Category: Costa Rica
Day 6 – Birds and Chocolate
The early morning bird watching tour was due to start at 5.30. Of course, this would be the morning with no howler monkey alarm call, no sleepless night worrying about driving up mountain tracks, no pouring rain, no truck noises. I slept soundly and didn’t wake up until 5.20. Nor did anyone else. It was… Read more
Day 5 – Rafting and Night-time Wildlife
Woken at dawn by howler monkeys. We’d been forewarned. Just as well because it sounded like some creature was being murdered. Not a pleasant sound. We booked activities for our stay at Chillamate: a night-time nature walk for this evening; a bird watching tour tomorrow morning, and white water rafting this afternoon. Sarah denied that… Read more
Day 4 – Volcan Poas, Wildlife and The Jungle House
First thing in the morning, there were amazing views across the Central Valley from the cabin. None towards the volcano, which was behind us. Jenny thought this was cheeky marketing – the website had shown a picture of the volcano! It was the perfect scene to admire first thing in the morning with a cup… Read more
Day 3 – Traffic Jams, Toucans and Waterfall Gardens
Just as I’d started posting these blogs we’ve ended up being off grid for two nights, no phone signal, no WiFi, electricity off at 10 pm. More about that later. I’m still trying to catch up so here goes… It was time to say goodbye to Rancho Amalia in the sunshine. Last night’s rain stopped… Read more
Day 2 – Horses, Topiary and Waterfalls
The Rancho Amalia cabins were in a lovely setting, with incredible views; cosy with a wood fire. The problem at night time were the trucks. The main road wasn’t far away and it wound around the valley such that you could hear each truck for ages as it made its way round the bends. These… Read more
Day 1 – Culture, Coffee and Car Problems
Jet lag and election result shock meant I was wide awake at 5.00 in the morning, unable to get back to sleep. First light of dawn was a chance to look around the gardens at Villa Margarita. Why is it always such a surprise to see so many plants that are recognisable from gardens back… Read more
Flying
We flew out across the Atlantic, nearly to Newfoundland, and then down the Eastern coast of the States. Jenny spotted the Florida Keys. She could see the motorway that runs the length of the islands to Key West. Jenny had the window seat, Sarah had the middle seat, I had the aisle seat. This was… Read more
Planning
Luckily, we did our online check-in today. We found out that we’re flying from Gatwick rather than Heathrow. At least we found out today rather than tomorrow when we fly.Let’s hope some of our other planning has been better. Have we booked the car hire at the airport where we’re actually landing, for instance? Yes,… Read more