Face Masks

You see quite a few people wandering around Tokyo in surgical face masks. Are they concerned about pollution? Perhaps they are trying to avoid the nasty niffs that almost make you gag, rising up from the drains?

Speaking to a Japanese friend in the office you wear a face mask if you are feeling ill and don't want to pass your germs onto someone else. Very well mannered the Japanese. In stark contrast to all the westerners that are wondering around snivelling.

Akihabara, Tokyo

I'm lucky enough to be in Tokyo with work and have the weekend free for some exploring. I've never been to Japan before and come armed having recently read Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Fergusson. A Canadian who taught English in Japan and wrote a book of witty and insightful cultural observations. Before I left everyone told me that Japan was crazy. At least the book made me feel I had a small insight into some of the zaniness.


Akihabara is the first area of Tokyo that I explored, and fitted the stereotype of having tall and brightly coloured buildings. Also known as Electronic Town or Geek Town, the area is famous for otaku goods. Items for people with obsessive interests in animation, manga and electronics.

We spent a good hour wondering around the below arcade which was packed full of shops selling manga, second hand electronics and models of your favourite anime characters.

In virtually all of the book stores the comic books are wrapped in cellophane to stop you browsing. I've never really been into manga, but was keen to check out a few comics while I was in Japan.

When we were in one book shop I noticed the back corner had quite a few people hanging around and reading. At last some books I could check out! I strolled over and picked up one of the books to discover that it was manga porn. Pretty graphic for a comic book, but perfectly acceptable if that is your sort of thing. I'm sure people buy them for the "stories" and not the pictures. I flicked through another couple of books and in one the girls were very young and the second contained bestiality; I put them both down pretty quickly. I left the shop a bit shocked and repulsed.

Akihabara is also famous for maid cafes, were all of the waitresses dress up, predictably, as maids and call the guests "sir" or "master". More in line with the suggestion and titillation that I was expecting from Japan. We tried to find one of the many maid cafes in the back streets but drew a blank. One thing you'll quickly learn if you go to Japan is that their maps are utterly confusing.

Costa Rican Photo Upload Session

I've just been uploading my Costa Rican photos. I've created three Albums:
Volcan Arenal and the Monteverde Cloud Forest
Playa Nosara
Osa Peninsula - Playa Platanares, Osa Wildlife Reserve & Corcovodo National Park

Enjoy!

Scrupulously Fair

Back in October I was bitten by Icesave collapsing.

Yesterday I got all of my money back and, which impressed me the most, the accrued interest on the account up until the 7th October. The day when the bank went under. It wouldn't have surprised me if I had lost out on the interest or had to pay some form of admin fee. For customers with fixed rate accounts, you can even opt to keep you money in Icesave until the account is due to mature.

I've been very impressed by the the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). They've posted regular updates on their website and have returned my money in just over a month. I get the impression that the FSCS are out there looking after the customer and not just trying to wind up the failed banks with minimal cost and hassle to themselves.

Now to find a more sensible home for the cash......

Corcovado National Park

Rusting tractor at the Ranger Station on the edge of the National Park

On our final full day on the Osa Peninsula we decided to hire a guide a visit the Corcovado National Park. The park, as every guide book you will tell you, has been dubbed "the most biologically intense place on Earth" by National Geographic.

Before we could get to the Park we had to drive one of Costa Rica’s worst roads. Impassable during parts of the wet season, we decided to risk the Grand Vitara and tackle the fourteen rivers that we had to cross on the way there and the way back. There were armfuls of opposite lock as we momentary lost control of the car on a steep muddy incline. The scariest river had an almost vertical bank that I never thought we would make it up and out of. Somehow we get out, only momentarily grounding out the car. The thought of the journey back was preying on my mind for most of the day.

The road ends three and a half kilometers from the entrance to the Corcovado National Park and we had to hike along the beach to the Ranger Station that marks the entrance of the Park. It was the hottest day of the year so far and the humidity was reaching 100%. I have to admit I was a bit of a sight for most of the day.

