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Portobello. One of the colourful local buses |
A display of molas in the market |
The San Lorenzo fortress guarding the bay |
The harbour and old Customs House, Portobello |
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The front of the partially restored Customs House |
Just having a nap! |
Looking seaward from the San Geronimo fort |
Welcome to the Embera village of Errebache |
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Some of the young girls give a display of dancing |
The village hall, thatched with palm leaves |
One of the local capuchin monkeys enjoying a banana |
Some of the other village buildings |
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Returning to our world. The river was very low and the canoe needed a push! |
A container ship entering the Miraflores locks at the Pacific end of the canal |
The lock gates open and the 'mules' haul the ship through |
Slowly does it. There is very little clearance on either side |
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Returning home by bus after a long day |
Two very different methods of transport |
The row of cabins at the "Finca Lerida", Boquete |
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Colourful berries on a coffee bush |
Rows of coffee bushes line the slopes |
The estate manager explains the techniques of growing coffee |
The coffee beans at the first stage of the drying process |
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...and the final drying of the beans |
The long and complicated process of coffee tasting. A carefully weighed sample is first ground and then 'nosed' before the hot water is added to the cup |
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The hot water is added and the resulting liquor is again carefully 'nosed' and copious notes are made |
The pond at the Esquinas Rainforest Eco-Lodge in S.W. Costa Rica with its resident caiman |
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The main building houses the restaurant and social area |
Nearby is the Casa de Orchideas on the Golfo Dulce |
A flowering pepper and the flowers of the cannonball tree |
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A Star Anise and an opened cocoa bean |
The lounge area of the Esquinas Eco-Lodge |
The Lodge is virtually hidden in its forest setting |
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The sign welcoming us to the Lodge |
The Lodge's Turtle Pond |
The distinctive Heliconia |
Access to the Lodge was rather rickety! |
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The 'Skywalk' at the Villa Lapas, Costa Rica |
The 'Tourist Tree', so called for the way its bark peels! |
"Don't climb me, I'm very prickly" |
A tiny little colourful toad |
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A toucan watches as we pass by |
The 'Spanish Village' adjacent to the Villa Lapas |
One of the residents |
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A juvenile bare throated tiger heron and snowy egret on the Tárcoles River |
"Come on, grub up!" |
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One of the many large crocs on the Tárcoles River |
Caracaras and a tiger heron on the river bank |
The sun sets as we cruise through the mangrove swamps |
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A Pacific sunset at the entrance to the estuary |
Scarlet macaws at a coffee stop |
Any excuse for a parade! This time in Liberia. Giant figures, bulls, horses, a band |