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Costa Rica 2026
  • Derry O'Toole
  • Melissa Jefferies
  • dan jefferies
  • Derry O'Toole
  • Melissa Jefferies
  • dan jefferies
  • Freya Jefferies

Costa Rica 2026

A 22-day adventure by Derry, Melissa, dan & Freya Read more
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  • Trip start
    January 29, 2026
  • Costa Rica 2026
    121

    Driving from San José to Dominical

    January 30 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 25 °C

    Post breakfast we had a morning stroll around San Josè. Ending with us seeing a Hoffmanns woodpecker at our accommodation.
    Our car was then dropped to the hotel and we packed up before starting the three and a half hour drive down south. We stopped along the way at crocodile bridge-named after its sharp toothed friends swimming underneath.

    We then carried on to our accommodation The Jungle Inn- about 2 miles up an old dirt track (thank god for 4x4.) An amazing house nestled on the edge of the jungle looking out towards the pacific. After unpacking we stopped by the pool for a quick beer before heading to dinner.

    For dinner we drove back down the dodgy road into Dominical to Fuego brewery (which was in tree house) where we had and amazing taco feast with chicken, fish and Birra tacos and enchiladas washed down with some lovely beers/ cocktails before heading back up the road to bed.    Read more

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    Nauyaca Waterfalls

    January 31 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

    We woke to the sounds of the jungle and spent some time sat outside listening to it. After packing up and driving back down the terrible dirt track, we grabbed some breakfast from the bakery and went and sat on the beach in dominical to eat it.

    After our delightful breakfast on the beach we drove to the waterfalls park where we walked for around 3.5km to the Nauyaca waterfalls.
    The walk was mainly a steep uphill climb before descending down into the waterfall its self. Filled with sightings of birds along the way.
    Once we reached the waterfall, we swam (Freya slipped on a rock on the way in causing quite a nasty bruise) and we watched nutters diving into the water from the top!
    After our swim Derry ran back down to the car (he’s crazy) while the rest of us walked back and then into the car and onwards to Puerto Jiménez.    Read more

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    Dominical to Puerto Jiménez

    January 31 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    The drive was around 3 hours - a split journey from the boys!
    When we arrived in Puerto Jiménez we were slightly surprised by the state of the town. Very run down and a surprise on every corner - one featuring a local drunk man lying on the floor in his own vomit - where the bloody hell were we.
    It gets worse - we get to our accommodation (which had been booked for us by the Corcovado tour company who we were joining the next day) and the best way to describe it was a murderous hostel 😂 bright green walls, rusty appliances, broken aircon and a freezing cold shower 😂 oh yeah and it was LITERALLY next too a runway! We obviously found the whole thing very funny!
    We searched online for a dinner location - as you can imagine there wasn’t a lot there. We settled on a pizza place (which actually had very good pizzas) but sadly no beer! We then planned our next steps post jungle as we had booked to stay here after and had very much changed our minds about coming back to Puerto Jiménez (surprise surprise)!    Read more

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    Corcovado National Park Day 1

