R. Doug Wicker — Author

White-headed capuchin

Our next tour stop was at a farm.  No, it wasn’t the crops we were here to see.  It was the wildlife, particularly the white-headed capuchin monkeys.  You have to be careful with these little guys, as the agitate very easily.  No sudden moves, and read the body language.  If they’ve had enough of your attention they’ll make it known.

Friendly guy

Of course, it helps if you have treats for them.

Where’s the food?

So don’t come empty handed.  Don’t worry.  The human residents will supply you with what our furry relatives desire.

Oh, there it is!

Besides monkeys you may see other jungle residents, such as this white-nosed coatimundi:

White-nosed coatimundi

As for what is farmed here, I assume it’s the cashew tree from how many there were.  In the following shot you can see the cashew fruit — the green-skinned cashew apple — on which is attached the cashew nut.  The nut is enclosed in the smaller, curved reddish pod.

Cashew apple and nut

Here is today’s photo gallery.  Click on any image below to enlarge and to bring up today’s slide show:

Mama and baby

White-headed capuchin

Monkey farm

Posing for pics

Cashew tree

Fruit!

Grooming the kid

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.