This is the longest gap without posting as the internet has been very poor here and too weak to upload photos…until today.

Everything you hear about Costa Rica is true. It has stunningly beautiful coastlines, there is tonnes of wildlife and it is more expensive than the rest of Central America (although still affordable).

We have been here for two weeks so far and it is hard to leave.

This is also a place that we feel we could live, as it is modern and developed, fairly safe but life is simple and the opportunities for adventure are endless, as most roads are not paved and there are many areas of isolated wonder.

We also like the food. We started on the Pacific coast at Playa Junquillal. A totally unspoiled beach at the end of a gravel road.

We awoke to the sound of the sea crashing and walked on the beach at dawn…just us and the pelicans.

There is a small turtle hatchery on the beach.

We then moved to Tamarindo, a much more developed resort which we did not like as much but we did see howler monkeys in the tree outside our bungalow.

We rode inland through the cloud forest to the volcano at La Fortuna. We nearly ran over a large ctenosaur (kind of iguana) that dashed out in front of the bike at high speed. We also saw a bunch of coatis at the side of the road in the cloud forest. As you can see, they are pretty tame but it is a shame that these people fed them as they are wild animals. We were lucky to see a whole flock of toucans fly over as we walked to dinner.

We then spent another three days riding to the Caribbean coast. On the first day it was pretty but the road was far too busy in parts.

I was rewarded with a great view from my yoga mat in the morning though.

On the second day the ride was also disappointing with a lot of traffic near the capital, San Jose. The best part was stopping at this roadside fruit stall for a coconut juice.

At the end of the second day we stayed in this cool cabin in the Orosi Valley. I saw a few hummingbirds from the porch.

I also had some help with downward facing dog from experts.

On our final day riding to the coast, the cloud forest lived up to its name. We also got wet.

We spent 6 days on the Caribbean coast at Cahuita and Puerto Viejo in two cabins. The first was so luxurious and was located in a jungle garden 3 minutes walk to the beach. We could hear the sea at night.  From our porch we saw howler monkeys with tiny babies attached to their tummies; white paced capuchin monkeys; many hummingbirds, including two mating and one that flew right into the cabin; different kinds of woodpecker and many other birds, yellow, orange and blue.

We were three minutes walk to the national park white beach where we had an early morning stroll.I have never smelled air as perfumed with the scents of tropical flowers.

It took me a week to realise that the plants are just as awesome as the animals and birds and they are everywhere, all of the time.

While we were here, Dave heard that he has been appointed Head of ICT at King George V School, Hong Kong. Well done Dave.

At Puerto Viejo, our cabin was right in the jungle. We had a resident agouti, which is like a huge jungle rat but cuter.The ride back was drier and the coast was very beautiful and unspoiled.We saw a lot of banana plantations growing millions of bananas which are shipped from the port of Limon, all over the world.

So finally we arrived at the central Pacific Coast at Estrilla Oeste . This morning I walked for nearly two hours on the beach before breakfast.

I saw scarlet macaws, vultures and pelicans. As I sit here, typing, four scarlet macaws are flying over, screeching. It is truly magical. This beach is three minutes walk from the apartment and I have amazing sea views from the terrace.