We wanted to get the hell out of San Jose so we woke up early to try and get tickets for a public bus to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca (PVdT) on the East Coast for some Caribbean loving.

Fortunately, we were able to get tickets for seats as the bus companies tend to oversell their tickets so some customers end up having to stand for the entire journey.

Our journey from San Jose to PVdT was amazing driving through the diverse Costa Rican rainforest. The journey reminded Helen just why she wanted to visit Costa Rica (that and various wildlife documentaries!). It's like being back in Borneo.

On arrival, we noticed just how hot and humid it was in Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, so initially we took things very slowly and wandered around the town. We settled for dinner at an awesome vegan restaurant where we sampled Caribbean food - especially black beans which both of us absolutely love but we're not so sure about rice being cooked in coconut milk!!!

We also forgot what it was like to feel all sticky and sweaty, and trying to sleep while it's warm! Helen has also got numerous fly bites again and they're driving her crazy - its been a while since Asia.

While we were in PVdT we went for a walk on the black sanded beach which was gorgeous. We both had forgotten just how vicious the sun can be and before we knew it we were seeking solace in the shade.

We visited the Botanical Gardens, where both of us got stung by fire ants, and saw a couple of red poison dart frogs. The Botanical Gardens was an OK experience until the very end, where we got to sample lots of strange fruits which was fun!

Once we'd had our fill of PVdT, we got a shuttle bus to Moin where we caught our river boat (4 hours) to Tortuguero.