mojacar

Halifax

Solana's birthday celebrations

We celebrated Solana's 4th birthday at the weekend. She knows that we are going on our "Big Adventure" when she is 4, so not long now - we fly out 5 weeks today!
Stockton-on-Tees

She weighs 13.5kg - how much luggage do you think she can carry?!!! Getting a bit worried about how little stuff we're actually going to be able to carry....
Happy New Year to you all.
No work for 4 months!

We enjoyed the cold crisp Winter weather today, before our imminent journey to the Tropics. Me and Solana went for a walk in the park, where we enjoyed making snow angels and breaking ice with sticks.Read more
Let the adventure begin....

We left home today, setting off on our Big Adventure. We have 31kg of luggage in our main bags (less than we thought) and 14.5kg in our day bags (more than we thought!). Solana has carried her 1.6kgRead more
Safe arrival in Costa Rica

We arrived safely in Playa Hermosa on the Pacific shore of Costa Rica the night before last, after a long (21 hour) but smooth journey. Staying in a little villa with great swimming pool (which SolanaRead more
Playa Hermosa, Pacific coast

We enjoyed our couple of days in Playa Hermosa, supposedly recovering from our jet lag. We're all still waking pretty early but that is actually turning out to be an advantage, as early morning is aRead more
Monteverde cloud forest

We're now in the Monteverde area for a few days. Spent the day today in the Monteverde Cloud Forest reserve, walking the trails, enjoying the views and spotting wildlife (which is actually moreRead more
Curi-Cancha cloud forest reserve

We spent today exploring the trails of Curi-Cancha cloud forest reserve. It was fantastic - at least as good as the main Monteverde reserve, if not better. It is at a slightly lower elevation, so wasRead more
Moving on in Monteverde

Last night we ate again in one of the cheapest and best restaurants in town - this time I had rice without the beans, for a change! This morning we said goodbye to our hotel with coatis on theRead more
Last day in Monteverde

We had a relaxed day, wandering the trails of our lodge in Valle Escondido, today. One of our favourite places along the trails was the "hammock garden" - a lovely place to relax, until a 4-year-oldRead more
Uvita, Pacific coast

Yesterday we moved on from Monteverde to Uvita, on the Southern, Pacific, coast of Costa Rica. The journey took about 5 hours but we saw plenty along the way, including vultures and other birds ofRead more
Last day on the Pacific coast

After a shaky start in Uvita and a lack of whales, we had a great day today and have decided that we do like the place after all! This morning we went to Playa Ventanas. We had to drive through aRead more
Finding the way to San Jose

Today started well but turned out not to be the finest of our trip... We went for an early morning walk and saw lots of birds, including at least 9 new species, bringing our bird species total so farRead more
Poas volcano

We left Hotel Mango and drove North through the mountains (on quite a hairy road that Laura, who is doing the driving, took surprisingly calmly!) to Volcan Poas National Park. Undeterred by the signsRead more
Sarapiqui rainforest

We had a couple of days (3 nights) staying at Chilamate Rainforest Ecolodge in the Sarapiqui rainforest. The lodge has its own trails, so it was easy to explore the forest on foot. Solana quiteRead more
Spiders, sloths and sickness

A bit of a shaky start to the day as Laura was ill in the night with D+V. The first illness of our trip, although I'm sure it won't be our last.... We went on a guided walk and saw green and brownRead more
Tortuguero

We arrived in Tortuguero on Wednesday. Tortuguero is an isolated place, that can only be reached by boat or air - we opted for the former. This area is the wettest part of Costa Rica - very hot andRead more
Tortuguero village

This afternoon we visited Tortuguero village - just across the river from where we're staying. The Caribbean black-sand beach here (see photo) is one of the most important turtle nesting beaches inRead more
Last day in Tortuguero

Today we got up early and went on a wildlife boat trip at 5:45am. It was worth it as we saw a lot of animals and birds, including more 3-toed sloths (the 2-toed variety has eluded us so far), . HereRead more
More Tortuguero wildlife

A few more photos of the Tortuguero wildlife. This really is an amazing place to spot wildlife. We love that Solana is interested in the wildlife too - most of the time (although I will confess thatRead more
Going Caribbean

We left Tortuguero on Saturday, after finding a hummingbird nest in the hotel grounds that morning – an amazing thing to see. Hummingbirds are tiny, weighing just a few grams each, so I can’tRead more
Cahuita National Park

Today we had a leisurely breakfast whilst sitting out the rain (we are virtually in the rainforest here, after all I suppose!). Once the sky brightened a bit we ventured out and had a walk in theRead more
mg.bigadventureThe Morgan-Gardiners holidaying in Andalucia, getting into practice for our “big adventure” – the sun, sling & Spanish! We now have just a couple of months left to get prepared for our departure in January. Our biggest concern is the realisation that we will have to manage with less luggage for 4 months of travelling than we took to Spain for one week last month!