Catching up - Costa Rica

I caught a flight to San Jose in Costa Rica, hired a (very small) 4wd vehicle and set off for La Fortuna, which is a small town just below a (live) volcano. The plan was to hike the volcano, visit the local thermal springs and waterfalls and generally look for wildlife. I managed to find a little cabin for rent just outside the town, set in tropical gardens with a nice swimming pool and breakfast included - ridiculously cheap and I was the only guest!

Suzuki Jimney

Where is everyone?

It wasn't me - honest

 First stop at the volcano, only too be told by the park ranger that I couldn't hike up as they'd had a couple of small eruptions, so I just hiked through the surrounding forest. Saw plenty of wildlife - unfortunately my camera had died so I only had my phone to take photos with - apologies for the quality.

Volcano at La Fortuna - NOT dormant

Big Tree

Family group

 After five days hiking the area I decided I needed a beach, so drove down to the Pacific coast, which was a bit of a disappointment. First stop was Tamarindo, where I'd booked a couple of nights stay in a little hotel; evidently it was a famous surfing town, so full of young Americans (dude!) being fleeced by the locals, dirt streets with grey water running down the middle, 5 star hotels next to tin shacks. Not my scene, although I met a Venezuelan Vegan chef that delivered food by push-bike around the town, so at least I had some decent food.

Yep, deserted beach

 I carried on south along the coast towards the Marine park, much more rural with no tourists. Found a lovely little cabin up in the hills rented out by a French family - they even let me use their swimming pool. Oh and gave me a massive plate of fruit each day for breakfast!

So thats how you're supposed to do it!

Funny-looking squirrel

Nice Fruit!!

 I took a boat trip out one day, supposedly there were humpback whales out in the park, but all we saw were dolphins. Did some snorkeling but not many fish. Bit of a disappointment really.

Marine National park

Spotted dolphin

 Another day I made a trip to the most popular national park in the country; sure enough there was plenty of wildlife to be spotted, but it all seemed a bit - Disneyland. The guides all knew where each animal was to be seen, we basically queued-up to take our photos.

Capuchin monkeys

There's a Sloth and baby in there somewhere

Howler monkey

Strangely enough, after three weeks I was getting bored. I guess I must be spoilt, but the heat (constant 30 degC) and lack of decent food was getting to me, plus it seemed every person I met had their hand out asking for money. I'd actually driven the whole length of the country, and back again. My plan was to carry on up into Nicaragua, but for some reason there were problems at the border crossing, and no-one was getting across from Costa Rica. I never did find out what the problem was, by now I just wanted to get away. After a bit of head-scratching I decided to head to Colombia instead; I remembered Juan, my Arhuaco companion from Panama city, telling me all about Cuidad Perdida (the lost city) sitting up in the mountains behind Cartagena. So, flight booked to Cartagena via Panama - ready for the next leg of the journey.

Everyone's watching!