Our guide for the day, a small, rather nattily-dressed middle-aged man named Lee, provided knowledgeable commentary that was equal parts geography, history and commerce. Costa Rica is a very pretty country, peaceful and with a high literacy rate, but their roads leave much for improvement. Most were a collection of potholes strung together, and it was many miles after leaving Puntarenas before I saw a white or yellow stripe on the road, probably because drivers would find that overly restrictive.

We stopped at a picturesque resort called Pura Vita for a bathroom break . . .

At the Pura Vita resort.

A small stream winds through the resort. This shot was taken from one of the resort's several wooden footbridges that cross the stream bed.

. . . before driving up a steep, twisty, narrow road to the beginning of the Sky Walk.

Taken from the top of the Sky Walk trail, this view looks northwest along the coast, towards Puntarenas where the ship is docked. Very pretty country.

Here our guide turned into a botanist, pointing out various trees and plants, and discussing their characteristics. At times he lectured a little, espousing conservation and knowledge of the ecosystem. The walk was mostly downhill and included crossing 3 suspension foot bridges (one of them twice). The bridges were sturdy, but bounced a lot. I found it difficult to walk along the bridge and take pictures at the same time, as those parts of the walk felt a bit rushed. Still, I managed to snap a few dozen pictures.

A view of the canopy from the Sky Walk. With the suspension bridges about 20 feet or more above the ground at midpoint, the view was much better than from the trail that snaked through the forest between the bridges.

Another shot of the canopy and the hills around us. The Sky Walk crosses a steep narrow valley; most of the photos were taken looking down the valley..

One of my favorite shots from this excursion, where I've cleared the canopy overhang and can see for miles and miles.

A view back along the second suspension bridge. Although sturdy, they tended to bounce a lot when walked on.

Another view down the valley, with some nice foreground-background interplay in the shot.

Saw a couple of animals: a boa constrictor crossed our path in front of us;

A six-foot boa constrictor decides to cross the footpath right in front of us. We let it.

. . . a black and green poison-dart frog ambled through the leaves next to the trail; an iguana ate a noisy lunch near a log; and a bird perched briefly on a tree limb near where we were sitting. The bird was a relative of the quetzal, which according to our guide is the most beautiful bird in the world. Unfortunately, the bird sat facing the other way, so we didn't get to see the bright plumage.

At the end of the third (and longest) suspension bridge was a small rest area (a square patch of clearing with wooden benches) where we listened to our guide and looked for birds. This view of the bridge was taken from the rest area.

Overall, the walk was interesting and pleasant. The temperature when we started out from the ship was 75 and clear, and even though the temperature was hotter by the time we arrived at the Sky Walk, the excursion was completely in the shade of the canopy.

During the excursion, they had relocated the bus to the end of the Sky Walk so we didn't have to climb back up, and then returned us to the resort for a refresher of fruit and tea. The pineapple and watermelon were fine, but I didn't care for the papaya so much. I find the fruit is a bit musky for my tastes. Found a gift shop nearby, although our guide hadn't pointed it out, and found a very nice t-shirt to remind me of the trek through the forest. After that we boarded the bus for the drive back to the ship.

In Costa Rica, the Pacific coast is the dry side, and the rainy season doesn't start until May. Yeah, Monday was the first, but they apparently hadn't had any rain recently. The area around Puntarenas (which means Sandy Point, an obvious name when you see the place from the top deck of a cruise ship) is dry, almost desert-like, with scrub brush and grasses. Even the rainforest was drier than I expected, not the dense, dark and damp place you picture when thinking about the Central American jungle.

I nodded off on the drive back, and thought I should take a nap upon returning to the ship. Jill was up and feeling better, and for some reason I just couldn't lie down and sleep at the time, so got up and had lunch in the Lido. Beck to the stateroom to pick up camera, hat and sunglasses, and took some pictures from the deck.

How Puntarenas got its name. The word means 'sandy point,' which is obvious when seen from the Sky Deck of the Veendam, as here.

The pier at Puntarenas: a long walk to a very nice beach, crowded that day because of the May 1st holiday (sunbathers of the world, unite!).

The room was being serviced, so instead of heading back there, I found an empty upholstered chair in the Explorations Cafe and sat there. Talked briefly with a woman from Canada (lots of Canadians on this ship) before nodding off and taking a nap. Mom found me later and filled me in on their activities. I downloaded the pictures from the camera, and then finished my nap on the veranda, the noises of the pier and the sea, and the comings and goings of two boatloads of passengers merging into a kind of white noise that made dozing outside a unique but pleasant experience.

After the quasi-nap, I (and, seemingly, the rest of the veranda passengers on the starboard side) became fascinated by the various goings on at the pier. As the two ships prepared to sail, there were busloads of people coming back to their ships, and gangplanks being repositioned due to tides, and deliveries, and the cute little "conch train" beeping along the pier and ringing its cute little bell. As it got closer to departure time, the activity picked up, and verandas on both sides of the pier filled with a captive audience. Finally, Veendam cast off her last line at 4:45 and, to a round of applause, edged away from the pier.

From the veranda, a view of our much larger sister-ship, Zuiderdam (we jokingly referred to it as the 'goiterdam' because of its size) as we edge away from the pier.

The timing was tricky (said the Captain) because of the cross-current at the pier, which is too powerful for the maneuvering jets on the Veendam to handle, except at slack tides, meaning the brief period at high and low tide before the change.

I popped by aft nav to see what they were serving for the sail away party (a Costa Rican sunset), then headed up the Crow's Nest (the deck was kinda windy). While there, the Captain announced that due to an increase in the number of reported cases of the "Norwalk Virus," they were invoking red alert (or whatever they call it) which means additional steps to prevent the spread of germs. For the passengers, it mostly means no self service on board. (For the crew, it means a much stricter regimen of cleaning, since the virus is transferred by touch.) I learned shortly after that that red alert carried other ramifications. Left there and went to the stateroom to change for dinner, but was informed by Jill (who had just gotten off the phone with the infirmary) that we were both sequestered in the stateroom for the evening and part of Tuesday because of her illness.

Fortunately, I could still order room service from tonight's menu, so we called up dinner and put a movie in the DVD player ("Serenity," a Netflix rental I had brought with me). I also opened the bottle of champagne we had on ice. I mean, if I'm going to be locked in my room, I might as well enjoy it.

Missed the Broadway Name that Tune in the Piano bar, but them's the breaks. Went to bed after the movie.