3 Days - 3 Ports

We've been busy over the past 3 days. I will just give a quick overview now of the 3 ports we visited because of limited wifi, but once we get to Miami, I'll try to fill in the blanks.

First port - Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala

 There is nothing near the port, so we had booked an all day excursion to Colonial Antigua, which is an old town about 90 minute drive. Less than 1/2 hour into the drive and the bus broke down. Had to wait about 20 minutes for a new bus to show up, but the rest of the way went without incident. Here is an old cathedral in Antigua.

 The streets were all cobblestone and filled with tourist. The street vendors just bug you to death to buy their wears. Just couldn't get away from them.

We had a good lunch of a typical meal - rice, beans, chicken or beef. This is a typical lunch for all the countries we visited. Even though it is basic, it's still quite good (or we were hungry which I can't believe).

Next Port - Corinto, Nicaragua

Also, there is not much by the port here so also had booked an excursion to Old and New Leon. Here is the ruins in Old Leon. This was another 2 hour drive from the ship. So we are seeing a lot of the countryside. Both Nicaragua and Guatemala are dry areas, not too tropical which I envisioned.

There are many volcanos in these three counties we are visiting with only about 2-3 active in each. Here is one in Nicaragua that is active, you can see the smoke on top.

This is the Leon Cathedral.

 We climbed up about 72 steps to the roof.

Port 3 - Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Costa Rica is much more tropical and a little better conditions than the last 2 countries, but still quite poor. As before, we took an 8 hour excursion called Discover Costa Rica. Of course we visited another cathedral which the blocks were made from volcanic ash.

Went to a coffee plantation, here are coffee beans drying in the sun.

 Here are the grounds of the coffee plantation.

 We also visited a botanical gardens, which wasn't much. When we got back to the ship there was a show from the locals.

Happy Valentines Day gift from our stewart. We are at sea today and arrive at the Panama Canal tomorrow early morning. I'm looking forward to traversing the canal.