    February 1 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    Woke super early- like 4.30. Interesting night in the ‘serial killers’ lair but we did sleep. The air con in our room (D and M) was amazingly noisy but surprisingly we were able to blank it out.
    Saw drunk man again 🤦🏼‍♂️ on our way to the quay- this time standing ! Dropped the car off for 12$ for three days- bargain.
    We were told to get to the Quay by Surcos tours for 5 am but didn’t actually leave until six. Quite a lot of people in several boats doing the same journey but with several different tour companies. We met our guide Giovanny who was pretty laid back and had been guiding for 10 years. The other people in our group were two Costa Ricans who lived in Georgia, Javier and Shirley.
    Soon after leaving the port we saw a single dolphin which was a beautiful start to our trip. The total journey time to the park was about 90 minutes.
    Luckily no sea sickness. The coastline was beautiful- miles of unspoilt jungle- amazing.
    Disembarkation was an interesting affair. Essentially the boat just reversed into the beach and the passengers climbed off the back - on this occasion it was a little bit more challenging as it was low tide. You had to jump into thigh deep murky water with rocks underfoot so it was a bit risky. Javier hadn’t read the memo about going slowly so he jumped, tripped and fell over getting his rucksack soaked and we later learnt his phone as well.
    Once on shore we had to go through ‘security’ to make sure we weren’t bringing items to the island such as plastic bottles, cigarettes, alcohol, and food. I got a bit of an exemption with food due to being diabetico! 👍
    We then met the last person in our group who had taken the boat from Drake’s Bay. A German called Kevin.
    We then had to carry our gear to the Sirena Ranger station which was about a kilometre walk.
    The walk itself however was brilliant as we saw a couple of Peccaries, Currasow and numerous other birds.
    The Rangers station is brilliant and very sympathetic to the environment it’s in. The accommodation is very basic consisting of an area of bunkbeds each with its own mosquito net.
    It is however clean, there is a gift shop where you can buy drinks and snacks and the dining area is relatively cool. By the time we got there and sorted ourselves out and had a coffee, we did our first proper jungle walk. It felt to all of us about midday but it was actually only 9 am! After a couple of hours we were back for lunch had a short break until about two and then did another three or so hours before sunset.
    The absolute highlight of this was seeing a couple of male anteaters chasing each other about for probably getting close to an hour. At times they were very close to us and it was brilliant to watch .
    Dinner we soon realised followed the same format with the foundation of the meal being Gallo Pinto (rice and beans) with whatever meat was available and salad. Dinner was alcohol free due to not being able to bring in alcohol, there is also none to buy. This was probably a good idea as living in dormitory accommodation could have been problematic as it would only need one or two people to cause a bad night for everyone.
    At dinner they did supply water but also juice which varied between watermelon, or a ginger and sugarcane combination which was delightful.
    There was no suggestion of chatting too much or playing games after dinner as we were all pretty knackered and we also had to get up at 4:30 so we could go on the next jungle walk at 5 am!
    Preparing for bed was a bit of a challenge as we had to try and remember everything that needed to be inside your mosquito net as getting in and out particularly if you’re on the top bunk was a bit tricky, i.e. Melissa and Derry.    Read more

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    Day 2 In The Jungle

    February 2 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    The alarms went off at 0430am this morning! An interesting night sleep to report - aside from the cacophony of snores and farts, we all got awoken at 2330 by a lady having a night terror (it was a horror movie scream) - luckily after realising we were not being attacked we got back to sleep! And it was a very fun way to spend the night!

    Our day started with a 0500 hike through the dark jungle to sit at a lagoon and wait for the hopeful famous Tapier. Whilst we waited we saw many a beautiful bird and we did see a Tapier crossing but very far in the distance. After maybe an hour of waiting we decided it was time to head back for breakfast, however, as we were walking back through the jungle we were stopped in our tracks as a Tapier came walking towards us. We stood very still as it sniffed around us getting up close and personal with our guide. It then moved on so obviously we followed. She lead us right through the jungle to the beach where she continued to munch away on nearby plants while we sat and watched the magnificent creature. Pretty magical.

    Post breakfast it was time for another 3 hour hike - this walk again had so much to offer - monkeys , birds, Sloths AND would you believe it…A MOTHER AND A CHILD TAPIER!!! Freya said the words ‘you have got to be joking’ as they came round the corner. Another pretty amazing and very rare site.

    Lunch saw another rice and beans combo, with a little post lunch snooze for most.

    2pm came round and we were out again but this time exploring a more untrodden path in the jungles primary forest. This featured some pretty breathtaking forestry (huge trees), muddy paths and monkeys having a chat with Giovani. A really fun hike that we all really enjoyed, not as much wildlife but had a real sense of adventure about it.
    As the sunset we head back to camp for our evening meal and a quick bedtime as we were all pretty exhausted from the days adventures.
    Corcovado only became a National Park in 1975. Prior to this much deforestation had occurred for farming and a small airstrip had been cleared in the jungle. However, once the park was formed, the communities that had grown within the park were moved out and the forest had a chance to regenerate. As a result, the park consists of primary rainforest and secondary. The pictures at the end of this post show the 1975 Park with the airstrip and the site of the early Sirena Ranger station and the second picture shows the park from several years ago.
    The park itself contains 2% of the world’s biodiversity .    Read more

