Its my last day in San Jose and Maria and I decide to have a look around. After a short while we come to the conclusion there is really not much to see and in fact the city has no character to it. And what it does have is graffiti and untidiness. The most exciting thing we see is a ceremony in a local park. There is a uniformed guard, a wreath laying ceremony and an official party who greet a group of attendees. No idea what it is for but it was interesting ...

We are not due to leave for San Jose until early afternoon so I take the opportunity to have a look through some shops for a souvenir of Costa Rica. A couple of possibilities and I head back to the hotel to think about them and also bring my blog up to date. Sandra, Richard and I decide to grab some lunch before we leave and the coffee shop on the main street is the choice. Good food and good coffee and a pleasant outlook. Lunch done and I have decided to buy...

As i had not planned any activities I had a leisurely start to the day. I walked into town but soon realised that as it was Sunday not much was open so I headed to a street side coffee lounge and brought my diary up to date whilst watching the activity in the street and the park which was directly opposite me. People watching is always an interesting way to pass some time. I got back to the hotel and a few of the group were about to head off to the La Fortuna...

Today is a reasonably long travel day so we are on the road at 8am. We are travelling by public bus which means we have a few stangers on board. It started raining early and does not let up. Its a long 2 hour bumpy ride to the shore of Lake Arenal where we will board a ferry for a 45 minute crossing. The weather and road conditions mean we are late arriving, but the ferry has been held up for the same reason. We wait in the bus for the ferry as it is still p...

This morning i have booked myself a tour of a coffee, cocoa and sugar cane plantation. We have a great guide who speaks very good English and he has a cheeky sense of humour as well. As we move around the plantation we learn the process for growing, picking and processing all 3 products. Obviously they are quite different. The pod on the cocoa plant contains many cocoa beans inside which are encased in a fruity tasting pulp. Before the beans are dried they a...