The paths inside the National Park are pretty well marked and you could find your way without a guide. However, as with Monteverde, the guide really helped us to see more wildlife than I would have seen on my own.

We followed the path north towards the Sirena Ranger Station which is located in the middle of the Reserve. You have to cross a number of creeks and streams along the way. There is no alternative, but to get wet, up to your waist if it is high tide!

Along the way we saw birds of prey, scarlet macaws, toucans, spider monkeys, capuchin monkeys and a small group of carate foraging on the ground. It was good to see in the wild many of the animals we had seen the previous day at the Osa Wildlife Reserve. We saw signs of activity of a group of peccarie in the area, but after discovering yesterday that they eat humans I wasn’t overly upset to miss them! On the beach we also saw the prints of a cat (puma or jaguar) which would have been cool to see from a safe distance. Our guide also explained about some of the adaptions of the local trees to the environment and their uses.

It was a good end to my Costa Rican adventure. Well worth a days hike. If you visit the National Park, take lots of water and only drive yourself if you have a serious 4x4. Taking the collectivo will probably give you more peace of mind.

Getting the car cleaned after our river crossings before we returned it to the hire company.

Gulfo Dulce and Osa Wildlife Sanctuary

Today we took a boat tour on the Gulfo Dulce with a boat run out of our hotel at the Cabinas Jimenez.

The main highlight of the day was a visit to the Fundacion Santuario Silvestre de Osa (or Osa Wildlife Santuary). The only way to access the reserve is by boat. As we sped across the gulf to the sanctuary we saw a small pod of dolphins feeding. It is the first time that I have seen dolphins in the wild. Unfortunately they weren’t very playful and didn’t approach the boat as they were too busy eating breakfast.

The Osa Wildlife Santuary is a 750 acre reserve on the north eastern section of the Gulf. It is run by a mature American couple who moved there about 18yrs ago (if my memory is correct) and are supported by about 10-15 researchers, conservationist and volunteers at any one time.

In addition to protecting the reserve and making it a welcoming place for animals they act as a rescue and rehabilitation centre for injured and confiscated animals (from the illegal pet trade or people keeping wild animals as pets).

The tour of the reserve takes a 2hr loop through part of the forrest, starting and ending on the beach where the boat drops you off. The tour is very informative as the couple give you a lot of information on the animals, how they arrived at the resrve and how they are being rehabilitated.

All the way round the tour we were accompanied by three (rescued) juvenile spider monkeys who are freely roaming. It is hoped that the monkeys will join a wild troop once they reach around 6yrs old, but until that time they seem to prefer to stay near to the researchers and enjoy human interaction. I asked if it is good for them to be so close to humans? At their age a wild troop wouldn’t have them and they would die with no mother to feed them milk. Being social animals there is no alternative but for humans to form their troop.


After the beach, the first stop on the trip was to see some scarlet macaw parrots. There are a pair being looked after at the moment, neither of which can fly, having had their feathers damaged when they were young. Beautiful creatures to see up close (which have had their natural populations devastated in Costa Rica by poaching for the pet trade), also a little scary to be so close to their awesomely powerful beaks. If they fancied taking off your finger, there would only be one winner.


We also saw Peccarie (a Costa Rican wild boar) who emit a foul smelling spray to mark their territory and have been known to kill and eat humans in the wild!


Rescued white faced Capochin monkeys who are kept in a cage as they would be rejected and killed by the wild troops in the reserve should they be released.


Sloths, whose hearts only beat 11 times per minute, eat poisonous leaves and move in a slow graceful movement.


Toucans with their graceful long beaks, but are apparently a very aggressive bird.


Green parrots.


They have cats on the reserve but you don’t seem them on the tour as they are trying to keep them afraid of humans to give them a better chance of survival once released.

