This weekend we went on a little trip to San Jose, leaving on the Friday afternoon after Spanish class. We got a bus to Heredia, and then another to San Jose. The whole thing cost less than a couple of dollars, so cheap!!

When we got to San Jose the trouble started! We got off at the bus stop and really had no idea where to go! We got one taxi who drove us around in circles and dropped us at some random backpackers ages from where we wanted to be. And he kept talking about prostitutes and stuff from what I could understand, he creeped me out!

The backpackers called us another taxi who also took us to the opposite site of town then finally took us to our actual backpackers. Finally checked in, feeling very fed up and kind of scared! We were too scared to venture out of the hostel, so we just spent the evening in the hostel restaurant!

The next day we were picked up at 6.10am (after a warm shower! Holy crap a warm shower! Heaven!) for our 4-in-1 tour. First we were taken to a coffee plantation for breakfast. Coffee is one of Costa Rica´s main exports and apparently it is very good quality. We were given a traditional Tico breakfast (´Tico´is the nickname Costa Ricans give themselves) - homemade cheese, eggs, a tortilla and ´gallo pinto´(beans and rice), with a hot drink and some watermelon - yum! Then the guide showed us the coffee plants and the drying coffee beans and told us about coffee.

Then we drove to the Poas Volcano and walked up to see the craters but it was so misty you couldn´t see a thing! Apparently that´s common because it is where the carribean air meets the pacific winds, or something like that.

After that we headed to La Paz (Peace) Waterfall Gardens. That was an awesome place. You started off in a butterfly place with lots of butterflies and crysalyses. Then you walked through an area with lots of hummingbirds, then through a little room with lots of snakes in glasswalled enclosures. Then we were given an amazing hot buffet lunch with fresh juice, yum again! Then we went through an old-style Costa Rican house and tried cheese fresh from the cow in the yard. Then we saw some frogs, then walked down this track into the rainforest past three waterfalls descending one after the other. First was El Templo (Temple) waterfall, then Magica Blanca (white magic) waterfall, then La Paz (Peace) waterfall. It was really gorgeous, if a little tiring!

After that we drove to Sarapiquí River and were taken on a little river boat for a drive, and saw some monkeys and birds and bats.

After that we finally headed back to San Jose, getting back about 7pm in the evening. It was an amazing tour, we really enjoyed it!

The next day we had a sleep in (til (8.30am - bliss!) and enjoyed our last hot shower. Then we got a bus to Heredia and found a big mall there called ´Paseo de las flores´- which was so nice and clean and safe with nice shops, a world away from San Jose, which was a dirty, yucky, scary hole. We spent ages there wandering the shops and saw a movie - ´The Departed´, which is really weird and ends bizzarely, not exactly uplifting :P

After coming out of the movie we attempted to make our way home and that´s where things started to go wrong. We got on a bus we thought would take us back to Heredia centre but we ended up heading toward Alajuela! When the bus pulled into the airport (! ages from anywhere!) we decided it was the safest place to get off. We managed to communicate with a taxi driver there, who took us back to Jesús, which was surprisingly painless. We were exhausted though and totally fed up! We went to bed really early!

Today we just had Spanish in the morning, but we were still so tired! We don´t have any afternoon classes this week, just Spanish in the mornings. This weekend we´re hoping to go to Arenal volcano, a volcano which is still active and you can see the lava running down the sides! Then we move to Guapiles to start our volunteering in the hospital. Should be interesting!