually became towels again. Sad.
The other unusual thing, which I suppose isn’t that unusual, considering where we are and the condition of septic systems, reminded me of my time working at Montana Vista elementary school in El Paso. One of our jobs at MV was to teach the children from the poor barrios of Mexico (we had many of these children) to use the flush toilets properly. Our rule at school was after toilet paper was used to clean, it is placed in the toilet to be flushed away. The children were used to “non-flushing” toilets and were instructed by parents (for good reason) to place used paper in trash cans beside the toilet. The custodians sometimes had to sanitize bathroom floors several times a day to deal with this problem. This is a long way around to say, at the Lodge, we were requested to place used paper in trash cans, NOT in the toilet. There have been signs in 2 of our three hotels so far, the Ramada, in San Jose, being the exception
We have several folks who are not feeling well with stomach trouble. I am so grateful that I am not among them. Hope they are feeling much better tomorrow.
WE leave paradise in the morning at 8 (after a breakfast which I am sure will include rice and maybe beans)
We will have the long boat ride back to the mainland and then a really long bus ride on the gravel road.
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