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    Corcovado Day 3 - Bahía Drake

    February 3 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Another early start although slightly earlier so we could grab a coffee before the 5 am jungle walk. lissa almost broke her little toe stubbing into a chair in the dark.
    As we set off the moon was amazing and Melissa managed to get a brilliant picture through the scope.
    We headed off and completed one of the trails that does touch into primary jungle but also spent time again down at the river entrance waiting for Tapir and Crocodile.
    After breakfast and packing up, we carried our packs the kilometre back to the embarkation point on the coast. A walk in the jungle is never a quick thing though and we stopped on numerous times to look at various examples of amazing wildlife. We saw the 3 toed sloth again which we have since learnt had probably recently lost its baby and was in a period of mourning!
    Once the bags were dropped off, we completed another route on the southern end of the park and were rewarded with at least 25 female white nosed Coatis that were moving through quite rapidly on a feeding frenzy. Just before this we had also spotted a Green rat snake 🐍 although it was rather shy and disappeared behind the trunk of a large tree quite quickly.
    We were also treated to a solitary Howler monkey having a real feast followed by a pee and a poo almost above us!
    We then had to hang around at the embarkation point but managed to find some shade to relax. Getting back on the boat was less hazardous than arriving and as with the last journey once we set off we were lucky enough to see some Dolphins although this time there were about three or four.
    Puerto Jimenez in sunshine looked a little bit more inviting on our arrival than when we had turned up several days before. There was quite a small cruise ship in the harbour with a lot of the passengers kayaking in the bay.
    We said goodbye to Shirley and Javier and our excellent guide.
    Interestingly, Giovany on our last jungle walk told us that he had been bitten by a Fer de Lance snake as a youngster and had spent a week in hospital recovering – thankfully with no lasting damage. We did look quite hard for snakes after this but probably quite thankfully didn’t see any.
    Before collecting the car we popped into a bar next door and had a really refreshing drink and Derry had a quick swim. We also saw a few small planes landing onto the runway next to the ‘serial killers’ accommodation, the place of our first night in Puerto Jimenez.
    The journey to Bahia drake was only about 27 miles but seemed to take ages as the last 15 miles was on unpaved, and at times, horrible roads. it probably is worth mentioning that as we were driving around Puerto Jimenez looking for a bank we did see the drunk man again - thankfully upright and not looking too wobbly.
    Bahia Drake is an amazing place in that despite access being quite tricky there is a lot there. Lots of accommodation, bars, restaurants and a real vibe to the place.
    We are staying at the Cotingas hotel in a family suite, which was up a pretty unpleasant stairway. Derry thankfully carried most of the bags!
    Rather than exploring further as it was already dark, we decided to have food in the Restaurant on site.
    Unfortunately, because we had had a couple of drinks due to our forced abstinence for the duration of our jungle trip the meal was hard to complete as we were all rather tired.
    It was such a relief to come back to air cooled accommodation after the jungle. I suspect we fell asleep within seconds.    Read more

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    Snorkelling trip to Isla del Caño

    February 4 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C

    We headed out to sea again today but this time to Isla del Caño for an underwater snorkelling adventure. Our boat picked us up from the beach in Drake bay at 0730 and then we popped over the water to the island. On our way over we saw several pods of pacific white sided dolphins swimming. Once we arrived and booked in with the wildlife rangers who were sat on a boat, we were given our snorkels and fins. Our guide Claudio jumped off the boat and ushered us to follow him. Once we were all in the water he took us into a reef and would point out all different sea creatures. On our first trip out we saw loads of fish and saw 3 hawksbill turtles, one of which swam up next to us to get some air! A pretty mesmerising sight. Unfortunately only Dan saw the white tipped reef shark that was swimming by!
    We then went for a break on the beach by the ranger station where we were treated by Claudia to Pineapple and homemade cookies.
    Our second snorkelling trip of the day was a little further along the coast here the visibility was much worse than the morning. As soon as we got off the boat we saw a massive male Green turtle! It was over a meter long and was sleeping at the bottom. We all tried to swim down to the bottom to see it. Even Freya who got down the first time but in her second attempt comically kicked her legs furiously above water but did more of a tap dance rather than a dive below the surface(see video). The rest of the second trip was uneventful due to the low visibility. We headed back to the boat which took us to a beach on the mainland for lunch where we had a delicious rice, beans and salad meal with watermelon juice. We then had a little swim Before heading back to Drake bay.

