Puntarenas Lighthouse
The Golden Princess left Callao, the seaport serving Lima, on Friday, March 20, 2015, and sailed northward. We were leaving South America behind us and heading toward Central America. Our next destination was along the isthmus that links the North and South American continents. After three full days at sea the Golden Princess docked at the port city of Puntarenas in Costa Rica on Tuesday, March 24.
Puntarenas
Stepping off the ship we saw two sand sculptors plying their trade for tips on the beach alongside where the Golden Princess docked. Their subject this day was the scaryAmerican crocodile. I’ll be showing you living examples over the upcoming series on this destination.
Sand sculptors alongside the dock
Here’s a look back across the Gulf of Nicoya:
Gulf of Nicoya
And a view of the beach:
Puntarenas beach
One last look at that lighthouse before we head inland:
Puntarenas Lighthouse
Ursula and I had an appointment inland, so our stay in Puntarenas was necessarily short. Our first stop on this tour was the beautiful Hotel Villa Caletas (one of Central America’s Top Five hotels) for some outstanding views:
The view from Villa Caletas
The hotel itself is quite photogenic as well:
Villa Caletas
Villa Caletas
After Villa Caletas we stopped at the outer edges of the Costa Rican jungle for some quick pictures of wild parrots:
Wild parrots
Colorful Parrot
Costa Rica jungle
On Wednesday I’ll present to you our first stop deep in the jungle, complete with a visit with white-headed capuchin monkeys, a white-nosed coatimundi, and cashews in the wild.
Decisions — Murder in Paradise
The Globe — Murder in Luxury
