After the heat of the day, the old man set the air conditioning to ‘ice station zebra’ mode and I wake up shivering and desperately searching the depths of my luggage for a jumper. Today, we are going to Manuel Antonio National Park; our entry time slot is 9-9.40 am. No food is allowed in the park, so we stop at a café en route for breakfast and arrive at the allocated time. Once the admin is complete; tickets and ID produced, temperature taken, hands sanitised and bags checked for contraband, we are allowed in. We follow two trails; first Sendero Perezoso (sloth trail). We don’t see any sloths - I’m beginning to think they’re mythical creatures! We do, however, spot monkeys. At first we’re excited, peering up into the trees for a closer look. but ... read more

After another rubbish night’s sleep in the rubbish bed, we get up and go for breakfast. The toxic pineapple juice makes a return appearance. He also brings a jug. I hear ‘agua para ti’ (water for you) so attempt to dilute my juice. Apparently, he said ‘agua para té’ (water for tea) and it is boiling water, which causes the fluorescent yellow liquid to bubble alarmingly. This morning is a toss up between another cloud forest reserve and Selvatura for a 3 km treetop walkway consisting of 8 bridges, the longest being almost 200 metres long. I’m terrified of heights and very much prefer to have my feet firmly on the ground, so my choice would be the cloud forest. However, my running club is doing a series of challenges this month, and one requires other ... read more

Today we have a 3 hour drive to Monteverde. First, time for a buffet breakfast at Coco Viquez; pancakes with plantain and pineapple again – yay! With a month of our trip left, I’m already starting to panic about sourcing my plantain habit when we return to Bournemouth. We take one last walk along the beach before checkout. After the chaos of the weekend and hoards of day trippers, it’s quiet today. The only evidence of the weekend crowds are the bags of garbage left behind being picked over by vultures. We join the handful of American snowbirds taking a morning constitutional. The sea is like glass this morning (a kind of greenish-black glass). It’s hard to believe I nearly got taken out by a wave yesterday. Once I have laid out yesterday’s laundry on the ... read more

Today we are heading to the beach; to Playa Hermosa. It’s only a 20 mile drive, so there’s time for a leisurely breakfast (apart from the bit where we have to fight tooth and nail for a go on the toaster) Then I go for a swim whilst the old man crushes his candy (not a euphemism – he really does spend several hours a day playing candy crush). As the temperature hits 32 degrees, it’s time to check out and head for the Pacific coast. It should only be a 45 minute drive, but with the old man’s faffing (he left his hat in a restaurant and insists on going back, then gets lost in Liberia’s one way system) and my faffing (stops to photograph warning signs and a giant lizard) it takes twice as ... read more

It’s our final morning in La Fortuna and it rained heavily in the night. The volcano has disappeared completely behind a thick blanket of cloud and our last chance of seeing it in its entirety has gone. Never mind, it’s time to move on to another volcano – Rincon de la Vieja. Today’s drive is 80 miles, the first half of which skirts the shore of Lake Arenal. So, the plan is to go slow with plenty of photo stops, arriving at our hotel in Liberia around lunch time. By then, the temperature should be 32 degrees. Luckily, it has a pool! After a breakfast of fruit and gallo pinto (rice & beans) for us, whilst watching the birds eat their breakfast of bananas, we set off. The drive round the lake is underwhelming; there are ... read more