    Once back we had a chill afternoon, Melissa and Dan headed to a coffee shop while Freya and Derry chilled with some smoothies on the beach. We then headed to the hotel for dinner with Derry falling asleep in his food.    Read more

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    Bahía Drake to Dominical

    February 5 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    Woke up to the brilliant views over the bay. Derry headed out for a run along the beach while the rest of us chilled.
    Saw the occasional McCaw flying over often in pairs and in the tree just off the balcony we counted at least five very large lizards feasting off the fresh leaves.
    Got ourselves tidied away and were planning to load up, have brunch and get going to Dominical when we discovered that the car had a flat tyre.
    Although Derry was able to change to the spare (in the baking hot 🥵 ) it may not have been up to the journey back to the main highway. As luck would have it there happened to be a garage of sorts right next to where the car was parked but after speaking to a woman inside it turned out her husband was guiding in Sirena until 2 o’clock. The car hire company however were able to give us the name of a more local chap who we contacted so Derry and I drove out to him leaving Melissa and Freya at the Coco cafe.
    The guy was brilliant and sorted us out quite quickly although his garage was nothing more than a garden next to the road! All done for $20 and also two free bracelets for the ladies.! Garage service Costa Rica style! Pura Vida 😄.
    Had a lovely brunch at the Coco cafe and I had a traditional Costa Rican coffee using what looked like a well used cloth prophylactic! 😳
    Then continued onto Dominical , which took us another couple of hours.
    The place we’re staying in Dominical, Tribe boutique hotel , Melissa spotted when we came through last time.
    A really excellent location in the town, a lovely vibe with neutral decor and also an excellent pool.
    Caught the sunset with many people doing the same thing- quite stunning.
    A rather spicy meal in the Phat noodle followed by some cards at the Fuego brewery.    Read more

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    Dominical

    February 6 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    A much needed chill day after the last week of early starts and big adventures.
    The day started off with Derry heading out for an early run and Dan going for a morning swim in the ocean. Followed by chilling by the pool with coffee for a few hours. The Owners of the hotel came over to inform us there was a farmers market going on in town today that we should check out.
    While Dan and Melissa were finishing their coffees Derry and Freya headed to the market for a brows: lots of hippy crystals and magic mushrooms! We then went to collect our washing and have a look round the shops.
    Dan and Melissa went for a gander round the market as we were leaving and then went for a coffee.
    We all met back up at lunchtime for a lovely sandwich with some sloths in the tree above. And then all split up for our afternoon activities. Melissa went for a massage, Freya went to chill by the pool while the boys went to book their surfing lesson for the following day.
    The rest of the afternoon was chilling by the pool before showing and heading out to dinner to one of the best curry’s we’ve ever had in a restaurant called Little India. Where the chef was also the waiter and they went to the shop next door to get our drinks.    Read more

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    Dominical Day 2

    February 7 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    A relatively early start for Derry and Dan today as they headed to the Beach to have a surfing lesson with Dominical surf school. We were greeted by Maria the receptionist in the shop who served us with coffees while we waited for our Italian Surfing instructor Frederico to get his things together.
    We headed down to the beach and after a brief lesson on the sand of the basics we headed out on the water with our 10ft boards. As annoyingly expected Derry stood up and surfed in his first wave whereas Dan was up on his second. We frolicked around in the water for a couple of hours with Frederico giving us tips and tricks to improve the whole time. By the end of the lesson both of us had improved massively with Derry even learning to turn the board.
    After the lesson we met the girls and headed for lunch in Moromo Cafe.
    We then spent a couple of hours chilling by the pool before splitting for some early evening activities.
    Freya and Derry headed to a Beer festival at Fuego brewery with several local brewers showcasing their beer or alcoholic Kombucha. There were a couple of live bands and a few food vendors.
    Dan and Melissa went to watch the sunset on the beach with a few beers and then heard a Nivarna tribute act playing in a bar called tortilla flats on the beach so went to watch. Several Beers later Derry and Freya joined them and we all ended up quite merry. We tried some of the food in the bar but had some awful soggy nachos and foot long, thick rubbery calamari washed down with a hideous chilli guardo shot (like a spicy condensed Bloody Mary) so went and got some pizza and falafel before heading off to bed.    Read more

