One of the great joys about being on holiday is the slow get up, most days. Having a coffee and washing up are normally rushed but here we've enjoyed having that bit more time. Kevin has done a lot of reading too.

Sarah, who owns our casita, came round with her three kids today. We weren't even dressed. "So what do you guys want to do today?" she asked. We shrugged our shoulders and said we hadn't discussed it yet. She suggested hanging bridges, zip lining - but we weren't bothered. She asked about our trip to Monteverde cloud forest yesterday. We told her we hadn't seen much wildlife and she reminded us that she had recommended a guide. We got the impression that most tourists here ruck up with a fairly packed itinerary of guided walks and adrenaline fueled activities. Our somewhat sloth-like and anti-organisation approach to being on holiday was somewhat alien. Plus, to be fair, she mostlikely gets a cut if we organise things through her. Tourism is her living.

So eventually we decided to go up to the Santa Elena cloud forest which is Atlantic facing. A rough road wound up the mountain into low clouds. The roads were newly constructed with evidence of damage from the rainy season. On the way up we saw the Skytram - a sort of cablecar - and some hanging bridges but they seemed quite remote from the cloud forest canopy.

Compared with Monteverde, this cloud forest was more deserted and considerably wetter. There was a sign saying you could volunteer to help there for $20 USD per week.

If the park has a gimmick as such, it is a tower which on clear days you allegedly get great views of Volcan Arenal. Being midday we chose to do the Youth Challenge trail. On the way we say a blue beaked Guan - a relation of the turkey. Having learned that tarantulas live in holes, Kevin chose to inspect everyone he saw, but no hairy knees to be seen.

It was wet and the whole forest dripped. Long tarzan like vines hung from the trees. The path took us to an altitude of 1725 metres. Half way round was a high platformed tower to get a good view. We climbed it, but needless to say, being in cloud forest all we coud see is cloud. Plus, Vn Arenal, is notorious for hiding in clouds even when the rest of the sky is clear.

So a damp tramp back to the car, a bit of souvenir shopping and then our final self catered meal of the holiday before moving on back to San Jose tomorrow.