Graham Williams & Louise Jones Travel Blog This is our journal logging our trip through Central and Latin America from July 2005 to the present date. We update it and add new pictures every two to three weeks. At the moment Will is travelling in South Africa, while Lou is living in Buenos Aires.For more background reading on our travels go to - http://journals.worldnomads.com/will/

Last week we were at the quiet beach of Samara on the north west coast of Costa Rica, swimming in the sea in the mornings and watching the surfers in the afternoons when the bigger waves had built up.
A long day of buses and a wait in a tiny agricultural town took us up to Monteverde in the mountains.  This cloud forest area is one of Costa Ricas prime tourist attractions with an array of tours and activities on offer.  Tourism here is very organised and geared to the two week holiday maker who wants to fit in as much as possible. We visited a reserve and walked the trails through dripping green primary forest with ancient trees, giant ferns, orchids, wild pigs, monkeys and birds. Lower down the slopes of these mountains is rich agricultural land that was opened up in the 1940s by Quakers fleeing from Alabama and the draft.
We then travelled by bus and an exhilarating boat ride across a lake to La Fortuna to see the very active Arenal Volcano. Skipping the tour, we walked to the volcano on our own and saw lots of furry coatimundis (of the racoon family). We sat at the viewpoint for over an hour and watched enormous boulders being thrown out of the volcano and bouncing down the scarred slopes accompanied by a constant deep rumbling.
The last two days we have spent in the capital, San Jose, catching up on some admin. and seeing the latest films at the cinema. Today we head south ready to cross over into Panama.