Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge

Upon awakening in La Fortuna, we walked over to the restaurant for an excellent buffet breakfast.

The combination of American standards like cereals, pastries, pancakes, scrambled eggs and toast are complemented by local entrees, including the always available beans and rice, plus on this particular morning carne asada, made with that delicious lean, grass-fed beef that Costa Rica should be famous for. 

The dining room's glass walls allow wildlife viewing.  Many tropical birds fluttered around while we ate.

I can't say I had paid particularly close attention to our itinerary for our two-night stay in La Fortuna in advance. 

During the river rafting trip on our first day in Costa Rica, one of the young ladies raved about their visit to La Fortuna, where they had seen so many animals.

Wild hogs grazed along our hotel's road.

Rather than spending our one full day in La Fortuna focusing on the immediate area, we would soon board the bus for a two-hour ride to Rio Frio in the Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge.  In retrospect, I can't help wondering why we went so far rather than just focusing on nearby Arenal National Park right from the outset.

In fact, if Julie and I would have been on our own rather than with a group, I believe we would have only had one stop on the road to La Fortuna, so that we could have begun exploring the park the prior afternoon.

However, as Wayne Dyer used to say, "you can't woulda-coulda-shoulda." We live in the present moment.

Our driver Luis often stopped to get a better look at wildlife.

Besides, we were scheduled to hike in Arenal National Park the next morning.

It is just a fact that to get the economies of group travel, we accept compromises, including making extra restroom stops or trying something we wouldn't have considered trying.

As an aside, I will add that in looking at Globus Journeys, which is a pricier tour company with more options included, they focus more on La Fortuna during their full day allotted on a similar trip.  My best guess is that Gate 1 found a cost advantage in taking a bus ride using a driver and bus already included, even if it did burn some gas.

So, rather than a 20-minute drive to Arenal National Park, we left at 7:45 AM for Los Chiles, which is on the border with Nicaragua.

Leo didn't mention this tidbit of history, but in the 1980's, what had been a sleepy fishing region became a major supply route for Contra rebels as they fought to overthrow the Sandinistas in Nicaragua.

Adapting to the times, the area now hosts Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge catering to tourists.

Arriving on schedule at 10:00 AM, I think the restroom break took a little longer than planned, but we used the time to stretch our legs and take photos of the sign for Los Chiles near the river where we would board our boat.

The boat safari on Rio Frio started out slowly.

Leo said there were nine mammals within sight and challenged us to find them.  We all noticed two humans in the distance, but it took a while for us to figure out that black spots on a tree were bats.

Bats are black on the bottom side of the main trunk.

We spotted some birds and worried this might be the extent of wildlife viewing.

Then some howler monkeys called out and appeared, if rather obscured by leaves, in trees.

It was spider monkeys swinging on vines from tree to tree that got our group excited.

By starting slowly, knowing we had to look carefully, we appreciated what we were able to discern fully.

Animals camouflage into their surroundings as natural protection from predators, so finding them was frequently a challenge, despite everyone else pointing at the hidden prey. 

While our photos aren't particularly vivid, they're pretty good for playing a variation of "Where's Waldo?"  Can you find the animals in our photos?

Now you're getting the hang of the game!

We don't have big zoom lenses like a couple of folks on our tour, and it was not a movie where a director could focus our sights on exactly what we should look at.

As such, our photos rarely did a good job capturing what we experienced, but Julie and I were both very much engaged in the moment, as were the others in our boat.

We finally came to a much-anticipated Jesus Christ Lizard, which gets his name because of large feet that allow him to scamper short distances across the river like he is walking on water.  We saw him perform the trick a few times.

Look close to see the green lizard in the brown twigs.

A large caiman/crocodile showed up around the same time nearby.

It's hard to spot the Crocodile unless you know it is there.

Playful white-faced monkeys were in the trees at the same time.

A drama played out where monkeys watched the Jesus Christ Lizard looking for the perfect time to strike, while the crocodile looked up hoping either the lizard or the monkey would fall in the water as a meal for him.

One of the monkeys became distracted by our boatload of people, jumping onto the boat and making a few attempts at grabbing smartphones.

That half hour of high drama and hijinks was the highlight of the trip for all of us.  Julie and I were so busy watching and laughing that we failed to get any good photos.