I did a Google seach for the Wildlife Sanctuary and came across a couple of forums where some have criticised the reserve and their approaches to rehabilitation. However, I come away with an overwhelmingly positve impression of the reserve. The couple are clearly a little bit maverick and have learnt through their experiences of dealing with different animals, but seem to have found approaches that work.

If you ever visit the Osa Peninsula I would definitely recommend a trip to the reserve. It was the highlight of the holiday for me and I learnt more than I am able to express in a single blog post.

Cerro de la Muerte to Puerto Jimenez

We got up early to escape the Hotel Tapanti and were on the road by 6am. In daylight and without the fog the mountain passes were a dramatic place to drive through. There were lush steep valleys on either side of us and at points we were above the clouds with the highest pass at 3,450m above see level.

I was a bit intimidated by the number of times the road was reduced to one lane, the other having fallen down the mountain side; but it didn’t seem to be perturbing the locals too much.

We arrived in Puerto Jimenez for lunch and have checked into the Cabinas Jimenez right on the water front of the Golfo Dulce. In the afternoon we drove down to Playa Platanares 5km out of town.

We spent an excellent couple of hours on the beach. Getting into the background of some wedding photos. Messing about in the waves, while watching the sun set. We were trying to catch / swim into the shore with the waves. On three occasions I managed to catch the waves perfectly and rode all the way into shore. My body acting as the surf board and my head completely out of the water. I’ve never experienced anything like it before. Pura Vida!

Rainbow and sunset over the Playa Platanares

N.B. I checked out the latest copy of the LP and hotel Tapanti has been removed from the listing. Probably deservedly.

Nosara to Cerro de la Muerte

We decided to start the long march south today to Puerto Jimenez and the Osa Peninsula. We had delusions that we might make it all the way there (or at least a substantial part) in one day, but it was not to be.

We have been frustrated by Costa Rica’s roads. The country’s main road – the InterAmericana – is a single lane byway. You get stuck behind a slow moving lorry and you’ve had it.

Not to long after we started in Nicoya we were sent on a diversion. Annoying at the best of times, but in the UK at least they try and sign the whole of your diverted route until you rejoin the original road you were travelling on. Here they seem to delight in giving you a couple of signs to get you really lost down some back streets and then they leave you devoid of further instructions.

In San Jose they build up your hopes with a few road signs, strategically placed to make you optimistic think that you are going in the right direction and then they leave major junctions completely unsigned. You may as well flip a coin to decide which way to go! Do they sell accurate maps of the country or put up street signs so that you can find your way. No!

According to the maps of Cartago the InterAmerican is the main road and skirts the western side of the town. In actual fact you need to make an unsigned turning off to the right unless you want to end up down town; which we did until we turned round and retraced our steps.

As night fall approached we found ourselves on road named Cerro de la Muerte the mountain of death. We’ve had to take refuge for the night in the Hotel Tapanti. Our cabina is ok, but nothing special and the only thing on the menu was trout, a fish on which I am not keen.

Rant over. Breath in, breath out. I’m beginning to sound a bit like Blue Eyes!

A few random cultural obersations*

*Not necessary accurate (or even accurate stereotypes), but little things that amused me.

Guns for show, knives for a pro
Which, if I remember correctly, was one of my favourite lines from Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

The only guns I have seen so far in Costa Rica have been safely inside the holsters of policemen. However, it seems quite de-rigueur to carry a knife. You see farmers with machetes, people wandering down the street with knives slung to their belts. Even our guide at the Reserva in Monteverde had one. It’s not at all threatening as the knives are being carried for a practical purpose, but with all the reported knife crime in London this year it is something you notice.


When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
We saw a lot of 4X4's on the roads and a decent proportion of these were Land Rovers. All of which seemed to come with Union Jack flags. Not something you get on the UK models.


Early to bed early to rise
A notable feature of my Costa Rican experience so far has been how early everyone seems to go to bed. Restaurants close early, bars shut and people disappear behind their doors. The flip side is that everyone gets up at sunrise, which is mighty early.


