Hi to everyone.We have now done Costa-Rica.A short stint of only 12 days and 3 different areas.Leaving Nicaragua saw us taking the Tica bus to San Jose the capital of Costa Rica - a journey of about 7 hrs. At the border we thought the Costa Rican immigration officier was being friendly by asking us how long we would be in the country and when we were processed saw he had only given us a 20 day visa instead of the usual 90 day. Don't know why we were discriminated against as we had all the right paperwork. Just as well we hadn't intended to stay longer than that. We spent a couple of days in San Jose which is just a big city with a few nice buildings.We organised our onward travel there and after a couple we got up early to catch a 6.15am local bus to La Fortuna about 5 hrs away.The country on the way was there was spectular with hills/mtns and valleys with market gardens on steep slopes. No tractors used there - probably all tilled and planted by hand. La Fortuna is on a flat plain with Arenal volcano,hot springs and rivers nearby.On the sunday we arrived Costa Rica played in their next world cup game.We watched this game in a bar with the locals(ticos) which was very noisy and when they won that game the celebrations spilled over into the streets. It was a great atmosphere.WE had booked an all day hiking trip to Cerro Chato to view the Arenal volcano and other points of interest the next day(Monday). When we woke up Monday it was raining and unfortunately it didn't clear.So our hike of about 5-6 hrs was in the rain(at times heavy) and the views we had come to see,were non-existent. Lots of imagination happening. However our guides did point out some interesting plants and we did see a waterfall,walk over some hanging bridges and did get a view of the nearby lake.We did a lot of scrambling up and down hillsides and rocks.I slipped at one stage going down and lucky for me a young US guy in front of me was able to stop me falling down the slope further.Thankfully I didn't injure him and I only had a few scrapes.The best part of the day was seeing a fantastically coloured local frog on the way to some hot springs.We soaked our bodies in the hot springs fully clothed - well we were already soaked thru and at least it washed the mud off.The transport is prepared for wet people by having plastic on the seats.The rain continued the next day but with the air con in our room we were able to dry off everything but our shoes before travelling on 36hrs later.Our journey over to Monteverde involved a shuttle bus to the lake,a boat across the lake and then another shuttle to Santa Elena in Monteverde.Once again spectacular scenery along the way going up and down hills/mtns.We spent 5 days there doing a few walks around the town and enjoying the views. We ventured to the nearby cloud forest for a few hours,did a hanging bridges walk through the treetops of another forest,walked to a ficus tree area where you could climb up the inside of a couple of these trees.We also visited a frog display centre both for a day and night tour (when they are more active). In Santa Elena we also watched Costa Rica play their next world cup game - a quarter-final.Once again very noisy whilst it was on but as they lost all was quiet after. The excited crowd singing and cheering was again a great experience.We returned to San Jose by local bus (6.30am) and stayed there a couple of nights in another part of the city before getting our bus to Panama city. The Costa Rican soccer team returned home whilst we were there and near where we were they had a big reception for them.It seemed the whole city was out in force to see them return.Once again great celebrations in the streets. Our central american experience is nearing it's end and we are a bit travel weary and so will take a few days out to rest up in Panama City before moving down to south america.
