To record this trip, we took two Garmin receivers and a Magellan SporTrak Color.  Generally we used a Garmin Vista-C to record the bus and walking tours, a GPSmap 76C to record the ships position 24-hours a day,  and a Sportrak Color to show contour lines.  The CenRut maps are remarkably detailed and accurate -as compared to the GPS tracks recorded on the trip.  Due to lack of memory, those three units aren't capable of accepting the CenRut regions, so we will describe the units we know that can.

MAP INSTALLATION INTO GARMIN UNITS DIRECTLY:
In the http://www.cenrut.org/adw/over.htm, Overview page is, "How do I load the maps onto my GPS?"  Once you get the gmapsupp.img file, you can upload it to any Garmin unit that supports "Mass storage" where other .img files are located.  If you find a gmapsupp.img file already there, change the name to gmapsupp.img.org, or similar, to prevent overwriting that file.  (Later you may want to go back to the original .img file).

MAP INSTALLATION INTO GARMIN UNITS VIA MAPSOURCE:
In the CenRut Overview page is, "item 3) CenRut*: http://bit.ly/Cenrut28".  Download this file to the same  folder of convenience.  It will be, "CenRut28.rar".

NOTE: *.rar files must be extracted by downloading http://www.tucows.com/preview/194276 -or similar.  (Try not let the 'extra' files by TuCows clutter up your computer!).  This file will be:  "oi_wrarexe.exe" which downloads "wrar411.exe".  Run this file to install 'WinRAR' on your computer.  (If you are using PKZIP, I suggest you only register WinRAR to extract *.rar files).

Now you can extract "CenRut28.rar".  There will be a sub folder, "CenRut28", where you will find, "CenRut.org 2.8.exe".
Running this file will install  the "CenRut 2.8" map on your MapSource.  To check the success of the install, load (THIS) Garmin .gdb file with waypoints and tracks from a previous visit to Central America into MapSource -which can show the accuracy and detail of the map.

NOTE: With some Garmin 'mass storage' hand-held units, the uploaded tracks aren't visible on the screen until they are activated individually.

ADD TOPOGRAPHIC MAPS:
Also on the Overview Page is "Topographic map of Central America".  Download and run "Centopo.exe".  This will install 50m (164') contour-line-interval map derived from NASA’s SRTM data.  On MapSource, the map will be "Centopo 01 www.cenrut.org©" and will show contour lines only.

To add CenRut street maps AND contour lines onto a GPS unit, select both 'CenRut 2.8' and 'Centopo 01 www.cenrut.org' regions of interest.  Upload these regions to you GPS unit.

ROUTING:
Routing on the Garmin nuvi series seems to work well.  Below are two calculated routes as compared to a rout actually taken.  But so far, we haven't been able to do route calculations on the hand-held units we have that will accept CenRut maps.

...
A route from the Courtyard Hotel to the first stop, Inbio Park, as calculated by a Garmin nuvi 760 and 765T
The newer 765T finds a shorter route. (Black lines are contour lines)

A GPS track of the route actually taken by the bus -which is the same as the 765T.

WEATHER:
In February, Costa Rica, Atlantic side, is cool and sometimes showery.  Costa Rica, Pacific side, warm and humid.  Seas fairly calm.  Panama Pacific side, cool and pleasant (due to the Humboldt Current).  Atlantic side, warmer, but still rather pleasant.  Seas more windy and choppy.  We would suggest you select a cruise in the Costa Rica-to-Panama direction in order to get your sea legs for the Atlantic side.  Winter is considered the dry season in Central America.

Overall GPS StreetAtlas map of the trip. Blue is Land Tour of Costa Rica, Green is the Ship Cruise in the Pacific Ocean.
Black is the Panama Canal, and Red is the return Cruise in the Caribbean Ocean from the San Bas Islands to Colon.

Part-I Costa Rica Tour (5 Feb. to 10 Feb. 2005)

The "yellow brick road" is a GPS track of the CRT bus tour superimposed on CenRut's new map

Click on these Thumbnails to Access Web Pages of Interest
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• Antique Auto Display near the Marriott Courtyard Hotel. -First night stay.
• Inbioparque -Display of aquatic animals and fish of Costa Rica, some being endangered species.
• Rain Forest Aerial Tram and Restaurant, Braulio Carrillo National Park.

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• Centro Neotropico SarapiquiS Hotel -Botanical Gardens and Archaeological Site.  -Two nights stay.
• Poás Volcano National Park.
• La Paz Waterfall and Restaurant -northeast of the Volcano.

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• "Green" Iguana "à la mode" (see page).
• Arenal Volcano view from the Arenal Paraiso Hotel Cabins. -Two nights stay.
• Sky Tram and Zip Line launch point  -The destination is invisible!

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• Hot Springs and Pools.
• Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water! (On the way to the dock).
• Cruise West Pacific Explorer.

Part-2 -Cruise on the Pacific Explorer (11 Feb. to 19 Feb.  2005)

The Yellow Line is the ship track of the Pacific Explorer superimposed on Garmin's WorldMap

Click on these Thumbnails to Access Web Pages of Interest
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• Wild Capuchin (observing beach person) in the Manuel Antonio National Park.
• Macaw in the Wildlife Hospital of the Cana Blanca Preserve.
• Granito de Oro (Little Grain of Gold) Island -Model for all deserted-island cartoons?

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• The indigenous people of Emberá -Preparing music for a festive dance.
• Pacheca Bird Island of Panama.
• The Panama Canal -Hotels can navigate this thing?

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• Portobelo -Discovered by Columbus in 1502 (escaping from a storm), later fortified by the Spanish.
• Kuna indigenous people of the San Blas Islands -Natives sell their reverse appliqués.
• Kuna native dance.  The men are playing flutes while the women shake maracas.

Other Cruise West Cruises with GPS:
    Click (HERE) for Alaska and Canada
    Click (HERE) for Baja California and the Copper Canyon

Photos taken with a Nikon CoolPix 990 and adjusted with Adobe Photoshop Elements 2.0.