Costa Rica Imperial 2

The next day, after breakfast, we take the bus to Puerto Viejo. We travel along a partly paved and partly dirt road. We walk along the forest that skirts the beach and then relax. The weather is fine, the sea a little rough, and the surfers catch the waves. By 3 pm we head back. We go to dinner in a beautiful Spanish restaurant. An excellent dinner with excellent Chilean wine! We pop into the Cocos bar. A reggae band is playing; we persuade the waiter Fidel to let Stefano play with them. Happy and content, we return to the hotel, where we stop to talk with two American lads, enjoying the view of the moon over the ocean. Today should be the 23rd and we set off again for La Fortuna.

The road is very beautiful, we pass through the mountains and the landscape changes completely; it's a little colder and it rains!! After 7 hours of travel we reach our destination, the Hotel La Fortuna, and incredibly the Arenal volcano is perfectly visible!! We immediately book for the next day the hanging bridges tour, the night volcano tour and the hot springs. We go for Mexican food and then to bed. We set off at 9 for the hanging bridges. The sun is out and it's warm. A fine view over the forest and the volcano. We go to lunch and then rest a little. At 5 pm they come to pick us up; unfortunately it's raining and the volcano is wrapped in clouds. We manage to see the lava flowing from the edges of the volcano and then, finally, the hot springs. So cool. 10 pools at different temperatures. We try them all and then head to the bar for an aperitif immersed in the warm water.

We return around 9:30 pm and go to eat an excellent fresh tuna. The following day we're on the move again, heading for the Pacific. The road is very beautiful, through forests and rivers. We arrive at Puntarenas and board for the Nicoya peninsula. At 4 pm we reach our hotel Montezuma, super-luxurious with air conditioning. The advantage of travelling in low season: there's always room and prices are low. They tell us it's been raining non-stop around here for a month and a half... today is the first sunny day! We go to eat and then have a coffee liqueur in a bar with a little table right on the Pacific! We wake up nice and slowly, at 8 (in Italy 8 o'clock is like dawn for me!!). We have breakfast on the terrace... In the tree opposite a whole world opens up: squirrels, iguanas, monkeys...

why go and wear yourself out in the forest when the tree opposite offers so much satisfaction?! We head towards Playa Grande. Along the way we see coatis and raccoons, not to mention the iguanas, which are everywhere. The sea isn't amazing and we stop to swim in the river. In the afternoon we go to see the waterfalls. Montezuma is a tiny little village colonised by Italians. It nonetheless keeps a certain charm, with the forest reaching down to the beach. Today, 27-10, we had planned a trip to Tortuga island; unfortunately we have to give it up since there are no tourists... a shame, the day is glorious. We devote ourselves to the capuchin monkey wandering in our tree, which, still following the principle of ecotourism, we feed some crisps. It very much approves! We head back towards the waterfalls, stop for a swim, and at a certain point we hear the unsettling call of howler monkeys...

a monkey comes down to the ground and goes to drink at the river. We head back and devote ourselves to happy hour. The following day we set off again for Alajuela and go shopping. We want to spend our last day at the Poas volcano... the day isn't the best but we try anyway. The road is very beautiful and the higher we climb the more incredible the view, among endless coffee plantations. Then the fog arrives too! We enter the park and walk towards the crater. Nothing can be seen... disappointed, we decide to take the trail and head into the dwarf tropical forest. We find it very hard to walk — whether it's the accumulated tiredness or the altitude (2600 m) and the cold. The landscape is beautiful, shrouded in fog. We meet many yellow-green squirrels, a species that lives only here on Poas. We come down and Costa Rica gives us its last gift: the volcano's crater completely clear..

We return to the hotel and sadly pack our suitcases. 30/10 unfortunately we leave. It has been a wonderful experience, my first encounter with the forest and its inhabitants, the discovery of nature with its slow, inevitable rhythms. The ticos are extremely kind and always ready to lend a hand. A great sadness comes over me, as every time I find myself before the plane that takes me home... leave me here with the sloths!