Day 2 - Friday 14th February

San Jose - La Fortuna

This morning was a hideously early start...something that is fairly normal for trips like this, but intentional so we could get ahead of the San Jose traffic. Thankfully everyone was ready with their luggage and we were off on time.

We stopped at a nice little cafe for breakfast, and I had the opportunity for huevos rancheros, something I haven't had since my last trip to this part of the world. I wasn't disappointed! They were good portion sizes too although when my cup of tea eventually materialised I definitely regretted ordering tea con leche. Note to self, tea con poco poco leche!!!

On the way we stopped as our eagle eyed driver had seen a sloth. There are supposed to be loads, but not always easy to find, and sometimes tourists go a whole trip waiting to see one at all, so it was amazing to see one on our first day.

We also saw a couple of scarlet macaws, who apparently stay together throughout their lives - clearly showing off for Valentine's Day. Sadly the sun was in the wrong place to get a good photo, but it was great to see them.

At lunch we stopped off at the coffee plantation, a community project supported by G adventures, and had the opportunity to see how it was produced, and understand the different types of quality control. 

Lunch came at a good time, as it emptied it down, so it was good we were inside, whilst the food was tasty, I am starting to get a bit fed up of rice, beans and egg...

The afternoon was spent travelling to our hotel, but beforehand we had a chance to book our activities for the following day. With so much choice it was difficult, but in the end I stuck with my instinct and went for white water rafting. Then a group of us chose to book into the hot springs that evening, as the volcanic area made this a popular activity.

 Day 1 - Thursday 13th February

This was the first official day on the tour. We had a mostly free day to spend in San Jose before a group meeting later in the evening and dinner with the group.

I managed to meet a few more people at breakfast, and decided to make plans to go on a walking tour of San Jose, somewhat last minute. This turned out to be a good decision, as it gave me a chance to have an explore of the city and find out a bit more about the culture.

The tour was a food tour as well, so we had the chance to sample local cuisine - including local fruits. There was a wide spread of different fruits, including many that I hadn't sampled before (a couple very sour!), and another sweet fruit very like a pomegranate. We also had the chance to try some local chocolate and an ice cream which had had the same recipe for around a century (it tasted like cake batter - very nice).

The tour took us through a number of different markets, which themselves were very historical. There are limited historical buildings in San Jose, but one we did get to visit was the Teatro National, which had some wonderful artwork, and was stunning.

We finished the tour with a traditional lunch of local flavours and had a chance to make empanadas. We also had some information about coffee making (and sampled coffee...I tried it, but could't drink much beyond a sip...I tried!).

The evening was spent with an introduction about the tour and then a visit to a local restaurant where we had a chance to get to know each other, before learning about a painfully early morning the next day...

Back to Central America

Feb 12th 2025

So I’m back on my travels. In 2010 Andy and I had planned to visit the islands of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama, but as luck (or the weather) would have it we never made it past Nicaragua before having to turn back so we could make our flight home.

Costa Rica has always appealed to me because it’s notorious for being a biodiverse haven, a place of stability in a region notorious for social challenges and is leading the way in the fight against climate change by being a leader in eco tourism.

Desperate not to have the same issues as before I deliberately avoided rainy season. My flight booked for February - what could possibly go wrong…

I’m guessing I hadn’t banked on the heaviest snow storm to hit Canada in several years (my flight was via Toronto). What turned out to be a laughable amount of snow - which probably would have grounded Heathrow quickly became a white out and I increasingly became anxious as to whether my flight would leave.

Thankfully we did, but the pilot really earned his stripes navigating the blizzard. 

We were delayed by an hour on what ended up being a 24 hour day (with barely any sleep) by the time I’d reached the hotel. I was exhausted and very ready for my bed.