The trip to San Jose was happily very uneventful and we arrived at around 2pm. We'd also gained an hour due to the time difference between the countries which was a bonus! We took a taxi to the hostel and checked into another nice room (we even had a balcony this time!) in a modern house. I'd have happily settled for more 'basic' rooms myself but I must confess that one of the benefits (and drawbacks, financially!) of travelling with a partner was the improved accommodation! Once we'd settled in, we took a walk into town to get our bearings and were quickly greeted with all the favourite fast food houses from the good old US of A including Taco Bell and Wendy's. It was quickly apparent that we'd have to hunt out the culture from now on!After a brief wander through town, we found the main square and soaked up the atmosphere from the lobby of the Grand Hotel which was, well, very grand!One beer turned to a few and we decided to stay put and have dinner there too which prompted me to make a toast to having no firm plan and no agenda!After a lovely evening we headed home and were in bed by 9pm watching Hitch on TV……..who says travelling has to be a non-stop party!

After our early night we were up and awake at 6.30am and we were surprised to find we'd made it in time for the free 7am pancake breakfast. The younger residents were clearly still pushing out the Z's so we took advantage of the steaming hot pancakes which set us up nicely for the day. Most Central American countries had a very similar set of options with mainland history and the Caribbean coast the common attractions. We'd read that Costa Rica had the most diverse and concentrated wildlife in Central America so we were keen to make the most of this and experience a jungle trip. We chatted through the seemingly endless options with the hostel staff and eventually booked up a trip to the Tortugero National Park the next day. We spent the rest of the day exploring San Jose but it was a little disappointing by way of culture and very similar to Panama City in layout and content. Not surprisingly, the American influence was also very apparent with many familiar brand names along every street meaning so far we were struggling to find the 'real' Central America. The language barrier was also becoming a bit of a frustration as our Spanish was still very basic and the locals spoke an equal amount of English. Obviously that's more our fault than theirs but nonetheless quite frustrating.

We were picked up by Jungle Tom (yes, really!) at 6.30am the next day for the start of our mini adventure. Tom was great entertainment and a real character who had lots of banter and seemingly endless anecdotes (both factual and fictitious) about the jungle, Costa Rica and local history. First stop was a banana plantation where we saw the how bananas went from the tree to the cardboard boxes we see in the supermarkets which was much more interesting than it sounds! We then left the rest of our group and took a boat journey to our hotel where we'd booked a night as part of our package. We'd opted for the economy package but we were delighted to be greeted by a waiter with a tray of exotic cocktails at the check in desk. Once we'd checked in we were led through a gorgeous walkway surrounded by beautiful trees and plants with monkeys, toucans and parrots in abundance overhead. The noises and sights were amazing and we immediately felt like we were deep in the heart of the jungle. Our room was fabulous with a huge bed, walk in shower and balcony with rocking chairs AND hammocks looking out across the gardens and pool area.If this was the economy package then the deluxe package must have been something else! Lunch in the restaurant was equally impressive and we started to wish we'd booked for a longer stay.

It turned out that we were the only people in our party and were lucky to have a guide all to ourselves that afternoon who took us around the local village. The tour of the village was very interesting and we were told there was only one car on the whole island and everything else serviced by boats from the mainland. Some people had never left the island which was amazing considering you could walk around it in less than an hour! We finished the afternoon in the local bar sharing a few beers with the locals and looking out at the jungle and junction of rivers which must be one of the best views from any bar. It was a fascinating insight into the local way of life and reinforced what I'd seen in Asia with people being extremely happy despite having very little. It certainly makes you re-assess your priorities! We booked on a turtle watching trip that evening and were picked up by our personal guide, Alonso, at 9pm. Alonso was a grandfather who had lived locally all his life. He was a stereotypical Carribbean who talked in that slow drawl and you sensed that he was possibly the most laid back man around! He was also very knowledgeable about the turtles and hit us with lots of interesting information as we set off on our hunt. It was absolutely pitch black as we stumbled and tripped our way along the beach hunting for a sight of turtles coming up the beach to lay their eggs. We had been going for nearly 45 minutes and were starting to give up all hope when Alonso stopped dead in is tracks and crouched down slowly. It took a while for my eyes to focus but when they did I saw it…….an absolutely massive turtle making her way back to the sea right in front of us. I was astounded at the size of it as it moved very slowly into the waves and out of sight. The whole experience lasted no more than a minute but it was truly memorable to have seen such a rare creature up close and was something I'll never forget. It turned out that there were 7 different groups out that night looking for turtles and we were the only ones who had seen one. I can't recall ever feeling so lucky in my life and it was pure chance that we timed our walk along the beach to meet that turtle.

We continued our adventure the next day with our guide Alex who was great company. We spent the morning winding our way through the narrow rivers around the area and saw crocodiles, cayman, turtles, lizards and countless birds and monkeys. Once again the noises throughout the trip were magical as toucans swooped overhead and monkeys swung through the trees. The afternoon saw us take a great jungle walk with Alex stopping off regularly to point out and explain lots of things we'd have walked straight past had he not been there. The high point was when he took an eyelash viper out of a tree and gave us the chance to hold it, at a distance on the end of a big stick I must add! After the walk we were ferried back to San Jose and sadly back to reality. The trip had turned out to be one of the highlights so far and was everything we'd imagined a jungle experience to be totally living up to expectations. We celebrated the success of our trip with a cheeky KFC for dinner so it was happy days all round!

After a little debate we decided to head off to Liberia at midday the following day. The ever trusty Lonely Planet found us a couple of decent hostels in the same area so we hopped into a taxi to the first one. We met the owner who showed us the room but, not totally convinced, said we'd like to check out the other one first before making a decision. This was greeted with a wry smile and a shrug from the owner. The other hostel turned out to be directly opposite and we were followed across the street by the same guy who laughed and told us he owned both! Feeling a little embarrassed we took a look at the room and promptly went for the first one we looked at! Liberia was essentially a stop over point on our way to Nicaragua and had little going for it from a tourist perspective but at least we managed to find a decent restaurant that evening and avoid the lure of McDonalds and KFC which were in every town we'd seen so far. Another early night and some TV summed up our very subdued time so far in Central America. This trip was certainly far less raucous than my previous adventure but I guess that was only to be expected given the different dynamic!

After booking our onward travel to Nicaragua for the following day, we took a trip to the beach sharing a taxi with a friendly American couple who were travelling in the opposite direction to us towards Colombia. We lashed out on a frisbee for the day but it lasted no more than 5 minutes after it bizarrely disappeared in the waves after a wayward fling. The beach wasn't exactly a tropical paradise but it was fairly quiet and made for a nice break from trekking around sightseeing. I had a scare when a sea snake swam inches away from me as I was heading out for a swim. I turned straight round and think I'd have given Ian Thorpe a run for his money as I hammered it back to dry land! Safely back on our towels, we both dozed off and luckily woke up with the sea only a few feet from us. Had we snoozed any longer we'd have got the wettest alarm clock ever which I'm sure would have amused the locals!

Our bus to Nicaragua was at 3.30 the following day and we had our fingers crossed that we'd find a little more of the real Central America as we headed through. While we'd been far from disappointed up to now, the close proximity of the neighbouring countries and subsequent similarity in landscape, climate and culture wasn't what we'd anticipated. It was time for some thinking and more planning!