Google Earth tour of the trip!

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Population:
4 million (UK = 75 million)

Size: 50,000 sq km
(scotland = 78,000)

Famous for: volcanos and wildlife.

Temp on coast:
9am - 30'C.
1pm - 35'C

Local food: mascerated chicken and rice mix. £3.00

Flight cost: £535

Day 1 - Lost parents disaster

It was supposed to be simple. Meet my parents at New York airport, then fly together to Costa Rica. We had flown seperately from Gatwick but had been delayed so missed the plane in New York we were supposed to meet them on, and with mobiles not working we couldn't get a message to them to tell them where we were supposed to be staying in Costa Rica. Imagine my parents delight when the flight took off with two empty seats next to them and they realised they had no idea of any further plans. So they flew off to Costa Rica alone, arriving late at night with no idea what had happened to us, no idea where they were staying and no idea how to speak Spanish.

Day 2 - Abandon all plans and try and find parents

It was one of those situations where there was no plan B*. So we made one up. Plan B was not a good plan but it would have to do. It was better than the even more hopeless plans C and D. We ended up getting as far as Plan F...and you can imagine how desperate that was as plan B was awful to start with and each subsequent plan was only 10% as good as the previous one. None of the plans worked and we eventually found them by the worlds greatest stroke of luck. Full story here if you have lots of time.

*Actually there was a plan B - "If we dont see you at the airport, we'll see you on the plane". It was possibly the worst plan B in the history of Plan B's.

Hover on pic

Days 3 & 4 - Arenal volcano

The second most active volcano in the world (after Kilawea in Hawaii). However when covered in cloud, volcanos are as exciting as, well, mountains covered in cloud. Luckily using modern technology and photo enhancement we could see what was happening in the clouds. (Hover mouse on picture)

In the absence of lava flows, we spotted wildlife instead.

Twitchers click here for the full bird photo page.

We spent the day driving round Arenal lake. The roads here range from badly potholed main roads to awful dirt tracks. Cute coatis scrounge food at the roadside.

We ended up at a wildlife farm where they had the world's coolest green leaf frog and Michelle wrestled an anaconda.

Day 5 - Drive to Playa Grande

5 hour drive from the mountains to the coast where we will hopefully be seeing turtles coming ashore to lay eggs. Rather alarmingly, the jeep threatened to break down. The last thing you want to hear in the remote mountains of Costa Rica is a misfiring engine. Maybe hearing a rattlesnake in your trouser leg would be worse? Or hearing a polar bear eat your friend? That really would be the last thing you'd want to hear. But anyway you get the point...

Day 6 - Leatherback turtles nesting

It was supposed to be a quiet day while we rested ready for a late night on the beach waiting for leatherback turtles to come out of the sea to lay eggs. But in Costa Rica a quick boat trip into town means seeing crocodiles from about 2 feet away. We think he was ill, which was bad news for him, but good for us as it stopped him eating us as we got very close.

Day 7 - Surfing

Everyone who has briefly tried it knows that surfing is actually impossible, and is pure camera trickery with smoke and mirrors. Or so I thought...

It turns out that if the conditons are right and you have an expert helping you then it's relatively easy. All I need to do now is take my teacher and the good conditions with me and I can surf anywhere...

Day 8, 9 & 10 - Manuel Antonio

A 5 hr drive took us down the coast to a patch of preserved forest called Manuel Antonio. Obviously you have to drive fast to get there so I got a speeding ticket - 55mph in a 40 zone. With this being a fairly primitive country we ended up having to bribe the policeman with £20 to not give us a ticket (£40).

We hired a guide with a giant telescope to take us round the national park and help us find the wildlife. The howler monkeys were very ellusive, despite being audible from miles away.

There were also giants sloths who just slept all the time, agoutis (giant rats the size of small dogs) and raccoons.

As our apartment was in the forest too so we had wildlife on our doorstep. The local domestic cat dragged a snake out of the bushes which was at least 1 metre long but never any thicker than a pen. It gave the cat a nip on the nose which made it let go temporarily. We rescued the poor snake before the cat could do any damage. Cats are evil and should be banned. Except Pickle of course...

There was a troop of cute-as-is-possible squirrel monkeys that would play in the trees just off our balcony.

Real wildlife just there. It was amazing.

Day 11, 12 & 13 - Ballena national park

We came here to see humpback whales and dolphins who are supposed to hang around here on street corners. However they seem to have found somewhere else to hang out. Or they've all been eaten by killer whales. Or shot by Japanese. Probably.

We spent the day instead snorkelling and checking the caves for whales.

The hotel here is again in the mountain forest and has toucans which appear most evenings.

And killer caterpillars roam around.

On the second day we took a trip to Corcovada National Park which was quoted in National Geographic as "the most biologically diverse ecosystem in the world". However this does not mean there is lots to see...

The scarlet macaws were the most beautiful birds we found.

Like the squirrel monkeys, there's not many of them left so they wouldn't let us bring any of them them home with us.

Hover on pic

Day 14 - Extreme sloth rescue

Massive highlight. On the drive back to the airport the mountain road was blocked by cars trying to avoid a sloth who was wanting to cross the road at sloth-speed. My dad rescued it and carried it to the other side of the road. We stayed with her to check she was OK and realised she had a baby hanging around her waist. Simply beautiful.