It’s an early day, and a long one.
Our first stop is the Animal Rescue Center.
Many of the animals are injured and being rehabilitated to return to the wild (some in fact escape regularly). Others were pets, and will have to stay in the sanctuary for life; they don’t have survival skills and they are inclined to want to play with rather than avoid humans. Also there is a community of free monkeys that linger around near feeding times, to steal food.
We see the capuchin monkeys and spider monkeys, but they only have one howler monkey right now and she’s in getting care so we don’t get to visit her. But we also see two- and three-toed sloths, a coati, parrots and parakeets, scarlet macaws, toucans, and more!
Our next stop is brief stroll through a botanical garden.
There’s no guide other than our tour person here. The stop is more of a stretching of the legs and then we push off.
We’re supposed to have a thirty minute drive to our lunch stop and the oxcart factory. I nod off en route and wake up when the bus stops.
The bus is not stopping. It is turning around. We’ve made a wrong turn. We are 30 minutes late to the lunch stop (El Jardin Sarchi – really very good).
And the oxcart factory is closed, but we can see artisans who paint them and shop a bit.
That’s our last stop for the day. It will take us a while to get back to the ship.
I have time upon return for a shower, dinner, a raffle at the Effy store, to positively kill at the weekly Wordscapes tournament, and to get my walk in on the upper deck.
It’s a good day!
aka gringita 