Our Captain guided us into the gulf where we would dock at Puntarenas, Costa Rica. When we neared the pier he skillfully stopped us short, hit the thrusters, and pivoted us exactly into our mooring. It is amazing how this big ship is maneuvered to tie up at each port. We never feel a bump, push or jiggle. When we were in place the two tugs that had escorted us peeled away in formation and moved on to other duties. 
Today we were given blue skies and 89-degree weather. Looking around the Gulf of Nicoya we could see beautiful blue water dotted with thickly covered green islands. This is truly a paradise!
Precisely at 9:30 am our group number was called and we disembarked to meet our excursion bus. Today’s tour was called “A Walk in the Clouds” and would take place in a national preserve located inland, an hour and a half by bus, in the highlands. The tour guide was a very talkative, humorous fellow. He chatted continually making little jokes and telling stories. He would start telling one factual tidbit, and weave in a joke, then some facts about something we were passing and finally return to his original tidbit. I found myself lost most of the time, so I basically tuned him out and only paid attention when he said the words “left” or “right”.
About an hour into the ride we stopped for a restroom break at a souvenir shop. I looked around, but most of the items were of the “Made in China” verity so I passed. On the front of the building were some very elaborately painted murals. I was amazed at the detail of the work and the skill that the artist had. I took photos and then found my seat on the bus.
We arrived at the preserve and wriggled our way off the bus. This was a rather large tourist attraction; there were zip lines, bungee jumps and suspension bridges winding throughout the jungle. Our tour would be on foot over the suspension bridges. Of course, Linda and I would have zip lined, but that was not an option provided by the Viking Cruise people.
Our guide broke us into two groups and we made our way along the trails. Near the start, a feeder had been prepped with bananas and this was drawing in some very beautiful birds to feed. I got a couple good photos and then we moved on to the hummingbird feeders.
Hummingbirds were everywhere! They zoomed in and gathered the nectar that had been provided. You could move in close to the feeders and stand still and they would come in and feed with no fear at all.
The rest of the walk was very easy and rather slow. It definitely was paced for the majority of the people from our cruise ship, but for a slow walk in the jungle, it was very nice.
We had a good lunch of chicken, beans, and rice cooked in a local fashion. Once we finished that we were back on the bus headed home.
About halfway down from the hiking area the bus pulled over to the side of the road we were able to get out and view some Howler monkeys. The monkeys were in the high branches of the nearby trees eating the new growth off the branches. We took some photos but the combination of the distance away and location of the sun made it hard to get good shots. We were excited to see our first wild monkeys and that helped to top off our day in the jungle.
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