Alicia & Rich's Roads to Everywhere London to Australia on the route less traveled

Costa Rica is a land of many volcanoes. Did you know that? We didn't. Everywhere you look on the map, there's Vulcan X, Y & Z. Apparently there's a pretty interesting one not far from San Jose. "Not far from" is of course a stupid term for me to use in the sense that Costa Rica's small and everywhere's "not far from" everywhere. Still, I'm from England so I know what I mean. I guess if Alicia was writing this, she'd write that it's just round the corner, or down the road. The point is, it's a couple of hours drive away - that is if you know where you're going.

Roads in Costa Rica are missing one vital ingredient: names. Esteban did in fact warn us of this. He told us that directions are generally given in the format of "turn left at the big tree, then right at the old pharmacy". We stupidly brought a map - clearly useless. After finally making the turn at the duck pond, we find Vulcan Poas National Park.

It's cool: both the temperature and the enjoyment factor. There's a carpark about halfway up, you walk the rest of the way and you're looking over the edge of a huge smoking crater. It's a strange sensation to be looking into a volcano, made somewhat unpleasant by the pungent smell of rotten eggs. We take some pictures (as the setting demands) and move on to a more challenging trail that leads to a dead crater. This one has become a lagoon and is actually very pretty.

The walk back down to the carpark is one of those uncomfortable downhill walks that forces you to walk right on the front of your feet, or else you'll break out into a jog - flipflops were a bad choice. We're glad when it's over.