The 2-hour river boat safari had been a success.

We walked back to the restaurant where we had stopped to use the restrooms to eat lunch.  I don't recall it being a very impressive menu.  It seemed to take longer to hit the road than it should have, probably because Julie and I wanted to get back to La Fortuna in time to take a taxi to Arenal National Park to take the waterfall hike before closing time of 5 PM.

Most of our group had signed up for the optional evening at Eco Termales Hot Springs with much-touted buffet dinner.

Traffic on the way back slowed us more, but we arrived about on schedule.  However, we second guessed our plan and decided to just walk around the small town before riding with the group back to our hotel.

Julie and I enjoyed our free time on the property.  With most of our group gone, we had the hotel grounds to ourselves.  We hiked up to a little treehouse behind our cabana to take in the views.

Dinner at the hotel's restaurant was again excellent.

I had fresh fish and Julie selected chicken with rice. We split a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc.

We had enjoyed champagne and pizza on our actual anniversary back home, but this night out was a good time for a romantic meal.

Regardless of our hindsight second guessing, it had been a great day.

We looked forward to a "brisk hike" through Arenal National Park in the morning.

A Book About the Panama Canal

Julie and I frequently use my blog as a memory supplement, so when a novel she was reading brought the characters to Columbia, she decided to look up our Panama Canal cruise.

Surprisingly, she could only find a rather odd post comparing our day in Cartegena to a trip to Disneyland.

"That can't be right," I thought.  It turns out that as far as Columbia goes, that was all I had written.  It seems that by the time I got around to blogging about our excursion in Cartagena, our granddaughter Emma had flown to California with her Aunt Amy for a visit.  We went to Disneyland, joined by our son Jay, and I combined narratives about the two events.

That's not really that unusual for me.

I always write about what's going through my mind at the time I am motivated to blog.

That's how current events, novels, movies and the Great Courses all combine into what would otherwise be a travel blog without much content during this past year of pandemic shutdown, but that thought process was not limited to only that unprecedented year.

As evidence of that, once we were driving into Glacier National Park in Montana just after finishing my Panama Canal posts, my mind immediately brought President Teddy Roosevelt into the picture.

In that case, it was a natural transition, because not only did that Republican progressive President greenlight the Panama Canal, he also put the pedal to the metal for appreciating our environment as we enterred the 20th Century including National Parks development.

The fact is, our pre-Covid-19, post-Julie retirement era usually had us traveling so much that it wasn't unusual for me to be experiencing the next adventure while still processing the last one.

Before we boarded Island Princess in Ft. Lauderdale, we had taken a whirlwind tour of Peru from Miami, and I did compile a "book" about that pre-trip.  I think we were so thankful to have a chance to rest on peaceful sea days that are part and parcel of our Panama Canal itinerary that I wasn't thinking as hard.

Truth be told, I found myself speaking much more about Machu Picchu with friends and family than what for most cruisers is a major bucket list vacation, the Panama Canal.  However, make no mistake; the Panama Canal is a great trip!

Better late than never, here is "A Book About the Panama Canal."

From Cuzco to Cruise Co

Panama Canal Virtuoso

Aruba Blues

Cartagena Through a Disney Prism

Panama Canal Centennial

Rio Corobici in Costa Rica

Lake Nicaragua's Las Islatas

Pirates of Granada, Nicaraqua

Cabo

Pirates of Granada, Nicaragua

1888 ‘Pirates of the Spanish Main’ card game

Wrinkles spread from his eyes, creasing the Welshman's tanned, weathered face as he squinted in the moonlight, hoping to discern any branches or boulders popping above the surface belying significant obstructions that might tip his canoe.

The 30 year-old and his rough looking companions paddled surreptitiously up the San Juan River, fighting the current that flowed into the Caribbean Sea.  The men of diverse skin colors and ethnicities didn't chatter or sing sea shanties as they rowed, understanding silence to be their best ally.

Granada, Nicaragua

As the first light of dawn made noticeable the silhouettes of all six canoes under his command, Henry Morgan pointed toward shore, and soon the pirates' boots splashed in the shallows as they dragged their canoes onto the river bank.  Though exhausted, they took time to carry their flat bottomed boats to the brush where they camouflaged them beneath branches.

