11th August 2025 at 12:04 - Damian

10/08/2025 - Day 10

We relocated from La Fortuna across Lake Arenal to Monteverde which is at 1300m in cloud forest. Much nicer temperature at this altitude.

On arrival we did a three hour walk in the cloud forest and we're heading into town for dinner tonight.

11th August 2025 at 06:57 - Damian

08-09/08/25 - Day 7 & 8

From Rio Celeste we travelled to La Fortuna which is at the base of the active Arenal volcano. Quite a touristy place but near a nice national park with lots of walks.

We did a walk to the La Fortuna Waterfall and had a refreshing swim there.

10th August 2025 at 12:47 - Damian

10th August 2025 at 12:45 - Damian

10th August 2025 at 12:42 - Damian

10th August 2025 at 12:41 - Damian

10th August 2025 at 12:40 - Damian

9th August 2025 at 01:37 - Damian

07/08/25 - Day 6

Rio Celeste

... to come

9th August 2025 at 01:35 - Damian

06/08/25 - Day 5

Homestay to Rio Celeste

... to come

9th August 2025 at 01:33 - Damian

05/08/25 - Day 4

From Tortuguero we travelled back upriver and on to a small village where a few of the women make rooms in their houses available for tourists to have authentic local experiences.

I have to be honest and admit that this was the bit I was least looking forward to. It wasn't all that bad in the end. Just awkward. I was kind of glad it was over the following day.

9th August 2025 at 01:13 - Damian

04/08/25 - Day 3

Tortuguero is a small village on a narrow strip of land between the Caribbean sea and forest wetlands and rivers that formed after the collapse of a railroad project. The locals felled much of the forest but the area was made a national park in 1992 and the ecosystem has bounced back and provided a much more lucrative tourism industry. A win-win.

After a late-night visit to watch a green sea turtle lay eggs (no photos but an incredible experience) we got up early for a boat trip around the waterways where we saw caimans. herons, Jesus lizards, cormorants, vultures, kites, spider monkeys, howler monkeys, tree iguanas and more.

Not many good photos unfortunately as everything was far away.

Later that day we explored a little bit of the national park on foot where we managed to spot some tiny poison dart frogs before a group walk up a nearby dormant volcano.

9th August 2025 at 00:22 - Damian

03/08/25 - Day 2 of the Costa Rica tour.

After breakfast at the hotel we boarded a mini bus and headed from San José north into the mountains which became cloudforest and then rainforest on the descent toward the Carribbean. The "rain" part lived up to its name by chucking it down.

Two hours into the trip and just before we cleared the rainforest we had to stop and turn around due to a fatality ahead where a car had been crushed by a falling tree. So it goes.

Back to San José to cross the mountains to the west adding four hours to the trip.

We arrived at La Pavona (a river port), switched to a narrow riverboat and navigated an hour downstream through tropical forest to Tortuguero township in the national park.

3rd August 2025 at 06:08 - Damian

We've had some really nice meals the last couple of days. Back in Cartagena we went to Alma which had exquisite food focused mainly around seafood. We'd been holding off on ceviche until we got to the Colombian coast and it was worth the wait!

Last night the meal in our San José hotel's restaurant was surprisingly good, too. The beer especially.

3rd August 2025 at 05:58 - Damian

We flew to San José in Costa Rica yesterday in preparation to meet with our two-week Intrepid tour tonight.

Bit of a down day yesterday as I was over the heat, the constant spruiking, struggling to communicate in Spanish, not being able to flush toilet paper, the beeping, airports, getting to airports, grating airport announcements, push-ins, taxi drivers, did I mention the heat?

I kept a smile on my dial but underneath I was like a bulldog chewing a wasp.

Anyway. That happens and today's a new day.

We're in Costa Rica!

1st August 2025 at 11:32 - Damian

1st August 2025 at 11:25 - Damian

30th July 2025 at 12:20 - Damian

We flew to Cartagena in Colombia via Bogota yesterday. We were hit by the evening humidity stepping off the plane and today it got up to 35°C which felt like 41°C, apparently. We were sweaty messes most of the day.

Did some laundry which cost NZ$18.90. Fairly expensive compared to our NZ$6.30 bill on Quito. Things are a bit more touristy and expensive here with a thousand grifts going on as you walk down the street.

We had lunch at an Italian restaurant in the Getsemani district followed by a walking tour which was, as usual, a great way to get some perspective on a new city.

29th July 2025 at 02:33 - Damian

29th July 2025 at 02:32 - Damian

A couple of days ago I borrowed a fellow traveller's underwater camera. When paddling on the surface most of the photos came out a bit murky and blue-tinged but when you dive down and get up close the colours are lovely.

I'm starting to think I may have to up my camera game. The phone can be frustrating, especially around the lack of good optical zoom when bird-spotting.

29th July 2025 at 00:22 - Damian

We returned to Quito from Galapagos yesterday. It was our first organised trip and I have to admit it's probably the best holiday we've had. Expensive though.

We went with Intrepid with their 10-day Classic Galapagos: Central Eastern Islands. It's really 8 days with a day either side in Quito.

Our guide Roberto was excellent. An ex-science teacher with a booming voice he had the perfect balance of information and humour.

Our ten fellow passengers were all a similar age to us or older and were easy to get along with. We were a little worried that we might find ourselves stuck with people who rubbed us up the wrong way but, no. Perfect.

So. A strong recommendation from us if you're looking for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.