Clean Cutlery
Unlike in UK restaurants where the tables have been pre-laid, there were never any tables set with cutlery or crockery in Costa Rica. Cutlery always came in a packet.
If you were somewhere cheap it looked like this:

Somewhere a bit more posh and your knife and fork might come wrapped in a napkin:

Your beer sometimes came with a little napkin too:

Bavaria Negro. A very nice, locally brewed tipple.

Playa Nosra

We are currently staying in the delightful beachside town of Nosara. Its been so relaxing that there is not much to report. It was a bit of a nightmare to find, but we are now chilling out in the Casa Romantica (bit luxurious for backpackers, which I need to give up the pretence that we are actually doing!). Swimming in the sea, the pool, walks on the beach and just generally putting our feet up. The food has been good too.


The sunset over the Pacific last night was amazing.



We had a couple of good meals in the Café de Paris too. If you like sun, sea and surf this would be an excellent place to spend a week chilling out by the seaside. Unfortunately I don’t have the constitution for beach holidays. It has been roastingly hot today and like the true English tourist I have gone a bit lobster. I’m going to make sure I buy a rash vest before I go to Thailand / Australia.

(Casa Romantica)

Adventures in a 4X4

We got up early for the drive from Monterverde to the Pacific. The mountain retreat of Santa Elena / Monterverde had been a welcome time to relax and chill out, but I won’t miss the overwhelming dampness that seems to come from living in a cloud forest (at our B&B at least) and my backpack needed to dry out.

We started off on the bumpy track down from Monteverde to Las Juntas, passing on our way a group of four elderly tourists who we have seen off and on since Arenal. After briefly joining the InerAmericana we headed west towards the coast where we promptly got stopped by the Police for doing 85kph in a 40kph zone.

Thankfully the Policemen were jovial enough. There were no stiff reprimands or menacing threats. Can I see your passport and driving licence please? Where are you going? There are two more 40kph zones on that route, be careful! Oh, and can I have 26,000 Colones please? You only have 10,000 notes? I have no change; 20,000 Colones will do. Receipts, no we don’t bother with those. Enjoy your lunch, I know I will mine!

Ok, so I made the last two sentences up. We weren’t silly enough to actually ask for a receipt, but none was offered and the way he so readily accepted a lower amount made me think………

We continued on event free to the sleepy little backpacker town of Playa Samara were we had lunch on the beach. The food, just like the town itself, was a little uninspiring.

After lunch we headed north up the coast road towards Nosara. Not far out of town we came across our first river crossing in Costa Rica. There was a delivery truck stuck in the middle of the river and two JCBs pulling him out. Not a confidence inducing start. The truck was pulled out and we then watched an even bigger lorry and motorbike make it across the river successfully.

I was studying the maps for alternate routes. Meanwhile Olivier had struck up a conversation with one of the JCB drivers who assured us we’d be fine in our 4X4 and offered to stay and watch us cross, towing us out if needs be. Egged on by Anne and having noted the route of the two successful vehicles we decided to go for it.

Anne took a video of our crossing which is re-assuringly dull. Ray Mears would be proud.

Pretty wide, eh?

Reserva Biologica Bosque Noboso, Monterverde

We got up early this morning to go on the 7:30am guided walk around the Monterverde Reserva. We spent almost two and a half hours with our guide covering a small section of the reserve. He didn’t say a lot, but I felt that we saw and learnt a lot. His powers of observation were amazing as we were guided through primary and secondary cloud forest.

A cloud forest is distinct from a rain forest by the number of other species that a tree hosts; approx 30 in a rainforest and up to 120 in a cloud forest. Unfortunately it isn’t the main fruiting season (March) so there aren’t as many mammals active in the forest, and we didn’t get to see any howler monkeys etc…

We were shown Black Guans (members of the turkey family), birds called red breasted dragons fighting (I think this may have been a corruption in the Spanish – English translation), stick insects, a tarantula in its nest, porcupine and a quetzal (Costa Rica’s national bird).

