I too often tell people that I married John for a few very good reasons. Amongst others:

#1 – Meeting Neil Cole in 2000 taught me that I should never have to pour my own wine. John does this very well.

#2 – Portion control. As I type John has this evening hidden the biscuits. Good husband!

#3 – John spent a year or so as a safari guide in Namibia so is an excellent wildlife spotter, demonstrated by finding the quetzal thingy in Panama that the US twitchers stood by us completely failed to spot.

John had also been to Costa Rica a decade ish ago and always talked about the amazing wildlife that you can see – sloths around every corner! Confidence was therefore high as we hit Costa Rica. We were going sloth spotting!!

The southern Pacific coast of Costa Rica is a bit more off the tourist map until you get to Manuel Antonio national park. It’s hot and humid with jungle mixed amongst the terrifying palm oil plantations that are typical around here. Palm oil is part of most processed foods amongst other things and a major cause of deforestation. It’s so sad to see what it is doing to countries like Costa Rica. Borneo was the worst example we ever saw with orangutans condemned to a thin strip of natural jungle only. The native jungle in this part of Costa Rica is thriving more so than Borneo and runs along the coast right down to the beaches which are long, gorgeous dark sandy strips that stretch on for miles and miles.

We settled for a few days in Uvita and the Ballena National Marine Park, hanging around the beach keeping our eyes peeled for sloths and monkeys.

Each morning I headed to the local deserted beach for one of my most memorable runs ever. Miles of empty clean idyllic sand, lovely waves hitting the shore and the famous whale tale sand/rock spit out towards sea all with the backdrop of jungle. Gorgeous!!

This was the first time in the trip we hit our winning combination of ‘holiday stuff’. A sociable guesthouse with some other gringos, local cool eating places, wildlife, beaches and the newest entrant…a playground. Happy days!

Local beer update – we had enjoyed Club Colombia and Balboa (Panama) so far but Imperial in Costa Rica has now taken the lead.

We seemed to have hit our travelling groove and on a recommendation from a fellow gringo we decided to head just slightly up the coast to Matapalo. We stopped in a guest house called Mi Vida, thanks Anja and Federico for having us (especially for the packed lunch for the bus journey north). Should you find yourself in this part of the world we really recommend it.

Jet lag firmly behind us we were having more relaxing evenings and in Matapalo James saw his first holiday sunset. Happily playing in the surf with his local pals he was super excited to see the ‘sun go for a swim’ in the Pacific Ocean. These are the special family times that I hope we all remember when we are back in Blighty. I won’t for a minute suggest that travelling with a toddler is simple but there are magical moments too.

The following morning we had a brilliant impromptu bike ride on a dirt track along the coast and back down the beach. Annoyingly the bike we found with a child seat was too small for John so I got the pleasure of the headwind, sand sinking ride back to the guesthouse. It was hard work!

Time to move on we contemplated our next move. A decade ago John visited Manuel Antonio National Park, which is a little further along the coast. The Lonely Planet suggests it has now become very developed but still really recommends a visit. We however chose to preserve John’s memories and head straight on to San Jose.

San Jose is an unremarkable capital but was the overnight stop-off for Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal. Coincidentally it was also the first place we stopped where there was a Crossfit box…it would have been rude not to visit after nearly a month without seeing a barbell 😂. Thank you Crossfit Baruk – you were fab!

Next stop Volcán Arenal. Current sloth count = 0.