Saying goodbye to my Intrepid group

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The next day we have a long drive back to San Jose on the public bus. The temperatures have rocked up to 37 degrees and it's going to seem like a lot longer journey as a result. Fortunately there's plenty space on the bus so I get a seat to myself and can rearrange my legs so they kind of fit! I can hardly believe my travels in Costa Rica are nearly over. It's been such a whirlwind tour - I've seen and done so much. Again, I feel so blessed to have had the opportunity to travel all this way across the world to experience something so different to what I know at home. As always on these trips I'll come away enriched and changed.

We seem to hug the ocean for miles and miles before turning inland. I watch the temperature display in the coach gradually go down as we get nearer to San Jose and it's a relief. As we get onto the road heading towards San Jose we find our coach driver is well known amongst the other drivers going in the opposite direction who honk their horns or wave. We get caught in a traffic jam for about 15 minutes and even more people are acknowledging the driver as they go past. One car swerves close to the coach to flick the driver, who's standing outside the coach, with a towel laughing themselves silly as they go past. When we arrive at our hotel I find out from those who were sitting at the front that his driving was a little crazy and I'm glad I was blissfully unaware of this where I was sitting.

We enjoy a last meal out together as a group. The next day most people will be flying home. Just me and Dan have an extra day and lucky Markus and Franziska another 10 days! Miles has been making a video of the whole trip and to help pull it all together he suggests taking us off one by one to interview us about our experiences, what we liked most, what we will miss about Costa Rica etc. We all take our turn, even Miles whose girlfriend Catherine takes the camera for his interview. What a great trip it's been. Thanks go to the whole group for being such great travel companions and to Brian for his friendship, his patient leadership and fab organising skills. I go to bed with a big smile on my face remembering all the amazing experiences I've had.

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