So today we are heading back to the capital. As we have said before, unlike some of our previous holidays, the distances involved in travelling here are modest so we would be arriving at San Jose mid afternoon and then waiting 24 hours for our flight. Instead we decided to go to the La Paz waterfall gardens, a 30 km detour from Ruta 1.

Sarah was quite surprised when we checked out early and gave her the key.

We asked her the best way down from the cordillera but she remained uncommitted. So we headed down the 606. The route was rocky and obviously recently reconstructed. Even the buses took their time. There was evidence of landslides and collapse. It was not impassable by normal car, but having a 4X4 made the journey more comfortable.

One of the curious features about Costa Rica is the bridges. On a double carriageway road, the bridges are narrow and only take one vehicle at a time. One direction is designated as having right of way, whereas as traffic from the other side has to give way.

The La Paz warefall gardens is on the slopes of Vn Poas. Poas is a big tourist attraction. It has two crater lakes made accessible by the fact that you can drive up to the crater's rim. However in April 2017, the volcano came back to life and the summit has been closed since due to toxic gases. A Google search of local news shows that this has hit the local tourist industry badly and businesses have been campaigning to get the craters open again. Driving up the mountain, you could see shops and restaurants touting for business - but it's hard times when the main attraction is out of bounds.

The La Paz waterfall gardens were further on on a well surfaced road. When we arrived the car park was full so we were told to park on the road nearby. We had been warned about leaving cases etc fully on view, but the guard said someone would be there to keep an eye on our and other cars. Indeed there was but he was careful to say it would only be till 5 pm.

Just in case, we took our rucksacks with passports, laptops,etc with us.

As well as having several waterfall walks, the reason we came was to see native animals. We're not keen on zoos but were reassured that all these animals were rescued from traffickers or other unsuitable homes and for various reasons, could not be released back into the wild. The pictures speak for themselves - but there were monkeys, wild cats, a couple two-toed sloths and birds aplenty, including some tame toucans. The ranarium had some frogs - but none of the very colourful ones. The proximity to the ocelots, margay, puma and jaguars was awesome. One of the male Jaguars - named Torito or Little Bull, was quite a character.

Time seemed to fly by and we suddenly realised that we would be driving to San Jose in the dark. So we headed back down the mountain passing through the Doka coffee plantations. It was around 5 o'clock, and there seemed to be whole families heading from the plantations - on foot or intractor trailers. Some of the children seemed very young.

Finding the car hire place on a industrial state near the airport was a bit of a challenge. We had a phone with SatNav but it was on the last dregs of battery power but we made it. (Note to self: bring phone car charger next time.)

A taxi back took us to the Hotel Exe in central San Jose. The receptionist recognised us and couldn't believe nearly 3 weeks had passed since we last stayed. We were upgraded to a suite of rooms with its own kitchen and dining area - not bad for a hotel paid for almost entirely with Tesco Clubcard vouchers.

Breakfast in the hotel is $15 each so we decided to buy a few bits like juice and pastries in a nearby supermarket. It was sad to see so many folks begging. The city centre had a much more malevolent feel after dark.

Most restaurants close around 7 pm but we had identified one - El Patio de Balmoral - on Avenida Central that served till 10 and had a choice of veggie meals. For a Friday night, it was surprisingly uncrowded. For dinner we had vegetable wraps with sides of Guacamole and chips. It's a little joke between us. When we were on honeymoon, part of the holiday was a Skorpios cruise to the Glaciar San Rafael. As we ate at a separate table and were both vegetarians, we had different meals from everyone else. Sometimes, when a particular local dish of Curanto was served which was full of tripes and sweetbreads, others would request what we were eating. On the last night, Sr. Valasquez, who had been our waiter, said we could choose whatever we wanted to eat. We chose Guacamole and chips. A delight!

Taking care to be mindful on the streets, we headed back to the hotel.