We finally got to Costa Rica, our previous attempt some years ago being foiled when strong winds prevented the ship from docking.
Anna and I went on a trip to a research facility in the Veragua rainforest, where we took an aerial tram down into a valley for a hair-raising walk/climb up and down wet wooden stairs with wire mesh stapled to the surfaces, apparently in an attempt to make them more slippery. Finally we got to stand on a wet steel mesh platform so we could look down and see for ourselves how far we would fall to our deaths when the thing collapsed, before retracing our steps up the wooden steps. Fun.
After seeing some frogs and reptiles in glass-fronted enclosures and having lunch, we went on to a ride in a pontoon boat along part of the Tortuguero Canals. These canals were originally built to transport trees for manufacturing plywood, which was an integral part of the post-war Marshall Plan. I forget why they stopped making plywood, but now the canals are just a tourist attraction.
Costa Rica is so wet the fence posts sprout leaves and continue growing. Maybe the plywood wouldn’t stop growing either.
