Today was my last day at the orphanage. It felt weird. I took some biscuits for the kids and the Tias. The boy with foetal alcohol syndrome was acting up all day and hitting the other kids. I felt frustrated that I could do nothing to stop him except put my body as a wall of defence. Logically, I know it's not his fault that he is the way he is - Alcohol Foetal Syndrome leads to severe behavioural problems because the brain wasn't able to develop properly. But em...

A day of sadness and happiness. I informed both my family and my volunteer boss of my decision to leave a week early. Whilst I have enjoyed working at the orphanage and living with my host family, I have also been itching to go travelling and explore the rest of the country. Taking buses around the mountains are extremely time-consuming and the trips have left me feeling tired and wishing I'd been able to stay longer. I guess I have also become used to being more...

Met a lovely seamstress called Annabel on the bus to La Fortuna. First person I have come across in Costa Rica who wants to practice her English! We did a language swap - with her speaking in English and me in Spanish - I really enjoyed it. The bus wound its way through Cloudforests shrouded in perpetual mist, dairy farms and tropical plant nurseries. Annabel was explaining that her husband works in a nursery and that most of the plants are exported to Europe for...

So, week 2 of volunteering at an orphanage in Costa Rica and I'm exhausted. Kids require so much supervision - especially children with so many issues. A typical day of volunteering consists of the following: take the 8:20am bus to Rio Jesus, arrive at La Garcita, help prep for lunch (chop veggies, make agua fresca, clean dishes), fold the children's clothing and change nappies. Changing the first nappy was a huge shock to the system. I don't think I've changed...

We headed to Manuel Antonio National Park quite early before the big busses start arriving. This park is one of the smallest in size, but has the most visitors out of any in Costa Rica! At 8am, there were at least 5 tour guides taking groups of people around. We were going to join one but decide we'd rather just take our time and explore the park on our own. Besides, we passed by so many guides, that we could pick up some information along the way and save oursel...