We continue to enjoy the outstanding natural beauty of Costa Rica. It is a peaceful paradise. The only country in the world without a military army , having abolished it in 1949 , they invest instead in health & education , providing free health care & now boasting a literacy rate of over 95%. Very different to most other Latin American countries.

We spent our final day at La Fortuna at Baldi hot springs which has 7 different pools , all at different temperatures. Very relaxing! We failed to see the firework spectacle from the Arenal volcano due to the cloud cover.

We returned to San Jose & spent a wonderful evening at the opening night of the National Theatre's international production of Madame Butterfly.

Then came the highlight of our Costa Rica trip.. Last Saturday we travelled to Tortuguero on the north-east coast. We left at 6am & travelled by bus through banana, coffee ,& pineapple plantations , stopping for breakfast ( rice & beans ! ) en route till we reached the canals which lead to Tortuguero. On the canal journey , we spotted iguanas , 3 types of monkeys , sloths , toucans , herons , kingfishers , freshwater turtles , a caiman , bats , a jesus christ lizard ( so called because it walks on water & when people see it they tend to say " Jesus Christ , did you see that ! " ) Much other wildlife & loads of mosquitoes ( the bane of our life ) We were lucky because it did not rain all day , & it rains most of the time at Tortuguero . ( 6000mm per year ) In the evening we went with a guide , in the dark to watch the green sea turtles laying eggs. The guides carry infra red torches so as not to disturb the turtles. We found our first turtle & were able to watch at a distance of 6 inches as she deposited around 100 , white , golf-ball size eggs into a hole she had dug in the sand. An incredible sight ! She then covered them with sand. We watched others dragging their enormous selves back to the Caribbean Sea. They are huge , about 36-42 inches long & weigh around 200kg. This is one of the major breeding sites in the world & 40000 turtles arrive each season to lay their eggs. They are carefully monitored & the night prior to our visit 465 of them had laid their eggs there. They hatch after 50 to 60 days & the babies make their own way to the sea though many are eaten by predators on the way. Fascinating !

We visited the north-west coast this week . Playa Tamarindo is quite a touristy ( mainly North American ) beach resort , but it was nice . Very hot & sunny , beautiful beaches again & wonderful sunsets.

We are in Liberia , Costa Rica at present , ready to move north to Nicaragua tomorrow.