Hoosiergardener

The cruise ship docks in Golfito and Puntarenas are right in town, so easy to walk off the ship and explore the town. Quepos is a tender port. There are some modern, expensive Americanized restaurants where the tender drops you off. The town itself is a ten-minute walk from there. On Saturday, there is a wonderful local farmers' market in Quepos with stalls also selling coffee, spices, and souvenirs. In Golfito, we were not interested in the ship tours or a private hike through the nature preserve. So we spent a delightful few hours at Lola's Restaurant Playa Cacao. It's just across the bay from the cruise ship dock and, if you buy food and drink at the restaurant, the water taxi is free. Just ask one of the tourist information ladies at the cruise ship dock to arrange the water taxi. Lola is so friendly and speaks good English. Our local lunch was quite enjoyable -- huge, perfectly cooked mahi-mahi filet and fried plantains, and hubby had respectable fish stew packed with fish chunks and mussels in a coconut milk broth. The open-air restaurant has free wifi and accepts Visa and MasterCard. A popular place with local families. We spent a couple of hours just sitting by the water watching boats and local kids swim. The best thing was mid-afternoon, 4 large scarlet macaws perched in a tree right next to the restaurant. Awesome!

We went on a private tour with FerTours 2. Their "Shipwrecked" tour of Havana with guide Alain was absolutely the best tour we have taken anywhere, and we've traveled all over the world. Alain took us to all the noteworthy sites in Old Havana. But more than that, in fluent English, he taught us about local history and culture. He cheerfully accommodated our individual requests, taking us to a great cigar store and a wonderful coffee shop, so we could buy local products. He also took us to lunch at an authentic (not tourist trap) Cuban restaurant that had amazing Cuba Libres (rum & coke). The day ended with a ride around Havana in a flamingo pink 1954 Chevy Bel Air convertible. We would rate this day 10 stars if we could!