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    Dominical Day 3

    February 8 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Dan and Derry got up and went for an early surf, getting the boards from ‘crusty Nick’ . Derry got a smaller board due to his advanced skills 😂. I think the Olympians are safe but they are both doing well and the lesson definitely helped. They were chuffed to be sharing the water with a beautiful Mantaray which was about 2-3 ft swimming with them for a while. After another nice brunch at ‘Moromo’ with Dan having the French toast again (3 times all together) , Derry went for a well earned siesta while the rest of us relaxed by the pool. Early evening we made our way to Barú lodge, 10 minutes up the road for a night jungle walk. 3 hours of walking in the pitch dark jungle just us our guide Elena was fruitful. We saw a Red Eye tree frog, Bullfrogs, Mexican Porcupine, another 2 toed Sloth. Caymans and then rather creepily a very large ‘Fer de lance’ snake. We reckon over 2 meters long 😱. One of Costa Rica’s highly venomous pit vipers that is actually quite aggressive. We were very glad to move on from that one! We also saw quite a few sleeping birds including a ‘Pottoo’ stick bird and Great Kiskadee.
    A very beautiful dark sky at a clearing provided a bit of celestial Magic.
    A welcome smoothie at the end of the walk and then back to ‘Fuego’ for dinner. All a bit tired and sweaty. 😥    Read more

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    Dominical to Jaco

    February 9 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Lazy morning. Cards for Freya and Derry , Ocean swim for Dan. Checked out of ‘Tribe’ after a lovely stay and split up for brunch this time. Dan had his usual and Freya and Derry tried ‘Mono Congo’. Picked up some ice cold drinks and made our way to ‘Jaco’. A bit of a touristy town with some high rises. Hotel for the night ‘Tropical Garden hotel was ok. Lots of large Iguanas in the grounds. Hotel was very near the beach so a nice swim and a beer to watch the sunset and a very tasty dinner at the beach restaurant nearby called ‘Koko’. Derry and Freya finally introduced Dan and Melissa to Monopoly deal.Read more

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    Jaco to Montezuma

    February 10 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    Same restaurant for breakfast and then we headed off to the ferry at Puntarenas. Always a little bit of a bun fight but discovering that Dan had actually booked for the 10th March (bellend!)could have been a problem but thankfully there was still room! Crossing took about 1.5 hrs and was very pretty. Arrived on the Nicoya Peninsular and a bit of a tedious drive for Derry as all the traffic off the ferry meant it was a bit slow. Arrived at our Chorotega, the place Dan and Melissa stayed last year. Little bit quirky and Freya and Derry, convinced it’s a gay swingers hotel we’re not terribly impressed at first! 😂
    Headed to the beach and a few beers later followed by some very good food a ‘ La Naranja’ restaurant ( and some cards), we were all a bit more relaxed. Derry did a good job at looking like he knew what Amberjack fish was when he asked and took a chance but enjoyed his Mango and Amberjack dish very much and Melissa enjoyed her Amberjack curry too. (White filleted fish)
    All a bit tired and off to bed in the swingers house!😂    Read more

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    Melissa’s Birthday - Montezuma

    February 11 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌙 25 °C

    Today was Melissa’s 60th Birthday!! We started the day with the beautiful sunrise! A pretty magical sunrise with the owner of the gay cruising hotel playing the song ‘Morning has broken’ as the sun lifted above the horizon! Dan shed a tear - this place is made for him 😂
    We then sat and opened mums cards and presents! A lovely photo book from dan with pictures of her life and a 30 minute long video with personal messages from her friends and family!
    After the gifts we headed into town for a delicious brunch and a trip to a beautiful secluded beach - with a hike to get to it, derry and Freya weren’t best impressed as they hadn’t been told it would be a hike and didn’t have the correct footwear, but alas we all made it in one piece.
    We spent a few hours dipping in the sea and sunbathing feeling very relaxed although very sandy!
    On the way back we stopped for a cheeky cocktail at a fancy hotel - Dan having a cocktail which contained 5 different types of alcohol and then drove back!Woops!
    Once we had washed off all the sand we had a private dinner made for us by the gay cruising hotels chef Jesse- a rare treat as he only does breakfasts. We were treated to a massive three course meal, featuring tuna that had been caught that very morning, and a cake at the end which had nearly totalled Anthony’s car going to get it!
    The meal was accompanied by amazing pina coladas!
    We were all super stuffed by the end but it was so delicious and worth the pain 😂
    Melissa had the perfect 60th Birthday!!    Read more

