245 days since selling up. David Jones recording.
That is the question why did we decide to come to Costa Rica. It seemed like a good idea at the time!
We imagined a wonderful tropical beach, sunshine, wildlife and the excitement of an active volcano with lava flow. We also thought we could save some money. I think it is sometimes best not to have too grand an expectation for a country because it might let you down.
Costa Rica has all of the above, (apart from saving money!) but not quite how I imagined. The beaches are tropical palm trees etc, the beach near us had a funny grey sort of sand and looked a bit like Morecambe on a cloudy day with the tide out. It was quite busy because it was Christmas, but also didn't appear very clean. We found out later on the internet that the beach wasn't very clean and there was a warning about untreated sewage found in the water - swim at your own peril. We only went to the beach twice because of the sewage but also it was too far to walk from our house and chaos if you drove: strange unofficial men asking for money to park on the street, people and cars everywhere. Not quite the vision of peace and tranquillity I had hoped for.
There has been a lot of wildlife and considering we have been to the Amazon rainforest in Peru we have seen more wildlife here, just by the villa. Every morning and late afternoon the house is surrounded by monkeys swinging from the trees. They seem to be having "such fun".
We have also seen a variety of birds including toucans. That has been the nice thing about the house: you can just sit by the pool and watch the animals.
Obviously it has been Christmas while we have been here. I think we spent Christmas day like everyone else, sitting around eating food and watching telly. Ok, and the occasional dip in the pool. We both missed the traditional Christmas turkey. Though we did have our own version of a roast dinner and yorkshire puddings too. How very British!
Whilst in Costa Rica we stayed in a lodge opposite one of the country's most active volcanoes. The idea was to be able to see a spectacular show of lava flow coming down the volcano at night. Unfortunately for us, despite sitting longingly staring at the volcano for 3 nights nothing happened.
It reminded me of late August nights staring into the sky looking for shooting stars and going to bed late sad that none had appeared. So the volcano was a bit of a damp squib.
We also travelled across the country using a Jeep-Boat-Jeep transfer to see the "cloud forest": the Costa Rican rain forest, high on a mountain. We stayed in a hotel that looked like a Swiss chalet and travelled through scenery that was like going to the lakes in Cumbria with the odd palm tree doted here and there.
We spent one morning exploring the high canopy of the forest using a succession of suspended rope bridges. Well actually they were made out of steel so not as scary as it sounds. The other option to explore the canopy was by zip-wire sliding through the trees. I had decided against this option. But as we wandered through the trees you heard the occasional cry of someone sliding through the forest.
We were looking for the elusive Quetzal bird. After several hours looking at the trees we think we saw one! (I have included a picture in the Costa Rica album, see if you can spot the bird!)
The cloud forest certainly lived up to its name it was like walking through a cloud, most of the time we were walking through the mist and rain. Luckily we were equipped with our trusty "pac-o-macs". Paul in his bright red mac seemed to draw the attention of a local hummingbird who chased him across one of the bridges, obviously thinking he was a giant red flower. After so much effort and with no joy the hummingbird, exhausted, sat and rested on my finger to catch its breath. Unfortunately "David Bailey" was too slow with the camera, so no pictures I'm afraid. (David Bailey thought a big bee was attacking him - not a pretty hummingbird!)
Well its New Years Eve about 1pm here so everyone back home will probably be getting ready to start there New Year's parties. I know you want be reading this until after New Year but we would both like to wish every body a peaceful and Happy New Year. XXX
I leave you with a souvenir of Costa Rica, such fun!
