Day 8: Highlights from Limon, Costa Rica.

Limon, Costa Rica is located south of Nicaragua and north of Panama. It is a nice little town on the Atlantic coast in the middle of a rainforest. We wanted to see it all so we took a bus tour which led to a train ride and we finished with a boat ride.

We started with a tour of the town by bus. Our guide was a retired Biology teacher. He told us that Costa Rica has no army, no navy and no air force. Their energy is 98% clean with mostly hydroelectric power. He explained about Costa Rica's graveyard system:
a. Everyone is buried above ground because the soil is so saturated with water.
b. The rich can buy, from the government, a burial plot for up to 99 years. After that, everyone is cremated.
c. The poor are given a plot by the government but 20 years later they are cremated.

The train ride took us through the rainforest and on to a banana plantation. Costa Rica ships bananas all over the world and our Biology teacher (guide) explained the whole process. I found it fascinating since I eat bananas every day. The train ride was advertised as "Open Air" and it included Calypso music and was equipped with an "emergency toilet". The ride was also billed as a nice gentle massage for the body. Gentle, it was not, but it was fun.

Our guide put our bus group in an open boat and we motored through a rainforest canal system. He was great at spotting and pointing out the wildlife. We saw monkeys, sloths, Caymon (baby gators) and lizards that the guide called, "Chicken of the Tree". Before we took off in the boat, they gave us a life vest tutorial. We were told that if we fall into the water with a life vest on and an alligator comes after you...take off the vest because it is too hard for the alligator to digest.

We really enjoyed the day. It was action packed and led by a very knowledgeable guide.

Tomorrow we are all day at sea heading to the Grand Cayman Island.