After the walk we visited the Humming Bird Café, initially for a rest and then to escape a heavy shower. The café is surrounded by water feeders for Hummingbirds and there were 30 of the birds buzzing around the tourists and taking a drink. It was incredible to see so many of them up close.

After a rest in the coffee shop we decided to go back into the reserve and walk the path around the perimeter. It was a pleasant walk straddling the continental divide between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. We saw some beautiful scenery including waterfalls and panoramic vistas of the cloud forest, but without our guide we saw barely any animals.

To round off the day Olivier and I headed back to the Reserve at 19:30 to take part in a night walk to see some of the nocturnal creatures of the forest. Sadly a thunder storm meant that the walk was cancelled and we were the only two souls fool hardy enough to even make it to the reserve entrance in the forlorn hope that it would take place.

Monteverde: Flat Tyres & Coffee

Disaster strikes! We woke up this morning to discover that we had a flat tyre on our hire car; from what we guessed was a slow puncture. I started to change the wheel but Olivier wasn’t happy that the spare tyre was a tarmac only and not an all terrain tyre like the others. As it was only a slow puncture Olivier went to borrow a pump from the owners of our B&B so that we could inflate the tyre sufficiently to get us to a local garage. The only pump the owners had was a comically small bicycle pump! Half an hour, and several turns from each of us, later the tyre was sufficiently inflated for us to drive on.

We drove to the nearest garage where we were told to come back in a couple of hours as he was fixing an American style yellow school bus. After lunch at the Tree House in Santa Elena we headed back to the garage where he whipped the tyre off and quickly determined that it was a faulty valve and not a puncture. The wheel was fixed and back on the car in under 10 minutes. We were charged the princely sum of £1.50 which goes to show how cheap this country can be when you are not paying a tourist tax!

In the afternoon we went to the Don Juan Coffee Plantation for a tour. It was very interesting and we had a tour around the plantation by a young guide who took us through the various stages of coffee growing; planting, harvesting, grading, removing the husks from the coffee beans, drying, removing the skins of the beans, roasting and finally tasting the coffee. Did you know that a light roast has more caffeine than a dark roast? Or how to grade a coffee bean? Well neither did I. You got the impression that the plantation was more of a tourist attraction these days – selling tours and the coffee they produce from their 5 acres to tourists - then a commercial coffee growing operation, but it was enjoyable none the less.

For dinner we went to Chimera. It is the sister restaurant of Sophia that we visited yesterday, and we were given a 10% off voucher for Chimera as we were leaving last night. I was going to do an in-depth review, but have decided that it is so similar to Sophia that I won’t bother; so just read this one. The key differences are that it is less formal than Sophia and styles itself as a tapas restaurant so the dishes are smaller, though not all designed for easily sharing.

Restaurant Review: Sofia, Monteverde; Costa Rica

I’ve not known quite what to make of the Costa Rican food scene so far. It’s not the spicy Mexican inspired food of its northern neighbours nor the hearty steaks and glasses of red wine of Chile or Argentina (my only other reference points on the continent).

The food hasn’t been bad, but it has more been local staples of eggs; rice; beans, fresh fruit and the odd steak. I was therefore a bit surprised to discover that this small hilltop is gastronomical highlight.

Last night Olivier and I went for dinner at Sofia which serves modern Latin American cuisine. More modern European style food than the hearty portions I had so far become accustomed to. I started with a small roasted aubergine quesadilla, a witty and more sophisticated version of the Mexican snack. Olivier had a ceviche (raw fish marinated in lime) served with crunchy tortillas. Both light and well balanced starters.

For the main course I had roaster pork loin with figs, sweet potato mash and a local green vegetable (akin to chopped green beans) whose name shall remain unknown. I enjoyed the sweetness from the figs, but Olivier thought it was a little too much. If I was being critical the pork was slightly overcooked. Olivier had prawns cooked in a coconut and curry sauce which seemed to make him content.

