Category: Costa Rica
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Day 07 – Intense Driving and Waterfall Swimming
It was moving on day – time to leave the northern lowland jungle for some hilltop forest on our way to the Caribbean coast. We had a few hours drive which Jenny was keen to do. From the nearby main town of Puerto Viejo, we took the Ruta 4, mostly dual carriageway, fairly empty but…
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Day 15 – Monster Truck Camping
It was time to say goodbye to Congo Bongo Eco Resort. Pingping sauntered over to say goodbye while we were packing. She had that look in her eye again. Like all her new owners, we were about to abandon her. She would get over it. We had a long drive today. Fortunately, we’d had a…
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Day 06 – 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…
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Day 05 – 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…
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Day 04 – 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…
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Day 03 – 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…
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Day 02 – 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…
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Day 01 – 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…
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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…
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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,…