So I finally found my way to San Jose ……..It is a really big and busy city. The LP says 'a stopover in San Jose is regarded as a necessary evil' and I would wholehearted agree. We changed our flight tickets so that we could leave sooner. We also made the decision to travel separately. So this will be interesting. Me alone in South America - do you think someone should warn them? A bonus was arriving at the hostel to find Oscar who had left the tour in...

La Fortuna is a really small town - only 2 blocks in total. It is really pretty and is overlooked by a huge active volcano. The hotel where we stayed was luxury compared to some of the places we have stayed. We even had a Juliette balcony and from ours there were stunning views of the volcano. We went to Baldi hot springs. It was wonderful. There are about 13 different pools - hot; cold; Jacuzzi; water slides (hair raising); water falls etc. They are ...

Monte Verde is our first stop in Costa Rica which means another border crossing. This was probably the most arduous crossing. The border was chaotic with people everywhere and lots of people trying to nick things from pockets. I had nothing in my pockets but they had been opened. In addition to this we had to walk quite a distance from the border gate in Nicaragua to the border gate in Costa Rica. All the time carrying my 22kg back pack. It was a perilou...