03 March 2020; Puerto Caldera, Costa Rica.

Today we are in a hot and sweltering Costa Rica, mainly because there is hardly any wind, or clouds. As mentioned yesterday, this stop is mainly to offer the guests Eco Tours; same as we have other ports for history (Puerto Quetzal) and other ports again for beach and shopping.  When going here, we have the option to dock at Punta Arenas or at Puerto Caldera. The latter one is officially the cargo port. In the old days it was the only port, but then they built a new pier which leads straight into the town of Punta Arenas. The challenge with the new pier is, it is very exposed to current, wind and swell. So to get the ship alongside you have to arrive at slack tide (change from ebbing to flooding or vice versa) and when the swell is running, then the ship bounces up and down the pier all day, which is not so great for our guests.

Thus the captains of Holland America Line ships try to dock at Puerto Caldera when there is space as

1. the pier has a breakwater so it is safe from the swell and
2. we can arrive and leave whenever we like as there is no current running here in the corner of the land.

And thus Captain van Dreumel, Master of the ms Rotterdam, wisely decided to go here as there was space.  Those who want to see Punta Arenas can do so as we run a shuttle service from the dock here to the town. For those who just want to buy the proverbial T shirt, that can be done as well, as there is a little Flea Market inside the terminal building. For the tours it does not matter as the coaches can leave from anywhere.

Not the most exciting view to look at but very good to park a ship at. Plus much easier for the coaches to park for the guests. If only they would have a breakwater at the Punta Arenas Pier, then things would be wonderful for everyone.

For those guests who do not branch out on their own, we have 18 tours on offer. With the shortest one lasting 4.5 hours (crocodile adventure or a river cruise) and the longest one 9 hours, which includes a visit to the Capital San Jose, 4,500 feet above sea level in the mountains. I have done this tour once in the grey mists of time as I am more into history than into animals and nature, and although it is a long day, it is fascinating to see how much history and culture there is in such a remote capital up in the mountains. Not that it is small, there are about 340,000 people living there but everything has to up or down the mountain to get there or to get back to the rest of the country. Most capitals in the world are much easier accessible.

This long tour, which is now purely by coach, used to be up the mountain by coach and then down by train or the other way around. This was always challenging as we never knew if the train would make it back on time in the evening due to landslides, power failures or other mayhem, or would be available in the morning due to issues that occurred the evening before. As are result the ship never sailed on time. This still happens, but with lesser frequency and with shorter delays. The train is not used anymore (I think it cannot reach Puerto Caldera anymore due to a very big landslide) and the road to San Jose has been widened so much (up to 4 lanes now) that if there is a land slide, then one direction normally stays open and the police quickly puts plan B into place and re-adjust the use & direction of the two remaining lanes.

It is worthwhile to take the tour as San Jose is a wonderful city, built in Spanish Colonial Style as it was them who founded the city back in 1571.

Then there is the traffic. My advice always is, go by coach as they are big and you won’t get hurt if it’s you who get hit. Costa Ricans are very warm and friendly people, who really have their head screwed on the right way, as it is the most stable democracy in Middle America, and does not even have an army to stay peaceful. But the moment they step in a car that seems to change. All the roads seem to be full of drivers training for the Grand Prix of Monaco and on regular basis you see one of them (or their car) in a ditch on the side of the road. And on occasion they decide to test each others air bags with sometimes devastating results as well. What seems to really act as “the red flag to the bull” are slow going trucks and Lorries which also have to climb 4,500 feet up to San Jose. Those shall be over taken at once and then not always a rational decision is made of where to do that safely.

Thus in the afternoon it is always a waiting game on the bridge to see if the coaches will be back on time, or if a landslide or car accident has delayed the return. It has been dry for the last few days and that reduces the chance of landslides somewhat, but accidents do continue. Hence the best thing is to sit in the coach and admire the scenery.

Tomorrow we are in Corinto Nicaragua. A port from my Cadet ship days with some interesting memories.

Weather: sunny and even hotter than today. 100oF /96oC.  And very little wind.

For those who are interested in a bit of Holland America Line history, I have uploaded the next biography of one of our Captains from the Past: Captain / Commodore Krol.   See the side tab on this blog Captains of the Past.