Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Wednesday, December 26, 2012 – Puntarenas, Costa Rica – Sunny – 88F

Distance from Colon Panama (plus Canal Transit) to Puntarenas: 466 566 Nautical Miles

A warm and humid day in Puntarenas, Costa Rica…

20121226_Ships position (Small)

We have been on all the excursions offered at Puntarenas, so today, we will put some steps on our pedometers and also see whether the Esthetica Salon, we visited about two years ago was still there.  The relaxation massages, as we recalled, were terrific and we were ready for some R&R.

The little town is at the end of a long pier – easily walkable but you can also take the cute little train from ship to town.  We are docked to day with the educational ship – Explorer.  On the way in, we decided to walk.

20121226_Puntarenas from Bridge (Small) 20121226_Mountains near Puntarenas (Small)

Puntarenas and Environs from pier bridge

20121226_E and Puntarenas Beach (Small) 

Ellen on Bridge to Town

The salon was still there – it is an incredibly busy place with locals constantly streaming in for haircuts, nail services, and other beauty shop stuff.  The Massage Therapist works on demand and so we set up two appointments for the afternoon.

Before we headed back to the ship for lunch, we checked out the vendors as well as the beach and got some nice photos of the shore area.  We also tried to get some WiFi to check on things back home.  There was a free router near the end of the pier but the server would not send e-mails.  The only way I could get any information out was to reply to e-mails received.  How strange is that?  Websites would load but no outgoing e-mails.

20121226_Century at Puntarenas (Small)

20121226_Century Docked -1 (Small)

Century Docked

During our previous visits to Puntarenas, the beach crowd has been sparse.  Not today, lots of locals had flocked to the beach.

20121226_Puntarenas (Small)

Beach at Puntarenas

Gone from the beach are the vendors who did the Mani-Pedis.  I guess the demand was low.  Still present are plenty of vendors selling Costa Rica shirts and caps and wooden items.

 IMG_20121226_beach puntarenas (Small)

  IMG_20121226_beach at puntarenas 2 (Small) IMG_20121226_Me at Puntarenas (Small) 

The beach area – Now you don’t see me – now you do

We headed back to the ship for lunch and some additional deck time before heading back to Puntarenas for our appointments – this time we took the train but it was terribly bumpy.  Walking next time.

We had back to back appointments. We were amazed to find the same therapist still working there and she recognized us immediately.  I spent the next hour in the waiting room of a beauty salon reading on my phone – imagine how out of place I must have looked.

Ellen spent some time checking out the vendors while I went for my treatment.   Not nearly as nice as two years ago but OK as well. 

The picture below was taken from the pier as I returned to the ship.

20121226_Puntarenas Beach (Small)

Pampered and relaxed, we spent the rest of the afternoon on the open deck reading.

Tenisha, hostess in the “Select Dining” section in the Grand Dining Room found another isolated table for two by the window – the servers and view were great – this will be our table for the remainder of the cruise.

20121226_Grand Restaurant (Small) 

Ellen at our great new Dining Room Table

The show tonight was hypnotist – Joshua Seth.  I am not really sure what I was seeing as the show progressed.  It was unusual for sure.

Pedometer: 8298 steps; 3.9 miles; 406 calories

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