problem with contour() & basemap; contours overlapping map

Im having an issue with the plotting of contours using basemap.

My contours are incorrectly being plotted on top of my basemap coastlines&continents.

Ive attached an image as an example:
Note that the red contour lines near land areas are OVERLAPPING the coastlines & continents, instead of being plotted BELOW them.

Here are the commands that I used to create this image (in the same order that I called them...)

m=basemap(...)
Z=create_my_data_array(...)

...

cs=m.contour(X,Y,Z,linewidths=1.25)
m.drawcoastlines()
m.fillcontinents(color='grey')

Since I am calling the 'm.drawcoastlines()' and 'm.fillcontinents()' functions AFTER having plotted my contours, I would expect that the coastlines & continents would be plotted ON TOP of the previously drawn contours.
Is this correct?

This appears to work fine for the 'basemap.contourf()' but not for the 'basemap.contour()' function.

Is this a bug, or by design?

How can I go about correcting this, so that the 'basemap.contour()' function draws the contours BEFORE drawing the coastlines & filled continents?

Please help,
Thanks,

P.Romero

basemap_contour_overlap.png

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