It was good to have a lighter meal than we have previously been experiencing before bed. I washed my food down with a local Pilsen beer, which I preferred to the other local beer, Imperial, that I have also tried on this trip.

If the Pound hadn’t collapsed against the USD it would have been a cheap meal. However, it was still good value.

The Road from El Castillo to Monteverde

We spent the day driving around the scenic Laguna de Arenal.

The morning started with an abortive visit to one of the hot springs between El Castillo and La Fortuna. All the springs seem to have pretty steep prices and are all day affairs with meals thrown in. As we didn’t have all day to laze around the consensus was to give the spas a miss.

Our journey started with a drive over the dam that created the Laguna. Hopes of a Hoover dam style feat of human engineering were sadly frustrated. The dam looked more like a few pathetic clumps of earth, however, judging by the size of the lake behind the dam I should be giving it more engineering merit.

We stopped for a coffee at the bohemian Toad Hall on the eastern side of the lake. Part art gallery, souvenir shop and café. We all enjoyed a freshly made smoothie and chocolate brownie while watching humming birds up close as they fed on the flowers close to the balcony where we were sitting.

Yet again I was struck with how much like the Lake District Costa Rica seems to be; a green and pleasant land. From a distance you see rolling green hills covered in green pastures and trees. However, up close the green is made up of more tropical plants with palms, banana trees and others I can’t recognise creeping in. There is a lot more wildlife evident with racoon style creatures on the road and the aforementioned humming birds. Anne studied horticulture/agriculture at uni and is expert in pointing out all that I miss.

Navigating our way to Monterverde wasn’t as difficult as I feared, there is basically one road and we followed it all the way. About 30km from Monterverde the tarmac ends and gravel / mud tracks start, which get progressively worse as you climb. Monteverde was originally a Quaker settlement and, according to the guide book, the Quakers have been a strong force in both the preservation of the forests and against building an improved road. Fearing that increased tourist numbers would damage the ecosystem.

We are staying at the Mariposa B&B which seems to be a very pleasant guest house. However; the high humidity and rain levels do make everything feel a little damp.

Note to self: Not taking enough photos.

Volcan Arenal Parque Nacionale

We spent today in the Parque Nacionale which surrounds the volcano. The volcano was dormant until 1968 when an explosion and lava flow killed 80 people and 45,000 cattle. The volcano has been gurgling away ever since and you can see a plume of steam constantly rising from the volcano and hear rocks cracking and falling away from the side of the volcano.

We hiked through the rain forest to the 1968 lava flow. We saw colonies of ants carrying food back to their nests, birds of prey circling above, other Central American birds in the trees and a strange plant that curls up its leaves when it thinks it is being eaten by an animal or being tapped by a human. It was pretty amazing to be standing at the foot of an active volcano and on a relatively recent lava flow.

The weather seems to be very changeable, one minute the volcano is shrouded in cloud and you can’t see it. Five minutes later it has stopped raining and you, and the volcano, are bathed in sunshine.

I woke during the night to see my most dramatic view of the volcano. Red lava was spewing from the top of the crater silhouetting a plume of steam rising into the night’s sky. There were also two trickles of lava running down the side of the volcano. An amazing sight. I was grateful to be the on the opposite side of the valley!

Volcan Arenal Parque Nacionale

We spent today in the Parque Nacionale which surrounds the volcano. The volcano was dormant until 1968 when an explosion and lava flow killed 80 people and 45,000 cattle. The volcano has been gurgling away ever since and you can see a plume of steam constantly rising from the volcano and hear rocks cracking and falling away from the side of the volcano.

