A place where everyone loves Ron.

[drron]

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Although it was overcast it was dry as we boarded the busses to go to our "canal" cruise.But as soon as we were underway the heavens opened.The canals are actually branches of rivers that run just behind the coast line-

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We arrived at our destination and the rain stopped.we were taking a "cruise" along a canal.houses and businesses were along one bank.I felt we were in for a boring time.How wrong I was.Here is our boat and then the flora and fauna-

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[drron]

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And I learnt something new.Sloths swim faster than they climb-

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[UpInTheAir:)]

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And I learnt something new.Sloths swim faster than they climb-

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I knew I related to the sloth!! Did you catch any with a sly glass of champagne??

 

[drron]

No Uppy the only glass of champagne I saw was in my hand!

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Proof that we are not transitting virgin jungle-

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[drron]

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[drron]

Then some Howler monkeys put on a show-

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The staff are always on hand to teach-

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And those believe it or not are very small bats hanging upside down-

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[drron]

The howlers are keeping up.

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I think he's smiling.Let's check-

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Wasps-

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[drron]

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At the end of the cruise we had lunch there.Typical costa Rican fare-ribs washed down with the right sized bottle of amber liquid-

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They also had some very nice crafts which caught mrsdrron's eye.But then it was off to an animal rescue centre and botanic garden past the commercial port and evidence of large scale agriculture-

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[drron]

We crossed many rivers-

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We finally reached the turn off to the gardens.Wonderful tropical display-

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[drron]

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[drron]

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The animals basically are caged and I am not sure if all are rescued.the deer seem to have reasonable conditions and are excess from a zoo in San Jose-

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Also a lot of edible plants-here pepper and cacao-they are attempting to make their own chocolate-

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[drron]

This young fellow though stole hearts.A recent addition having been found alone just a few weeks before-

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[drron]

Next was this very loud green parrot.He was making a din-

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You can see in the second photo I have got his attention.I did that by mimicking his utterances.Then I gradually started changing the sounds and by about the 6 minute mark he was now imitating a duck very well.his quack,quack-with a guttural duck accent of course-was passable.I had the Expedition staff in stitches.
Now this fellow wasn't a resident,he just dropped by for a look-

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Putting a fallen tree to work as a host for plants.

 

[drron]

It was now a long bus trip back to the Explorer.Our butler must have had a 6th sense as a hot bath was drawn when we got back to the cabin.We preferred the bath to the evening's recap.Then to dinner where once again we had ribs.Totally different to lunch but delicious.

The next day we anchored off Boca del Toro,Panama.The morning was taken up by a local boat cruise visiting 4 attractions-it was rotated so only ~ 20 people/2 boats at each place.Our first stop was a bay that is usually frequented by dolphins.It didn't disappoint-

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Here is the other boat dolphin watching with us-

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at this point our guy hit the accelerator hard.I thought Oh no he'll scare the dolphins.But he just encouraged them-

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The views were pretty cool-

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[drron]

Next spot was a village of the Ngobe one of the original Indian peoples-

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So to the village-

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Granddaughters scored a few trinkets.
Volleyball court and school-

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[drron]

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Laundry in a wheelbarrow-

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The school canteen-

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Next our third destination-sloth island.Becoming a bit second nature now-

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[RooFlyer]

drron, your AFF inbox is full.

 

[Champo]

Similar itinerary as above without the Captain's Choice stuff. ADL/HKG/LHR/OSL/then Y to Kirkenese and sail to Bergen on Hurtigruten's Finnmarken. Then BGO/MUC and Imperial Highlights Land tour with Trafalgar, back to MUC and then DOH/JFK with Qatar. Y JFK to CUN then fly to Havana, Cuba, back to CUN/JFK/HKG/ADL all on One world Award points (560,000 for self and wife BUSINESS CLASS - PLUS 14,000 points penalties for compiling the itinerary in stages as it is impossible to do RTW in one booking these days, no matter how far out you try and book) The flights OSLO to Kirkenese and from Cancun to Havana are in Y because I had to book and pay for them separately (One World does not fly to Kirkenese nor Havana from Cuncan - Those fligjhts cost $400 and $950 AUD. I was surprised how many Qantas consultants do not know the Classic Award Rules. I was told on 2 occasions that I could not come back through Hong Kong from New York because I had travelled through Hong Kong on my way to Europe. WRONG. This sort of advice makes planning very difficult, however, have managed to have the assistance of consultants who in the main try to be very helpful and mostly are I WOULD BE VERY PLEASED TO HEAR PEOPLE'S EXPERIENCES IN HAVANA, CUBA, ESPECIALLY THE BEST WAY TO CONVERT CASH AND THE AVAILABILITY OF ATM'S AT THE AIRPORT AND ELSEWHERE.

 

[drron]

Really a lovely place.Now heading to an island to see the poisonous panama red frog-

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Our guide was a fellow of Jamaican heritage.A real card.He kept us amused.

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[drron]

Yes the famous red frogs are orange at this time of year.They are poisonous on contact so you had to be wary using the conveniences-

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Finally time to go back to the ship for lunch.

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Time to say goodbye to our local skippers-

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