La Fortuna (16 March 2009)

Had a very simple and pleasant journey over, with fab "we´re on holiday" moment in Miami outside the airport with huge icecreams in hot hot sunshine. Even watched Slumdog Millionaire on the plane. Peter watched about 9 hours of films - heaven! Sat next to two Indians on way to work on cruise ships from miama.

Met at San Jose according to plan and taken to wonderful Hotel Billa Sol like a compact walled oasis of huge coconut laden palms and banana plants, all saying "you´re not in England now!". Lovely breakfast of costa rica coffee, fruit, rice and beans and egg, then we swam in the pool until time to get picked by and taken to here, La Fortuna. By the time we´d added oddments and severl books each from the airports we found we had way too much stuff. Fortunately lovely people at Brilla Sol said they´d keep a carrier bag (which turned into two HEAVY carrier bags) for us until we go back to San Jose.

Good journey here with chatty driver. Saw CR version of shanty housing - quite pleasant compare to say Salvadorian shanty town - perched on edge of the road, and apparently lived in by Nicaraguan refugees who still havent gone home.

When we got here we had to go for a swim in the pool, then walked to the Fortuna Waterfall 2k up the "road". V impressive. L took lots of photos as her geog homeworks is to do a slideshow about rivers. Staggered back, dinner in hotel and all to bed.

Hotel in La Fortuna is Catarata EcoLodge, owned by a farmers cooperative, and very friendly and relaxed. It´s more cabins in a big shrunny garden than a hotel - with humming birds and a nice pool. Set 2k outside the town. Peter made friends with the Costa Rican managers son (aged 11) who was very smilly and good fun and played piggy in the middle with us in the pool. Peter terribly wanted to borrow his bike, but as yet no luck.

Kids woke up at 3am (ie 9am UK time). So did we but we went back to sleep. Unlike them. So rather tired tonight, but kept peckers up very well generally. Spent the morning mainly by the pool, then walked (apparently) 2k to La Fortuna town, which took an hour. So we just had time for dry bread and sour cheese picnic lunch (not popular with anyone) on the steps of the catholic church before being picked up for an excursion: "Safari Float" down the Rio Balsa, the 5 of us plus a guide in a rubber boat, surrounded by forest, where we hoped to see monkeys, sloths and crocodiles. Unfortunately they´ve had a lot of rain here recently despite it being dry season, and the river was running fast, so when we did monkeys up in the trees we had to paddle like billio upstream to try to stay still, before the current reasserted itself. No crocs but a couple in a canoe said they saw one - 10 inches long. Great fun anyway, with a very nice chap telling about everything we went past. The higjhlight for me was visiting Don Pegro, who presides at his farm by the river. We had good coffee and saw 4 howler monkeys close up in the riverside trees. Don Pedro is 98 and was sitting there chatting and greeting guests to his coffee cafe/house where he had been born, married and farmed, in such a warm and genuine way he looked like a tanned and bald father Christmas.

Sorry about verbal spew. Gotta go now. Tomorrow walk up the volcano in the natikonal park to see if we can see it chuck and house-size lumps of rock in the air.

Best thing so far: Ticos (Costa Ricans) being so friendly and nice.