Skywalking the Forest – Puntarenas, Costa Rica

So far on the review of my 2 week cruise we have relived my experience in Cartagena, Columbia and cruising  through the Panama Canal. The next stop on my journey was Costa Rica!

I was so excited to be able to visit Costa Rica because I have heard such amazing things about it! It really is one of those places where there is so much to see and do. It has great beaches, magical rainforests, volcano’s – so much to explore.

Puntarenas, Costa Rica is home to a fantastic array of flora and fauna. It is home to 14 national parks and reserves. The only teeny tiny little complaint I have about cruising is that sometimes you don’t get to spend as much time as you would like in one place. In Costa Rica there were so many choices of things to see and places to go, it was very hard for my family and I to pick a shore excursion!

 

Puntarenas climate ranges from tropical dry forest to rain forest and from mangrove swamp to cloud forest to sub alpine, this sprawling province contains a little bit of everything.

 

Right at the beginning of our tour we saw some wildlife! We were passing over a bridge and right in the water were some massive crocodiles! Coolness!

 

I love me some crocks! They are so prehistoric looking!

   

Then I saw some awesome coconuts in the trees. I wanted to pick one and take it home with me, but I didn’t think that would be allowed through US Customs.

  

After a delightful ride through and around Puntarenas, we finally arrived at the Villa Lapas Skyway! The shore excursion we finally decided upon was (if you couldn’t already tell from the title of this post) Skywalking the Forest!

I loved this picture of the leaves that had been eaten by bugs!

 

We started at the top of the forest and had to walk our way down.

 

Check out that view. It doesn’t get any prettier than that!

 

  Michael and Me.

After walking through the forest for a bit we made it to our first Skybridge!

 

I thought I would be more freaked out with this than I actually was. I am not the biggest fan of heights, and dangling from a rope bridge 100+ feet up in the air in the middle of a forest in a foreign country doesn’t usually sound like the most fun thing to me, but this was!

 

We were so high up in the treetops you didn’t even realize how high up you were. And there was so much shrubbery when you looked down, you couldn’t really see how long of a way down it would be!

We traveled along suspended cable bridges on top of the rainforest up to 136 feet above the ground.

I loved the tree in the picture on the left. It was massive when we walked by it, and the entire tree was covered in these prickly spikes. I had never seen anything like it before! I wish I remembered its name! Anyone know its name?? 

Another gorgeous view. It was a beautiful day to skywalk!

See, you can’t really see how high up you were. But I didn’t really enjoy the fact that the walkway was see through. Plus there were 20 other people walking on the bridge at the same time. This baby was swaying in the wind!

 

Pretty trees.

 

Family pictures on the sky bridge.

Before I left on my trip I was sent some Bora Bora bars to try. When I was packing in such a hurry the day before I left I threw some bars in my bag to take with me incase I needed a snack. It was great to have these bars with me on this trip! I had the Paradise Walnut Pistachio and it was the perfect mid-hike treat!

  

More pictures of our hike. I especially love the picture on the left. The one tree is eating away/taking over the other tree. It will take many years for the wrapping tree to overtake the other, but its working its magic. Cool, right?

The family on the sky bridge!

Birds of Paradise! So pretty!

After our skywalking adventure the next part of our tour took us to this little village area where we were able to have snacks and drinks.

Just like in Columbia, my dad and I had to sample the local beer. This selection was – Imperial – La Cerveza de Costa Rica!

It was pure deliciousness after our long hike.

We were also offered some local fresh fruit.

 

I am not one to turn down some beautiful fresh fruit. I had some watermelon, pineapple and papaya. It was all so fresh and delicious. I know they had warned us on the ship not to have fruit or water from the local establishments, but I took the change here and I was fine. The tour was from the ship, the place was clean. It all worked out

Beautiful fruit though, right?

I love the Spanish signs  – Ceda el Paso – Right of Way! It’s so exciting to be using my high school and college Spanish skills! Ole!

    

After our trip back to the port where our ship was docked we walked around the open air markets and got some souvenirs. I love checking out all the markets and vendors at all the different places. Shopping at all the different ports is one of my favorite parts of cruising – other than visiting all the different places!

 

After a beautiful day in Costa Rica, it was time to set sail again for our next stop. Stay tuned for more cruising fun!