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    Derry’s Birthday - Montezuma

    February 12 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Today was yet another celebration as it was Derry’s Birthday!
    Derry started the day with some presents and phone calls home to the family.
    We headed out to a breakfast cafe called ‘The Bakery’ in Cabuya. Derry having birthday pancakes (they ran out of bacon so extra pancakes it was😂) and a pint of coffee. Dan obviously had French toast and Freya and Melissa shared a MASSIVE fruit platter. Once all sufficiently full we went for a waterfall adventure. The walk was not for the faint hearted, clambering over tree roots and jumping over river beds, in some places there was even ropes put in to help you along the way. We arrived at a beautiful fresh waterfall were we all had a long dip, Derry and Dan jumped off plenty of the rocks and even Freya jumped off one with Derry’s encouragement. After a lot of splashing around (mainly from Derry) and a bit of sunbathing we headed back for a beer.
    We found a Brewery called the Butterfly Brewery. Where Dan and Derry both had flights of beer and Freya and Melissa tried their passion fruit soda (Freya’s with vodka) totally delicious.
    We played many a round of Wizard and had a few bites to eat. Just as the food came though an older man on the table behind ours, passed out and hit the floor with a rather large thud! Obviously the birthday boy stepped into action! Where better for the man to fall down than with a half cut paramedic and GP!
    Turns out the man was called Bill from America who was on a Keto diet and had been smoking a splif, no bloody surprised he passed out! They did at one point discover that he was a trump supporter to which Derry very quickly said ‘let’s not talk about that’. Luckily he was all fine after a little while and we could carry on as we were.
    We headed back for a quick shower and surprised Derry with a cake (we had picked up earlier) and a happy birthday sing song. There nearly was no cake however as Dan tripped as he came round the corner and nearly splattered the whole thing up the wall! Very entertaining!
    Headed to a bar for a few rounds of drinks and games of Monopoly.
    After Dan and Melissa headed to bed, Freya and Derry went to sit on the beach for a night cap and Derry obviously just had to have a birthday skinny dip before the night was up!    Read more

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    Montezuma Chocolate and Chill

    February 13 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C

    This morning started with Derry and Freya heading to Cabuya for a chocolate making experience and talk. We learned about the history of chocolate and its importance to the country. We ate a lot of chocolate and cacao nibs as well as some lovely cakes washed down with some cold chocolate milk.
    While we were doing this Dan and Melissa went to chill on the beach and went for brekky.
    In the afternoon everyone bar Derry headed to the beach for a relax and swim with Derry joining them after his nap in the hotel. The beach we went to had a freshwater stream running through it which was much nicer than the very rough and un-swimmable sea. Both Derry and Dans Christmas Hammocks had their first outing a prefect place to chill in the sun.
    We chilled on the beach for a few hours before heading back to soda Naranja for dinner. Freya had the best sea bass of her life!    Read more

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    Montezuma to Santa Teresa

    February 14 in Costa Rica ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

    Dan and Melissa started the day up on the sun deck of the hotel watching the sunrise. Once we were all up we had one last experience of Jesse’s amazing cooking. The Boys had French toast, Freya had a traditional Costa Rican breakfast and Melissa had fruit yoghurt and granola which was super tasty! We then packed up our stuff and the car before heading to Santa Teresa. We arrived at our hotel which was up a really steep hill. We unpacked then chilled by the pool with some beers for the afternoon, meeting several lizards who enjoyed basking in the sun on the deck as well as some humming birds than were flying around.
    We headed out to a beachfront restaurant called Manzú for the evening. As today would have been Oscar’s 28th birthday we sat on beanbag’s and watched the beautiful sunset on the beach raising a glass in his memory as the sun went down. We then moved into the restaurant for delicious dinner. A perfect day to celebrate Wiggy.    Read more