The buccaneers spent the day in hiding.  They discreetly foraged for food, repasted and rested in preparation for that night's efforts.  A few days later, they reached La Mar Dulce, the Spanish Sweet Sea as it was called, though this was actually the fresh water lake we now call Lake Nicaragua. 

Plaza in Granada

On its far banks sat the first European city on the American continent, a claim bolstered by official registration with the Crown of Aragon and Kingdom of Castille as founded in 1524, but these pirates were not concerned with historical claims about this city or its Moorish and Andalusian design.  They made the difficult, stealthy approach because La Gran Sultana, as Granada was also known, housed great riches awaiting transatlantic passage to Spain under guard of the powerful Spanish Armada.

Captain Morgan and his men had been legally authorized as Privateers to attack and loot Spanish ships and ports on behalf of the British Crown.  In payment for playing havoc with Spain, which had acquired great wealth through its rapid domination of the New World, the Privateers could keep most of their stolen treasure.

Convento de San Franisco in Granada

The Golden Age of Piracy had begun in the Caribbean 15 years earlier in 1650, but this location deep within what is now Nicaragua was considered more secure than a bank's vault.  Captain Morgan's bold assault caught the Spanish completely by surprise.

The pirates sank all the Spanish ships in port, set fires in the city and then absconded with a treasure of a half million pounds sterling in the 12-foot boats they had previously stolen in their raid on Villahermosa, Mexico.

While loading that much additional weight into such small watercraft undoubtedly strained their capacity and made the canoes difficult to control, Henry Morgan's men nonetheless made their escape up the Coco River, with assistance from the indigenous Miskitu tribe.



Freshly Painted Re-Construction in Granada

Before the Lake Nicaragua boat ride that I wrote about previously, we had been led on a walking tour through Granada.  In many places, the re-constructed city, with most buildings over 100 years old, has an appearance almost like a movie set built in the style of the original architecture, with freshly painted walls making it look even newer than it actually is.

The historic city had been sacked several times by other pirates subsequent to Morgan's raid, and then on December 14, 1856, that Granada was totally destroyed.

The Conquest of Nicaragua by a few hundred mercenaries in 1854 temporarily installed a filibuster (essentially a pirate with more permanent ambitions to rule than pillage) named William Walker as President of Nicaragua.  Walker had eyes on ruling all of Central America.

Why did he think a power base in Nicaragua would give him enough power to fulfill his megalomaniacal dream?

Mambacho Volcano Viewed from the Road

Prior to the Panama Canal's construction, the primary water route from the east coast to California's gold rush came up Nicaragua's San Juan River, as Henry Morgan had, and then by stage coach to the coast.

Control of that route was worth a fortune, and in fact Cornelius Vanderbilt already had expanded his substantial shipping fortune from his efforts to improve the waterway and operate the stage coaches.

To fund his own ambitions, Walker revoked Vanderbilt's exclusive rights, but Cornelius did not retreat to his New York mansion or Newport summer "cottage" muttering that it was good while it lasted.  Instead, Vanderbuilt struck back as a powerful enemy who helped ruin Walker's grand plans by allying with the counter-revolutionaries, providing both money and soldiers to the cause.

Burial Urn at Convento de San Francisco

It was one of Walker's defeated generals who burnt Granada to the ground on his way out, proclaiming in a final note, "Here Was Granada." 

As we walked around the bustling city square, our guide told us about the city, but we could only hear fragments of what he said due to the ambient noise.  Previously on the 2 hour bus ride, this former school teacher proved himself to be an expert on his home country, hanging up a map and passing around other visual aids to accompany his descriptions of the area and its history, so I wish we could have heard him better in town. 

When we reached the quiet of Convento de San Francisco in Granada, our guide provided a wonderful narrative about its museum's art, including the pre-Columbian statues found at nearby Zapatera Island. 



Monkeys in Nicaragua

A decent luncheon buffet of local foods completed our Granada visit before continuing to Lake Nicaragua, which left all of us content to rest on the bus ride back to the port in San Juan Del Sur, but we had an unexpected treat: monkeys in trees by the side of the road to bid us farewell.