We finally escaped from Bocas del Toro ,Panama on 13 July. We ended up spending 9 nights there, from necessity , not choice ! After Ady's sprained ankle , which took weeks , rather than days to heal , I suffered a bad bout of vertigo , which was quite frightening & very debilitating. It was days before I could face the boat journey from the island ! Then we took the bus to San Jose , Costa Rica.

We like San Jose. It is a very cosmopolitan city ; walkable & safe enough to wander around , with several parks , shopping precincts & restaurants. As with all cities you have to be careful : Ady had his wallet stolen from his zipped pocket last Saturday. Luckily he had very little cash in it , only credit cards & driving licence.

Costa Rica is a small country , packed full of national parks & conservation areas. 27% of its total area is protected. Very exotic, tropical & green. It is difficult to decide where to go.

We decided to make San Jose our base & travel from there to different areas. That way we can store most of our luggage at our San Jose hotel & travel light. So after 3 days in the capital , we bused to Manuel Antonio National Park & spent 3 nights there. The beautiful beaches are adjacent to the tropical forests in which the wild life is prolific. Outside our hotel room we could sit & watch monkeys , sloths & many brightly coloured birds in the trees. There were banana trees , coconut palms & orchids everywhere.

Opposite our hotel was a restaurant called El Avion (the aeroplane ). Originally purchased by the US government in the 1980's for the Nicaraguan Contras , it never flew due to the Iran-Contra scandal & was bought 3 years ago & reassembled at Manuel Antonio . A 1954 Fairchild C-123 , it also does excellent food !

Back to San Jose for 1 night & then we travelled north to Monteverde to the tropical cloud forest. We walked for several hours through the "canopy" on a system of 8 suspension bridges which was a wonderful way to see the forest from the treetops. Although we were disappointed not to see many animals, it was a beautiful walk & we saw hundreds of types of mosses, orchids , bromeliads & ferns.

The same day we visited a hummingbird area. We see these incredible , hyperactive , little birds everywhere here , but this area was special. There were literally hundreds of them . We must have spotted at least 8 varieties. They have documented 30 varieties at that one place.

We left Monteverde on Saturday & came to La Fortuna where we are now , at the foot of one of the most active volcanoes in the world, Volcan Arenal. The cloud has yet to lift to expose the top of the crater, but apparently on clear nights it gives a vivid firework show as it spews out red-hot lava & rocks.

It is the rainy season in Costa Rica & it does rain , very heavily , most days but never before mid to late afternoon, so it is easy to plan around. It also means that hotels etc are cheaper , Dec- Apr being the peak season . It is very humid though.