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    Santa Teresa

    February 15 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☀️ 28 °C

    Derry and Dan were up and out earlyish for their last surf experience. Both have improved and are managing to stay up a little bit longer. Freya and Melissa made their way down to the beach to watch for a bit and then we all headed into town to get some brunch. Freya and Derry had a little shop and Dan and Melissa found a nice bakery. We all headed back for a lazy late afternoon but the pool. Slight hold up heading out to dinner by the most enormous Locust by the room and then we had a yummy dinner at the rather nice Asian restaurant ‘Katana’ we all enjoyed some Wonton, noodles and bao buns although Dan did come out minus a crown! Headed back up the mountain ( felt like it) to a night accompanied by varying animals on the tin roof (Possums, Bats, Iguanas etc).Read more

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    Santa Theresa to Serenity

    February 17 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌙 13 °C

    Today we were officially leaving the heat behind and heading back up towards the hills near San Jose!
    We had an early 0600 alarm and a quick (rather rubbish) breakfast at the hotel and then hit the road travelling 1hr30 back to the ferry that we got across a week before.
    Hopped on the boat and enjoyed the last of the sun, with Derry buying a rather interesting slushie containing condensed milk…an interesting choice. Dad spotted some ‘Wiggy birds’ who had come along for the ride.
    When we arrived on the other side it was a rather long traffic fuelled drive up to the hills, taking us from 34 degrees down to 17! A bit of a hit to the system!
    We arrived at our accommodation (an eco lodge called Serenity) with beautiful rooms on stilts, the drive to it was very entertaining with many a vertical hill.
    We quickly dumped our bags and headed
    to our booked coffee tour. Us along with 2 Canadians and 2 brits sat around a table in what was basically this man’s house (Agustin). It was a very relaxed bizarre affair with us sampling a few types of coffee and some home made goods, one being a pretty amazing coffee hot sauce which we will definitely try and replicate at home. The coffee was tasty, Freya tried a sip bit that was enough for her. Then we just sat and chatted, the group exchanging stories and Agustin discussing coffee and the wildlife of Costa Rica. There was no real structure to it but it was pretty interesting!
    We headed back to serenity for an amazing meal made by Cindy, the owner. We were the only people there and obviously helpfully all ordered something different😂 Each meal was very tasty and she gave us a little desert of a very tasty biscotti!
    A couple of rounds of Monopoly deal with Derry coining out on top, and it was time for our last nights (a bit chilly) sleep in Costa Rica!    Read more

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    Home Time

    February 17 in Costa Rica

    Boo hoo 😢 - last morning.
    Crazy windy night although we did wake with blue skies.
    Used the hairdryer trick to try to warm the room up.
    Started to pack up- we were very excited at one point as Derry posted from their cabin next door that they had seen a jaguar - wow 😮 🧐😂.
    Hmmm 🤔 🤨
    Breakfast was served by Cindy our host, with the view over San Jose being pretty special.
    Freya and I went for the traditional Gallo pinto with platanos and huevos fritos for the last time.
    Trip to airport was an hour with a final fuel ⛽️ fill up.
    Easy handover with the car hire guy- got our $20 dollars back for the puncture repair too.
    As airports go San Jose isn’t bad- pretty views of the surrounding Volcanos 🌋
    First flight to Newark left on time- 2pm
    Bye bye wonderful Costa Rica 🇨🇷
    Bit of a rush through Newark airport as annoyingly we had to get our bags and re-check them in. Luckily no queues. Boarded our Heathrow flight on time, and brilliantly as the flight wasn’t full and with the help of a lovely English flight attendant were able to move to seats that were quieter and actually had more leg room 👍😀
    Next stop a wet London with views of Windsor castle.
    Varying amount of sleep for all- landed 10ish at a cold 🥶 Heathrow.
    Uber to Walton and then bye bye.
    Unas vacaciones encantadoras.    Read more

    Trip end
    February 19, 2026
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