Today’s port is Puntarenas, Costa Rica. We decided on a somewhat shorter excursion for this day since we’d had two much longer ones in the past days. (Also, one of the ones we’d considered for here ended up not being offered this day. Costa Rica had been getting a lot of rain in the recent weeks, and apparently some of the roads were getting entertaining. Don’t know if this is why the one was canceled, but could be). So we decided that we’d try the Jungle Cruise and Train ride excursion. Originally we booked the fairly early trip, but got notice that it had been cancelled and we’d been put on the later trip. The nice thing is that did mean that we could sleep in a little later than we’d been able to the previous days.
So, at a slightly later hour than the previous two mornings, we got up and headed off the ship, only to discover that we were docked next to the Island Princess. 
This was something of a surprise, as back when I’d checked before taking the cruise, I didn’t think that we were supposed to be in port with any other ship in Puntarenas. Maybe they’d been listed as coming into Puerto Caldera or something. Still, it was kinda neat to see the two sister ships sitting next to each other in port. It also let Princess combine their shore excursions between the two ships, which probably helps their efficiency.
Since we had some time to kill, we went on shore and hung a left from the pier, which is where everyone had set up shop to sell stuff. Surprisingly, this was by far one of the lowest key ports I’ve ever been in when it comes to the vendors. They were happy to have you look at their stuff, but there really was almost no pressure to buy anything. If you’d say no, they’d actually leave you alone, which is something of a novel concept. One of the things that seemed to be pretty common here were bird feathers that had various images painted on them. We were looking for one of these because we have a friend that had been to Costa Rica before and had wanted to get one but didn’t have the chance, and she was looking after our house (and clearing our sidewalks of the snow) while we were gone. Prices weren’t too bad on these, small ones seemed to be $10 to $15, larger ones in the $20 to $30 range (complete with frame). Coffee was also a pretty common item for sale in this area (not surprisingly).
For the excursion, we headed out on a bus to the place where we’d board the boats for the river cruise part. Before boarding though it was time for a snack. Largely in this case the snack consisted of some fruits. Then it was board the boat, and go in search of any wildlife we could find. This largely meant several varieties of birds. 
Blue Herons were fairly common, a mangrove hawk, and finally, the elusive scarlet macaw. The macaw’s were pretty tough to spot, way up in the trees. We also saw a couple Jesus Christ lizards, and finally a small crocodile. It was only a small one, kinda hunkered down in the mud. The disadvantage of the jungle cruise/train combo is that I think you do end up with a somewhat shorter boat trip than if you did just the jungle cruise. But we ran out of time looking for things, and headed down to the dock to catch the bus to our train.
The rail line that we went on was apparently the old line that used to run across the country from the Caribbean side to the Pacific side. The line hasn’t really been well maintained over the years, and as a result most of it’s no longer really used anymore, and what is is basically just for tourism. To get on the train, they basically just pulled it up and stopped it right in the middle of the road, so a few people that were trying to go through had to wait for us to get on. Small train, just 2 passenger cars. 
We were in the back car of the two, and when we asked, our guide said it was ok to stand on the platform on the back of the car (later, I did see a sign that might have said (in Spanish) that you weren’t supposed to stand back there, oh well). A lot of the train ride didn’t necessarily go through the most scenic areas, although some were better than others, and you did go through some areas where people were living. A lot of these houses were pretty basic shelters, looked like they were probably dirt floors inside. Interestingly though, they did generally appear to have electricity, since many of these houses actually had tv antennas. Very bumpy ride, but interesting if you happen to like trains. Cathy ended up getting stung by another bug on this trip, so she wasn’t having the best of luck.
The train ride ended back near Puerto Caldera, where we caught the bus back to the ship. By the time we got back it was really starting to get dark. It was kinda interesting to watch the busses bring passengers back. They’d bring the busses all the way down the pier to let everyone off, but then would have to back their way back off the pier because there’s no room to turn around the large motor coaches they use. Was kinda amusing to watch then navigate busses coming in and out. Did mean you had to pay attention if you were walking on the pier though.
We ended up leaving before the Island Princess did (I suspect we got in earlier than they did, but we weren’t up early enough to confirm this), so we stood on the promenade deck watching us prepare to leave then sail. 
Cathy especially was intrigued by how they raised the gangplank, she hadn’t noticed them hanging above the promenade deck before that point. Much horn blowing back and forth as we left. The bad news for the Island Princess people is that they were going the other direction on the cruise, and ending in Acapulco, so they were only a few days from the end of their cruise.
This evening while waiting for the show to start we were walking on the promenade deck and saw a guy walking the other way in a bright yellow suit. Kinda nodded and said hi as he went by, and I kinda thought maybe this was the comedian of the night. Sure enough, when the show started, this guy came out. He was David Aiken, the Checkerboard Guy. In hindsight, with a nickname of the Checkerboard Guy, we probably should have been able to figure out that this wasn’t the show for us. It was definitely far more oriented toward the kids in the crowd. Neither of us really lasted very long before we gave up on him.