We hiked through the rain forest to the 1968 lava flow. We saw colonies of ants carrying food back to their nests, birds of prey circling above, other Central American birds in the trees and a strange plant that curls up its leaves when it thinks it is being eaten by an animal or being tapped by a human. It was pretty amazing to be standing at the foot of an active volcano and on a relatively recent lava flow.

The weather seems to be very changeable, one minute the volcano is shrouded in cloud and you can’t see it. Five minutes later it has stopped raining and you, and the volcano, are bathed in sunshine.

I woke during the night to see my most dramatic view of the volcano. Red lava was spewing from the top of the crater silhouetting a plume of steam rising into the night’s sky. There were also two trickles of lava running down the side of the volcano. An amazing sight. I was grateful to be the on the opposite side of the valley!

Alajuela to Volcan Arenal

Before arriving in Costa Rica I had three preconceptions about the driving in this country: the roads are bad, there are no street signs and it is impossible to buy a decent map. After a day on the roads the jury is still out on the first; but the second two are definitely true.

We met a Dutch couple at breakfast that were at the end of their two week holiday driving around Cost Rica We picked up a few tips about what to do over the next two weeks.

After breakfast we had a quick look around Alajuela to get some money out of the cash machine (I’m a millionaire!) and a quick visit to the supermarcado. Apart from the essentials, the town didn’t seem to have a lot to offer the tourist.

We hit the Inter American Highway for the trip north to the Arenal Volcano. I don’t think there can be much pan-American freight if this is the main road! At least it is surfaced in tarmac, as were the roads we took for the rest of the journey to La Fortuna. The drive reminded me a lot of the Lake District back home. Lush green vegetation, rolling hills and of course rain.

We stopped for lunch along the way at a restaurant called Happy Lands. The owners were very genial and being the first guests from the UK and France they asked us to sign a wall of the restaurant along with a plethora of tourists from Spain, the US, Japan and assorted other places.

Scared off La Fortuna by the guide book (reputed to be full of hawkers and overly touristy) we decided to head up the gravel road to El Castillo and booked into the Cabinatas El Castillo Dorado. After checking into our cabin we went for a walk up the hill above the village, were we got some good views of the wildlife and the countryside. We went to bed to the sound of the village stream raging with rain water and seeing a lava from the Arenam volcano opposite glow red in the night sky. Perfecto!

London to Costa Rica

Welcome to my Costa Rican odessy. I have been writing daily posts in a diary style, but haven't been able to get onto the internet very frquently. I'll be posting a diary entry every time I manage to log on. I hope you enjoy!

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We arrived in Costa Rica yesterday after a mammoth 21hr door to door journey.

The flights were actually reasonably pain free. Delta airlines did us proud with as much leg room and as comfy seats as you can expect in coach. The food wasn’t too bad either. As we boarded two guys in front of us; who had seats in the row behind us, decided to plonk themselves down in business class. They were politely moved back just as we were taxiing to the runway. It got me thinking how many people try that trick each flight? And if you are stupid enough to try it, will you be the sort of person that is really annoying to sit next to on a long haul flight? Thankfully they sat there quietly during the rest of the flight.

The customs officials were polite and efficient, the sort that even Shakespearsmate wouldn’t be scared of. Their slightly indifferent attitude to immigration and airport security reminded me of what it used to be like entering Britain a few years ago.

We picked up our hire car at approx 10pm and headed for our hotel in Alajuela. After a long love affair with the Lonely Planet I had my first disappointment with the travel guides as the hotel we were staying at, was marked in the wrong place on the map. It took us over an hour and a phone call to the hotel to find it. Once at Hotel Los Volcanes we had a good nights sleep. The hotel was definitely better than I expected from the website.

First shoots of the East London Line

As I left for the airport on Saturday morning I noticed what looked like Oyster Card readers hidden under specially tailored wetsuit at Brockley station.

The card readers are presumably designed to withstand the elements and the wetsuits serve no purpose that a “do not use” sign wouldn’t; however I think they are very cool. I’ve seen some snazzy blue ones at New Cross station in the past too.