After Quepos we decided to spend a few days in Uvita Costa Rica. A small town, a very small town, on the coast. We booked our accommodation at what looked like a very highly recommended hostel. The only concern we had was this was the first place we would go with a 'shared bathroom'.

Today we said “hasta luego” for the last time as we started our walk from SEPA Spanish School to the bus stop in town . After attending two weeks of "Survival Spanish" classes we were sad at leaving. We'd met interesting people and our Spanish had advanced from “non-existent” to “confused"!

We arrived in Quepos after a long day of traveling. Four hours by bus from Monteverde to San Jose. Then the mission of finding a suitcase at the airport … which thanks to Cubana air had detoured via Caracas and arrived 10 days after the flight!! This was followed by a few hours waiting in an apology of a restaurant that charged like a 3 star Michelin restaurant for street food. This was topped off with a three-hour shuttle trip to Quepos.

We decided to take the jeep-ferry-jeep from La Fortuna to Monteverde. It is quite a short distance but over mountainous terrain.

We were collected in a full bus … again becoming aware of the number of tourists around.

This is the peak of the visitor season when temperatures are mild and there is no rain.

After taking an Über to the bus station we were on our way to the town of La Fortuna. Up through the Central Valley to the site of the Arenal volcano and the first nature park we planned to visit.

We settled on the crowded bus. A representative of the bus company then announced in English and Spanish that we should be aware that when leaving San Jose there is a chance that undesirables may board the bus with the intention of  separating us from our valuables!

​We flew from Havana to San Jose city, the capital and largest city in Costa Rica.

​One of the most ​unique things about Costa Rica is that it has no army. How cool is that?

With the money they save they spend it on education and social services.