Tulemar Villas Manuel Antonio National Park

... low in Costa Rica and we immediately knew we were going to be done for speeding. We wound down the window and were relieved that the policeman spoke good English. We exchanged pleasantries and he asked us if we knew we had been driving too fast. He acknowledged that the speed limit was a lot less than in other places and showed us his book of tickets that were all for Americans and Europeans. Then he changed tack – did we want a ticket'? Of course we replied 'not ...

... meet up there, have a little dinner and enjoy the show. Even though we were tired we had a great time and Evelyn, myself and Teri closed out the show as Fuzzy's new background singers "The Fuzzettes" - so much fun! Back at the Discovery House we enjoyed a late Jaccuzzi. Finally we fell into bed after being up for almost 24 hours. I am not exaggerating when I say we were out like a light in seconds! :-)

... tropical storm. The unseasonal weather is a pain; we also have itchy bites for the first time for a long time, must have been Rincon de la Vieja. Liz has a lazy Thursday & I go trekking in the Park which is smallish & busy in parts but different given its beaches & waterfront. Manuel antonio is classic small tourist beach town & very different in the sunshine to our largely inland ...

... would be an exercise in futility. She was already having a bad hair day. She did apologise for the situation, but frankly the look of empathy on her face did not match the words coming out of her mouth. It was the usual fake Southern California sales spiel... ending with "Have a nice day!" or "Enjoy your flight"... yip. So sincere. My frustration and disappointment was huge, but surveying the scene, I realised that quite frankly, there was no ...

... is a large sign saying "crocodiles live here. no swimming"...so everyone crosses 5 metres of river on rowing boats which some local fisherman push along. They dont seem to care about any croc being around...and it much looks like it is a sign paid by the local fishermen to avoid brave tourists swimming across! We paid our entrance fee ($5,000 col = $10 dollar) and started walking along a very nice and muddy path...and just 10 minutes into our ...

... hidden as much as possible. That's when I know it's really affecting me, since I don't care to live my life hiding. But I know that in a country that is 95% Catholic (or something like that), this is just one of those things I can't be honest about and not expect to have my relationships change. But I'm a terrible liar, by omission or otherwise. And being false makes me tired.

... attention at dinner the other night, he decided to pick his nose -- which drew quite a response from his parents -- and when he wanted to touch one of my books later in the evening, his parents asked him to wash his hands first. So he wiped them on the back of a dining room chair. ;-) Jahaira, at age 12, appears to be taken by those things "gringa." Some young American woman who was in town last month wore part of her hair covering ...

... bill arrives and you realise that what you thought was the price was a fraction of what they wanted to charge. Our Dave stood his ground though, even after the police arrived, and happily a compromise was reached. Actually, the policeman seemed to be on our side. Although the beach at Quepos is polluted and not good for swimming we were lucky enough to have a pool at our hotel where Louise tried to teach me to sink in preparation for the PADI course I wanted to do ...

... hard and that is all I am going to say for the privacy of the guys. Burls and I never even made it to the beach while we were there. The other guys went diving one day, but the rest of the time it rained pretty hard, I think I figured out that the rainy season is not a time when you want to travel through Central America. Volcano Arenal - We drove for 3 hours hungover, 6 (not small) guys packed in a SUV through some winding roads to a town called ...

... arranged to meet so we could celebrate her last day here, before she must go back to San Jose in order to fly home to Sweden. On my first day here I believe I may have found paradise, but later on I decide it's not. I guess it may have been just about perfect a few years ago. But when you are perfect, it's difficult to stay that way. There's too many tourists here now, and tiny Manuel Antonio National Park, just next to the small village ...