We arrived in San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, in the late afternoon after three flights and an overnight stay in New York. It had been our intention to arrive the day before but a cancellation by American Airlines had meant we were routed via Miami with our journey taking an extra day. We had arranged to meet a boat leaving Sierpe for the Osa Peninsula at 1030 the next morning so had decided to stay near the airport so we were on the motorway system when we got up the next morning. We picked up our rental 4WD, had dinner at the hotel and went to bed early.

We were treated to a 0600 start on Christmas Eve. Although our hotel had told us to be at the docks in Sierpe at 1030 they had not given us much of an idea of how long it would take nor the route to take. We thought the most obvious route would be to follow the Interamerican but got off to a bad start, first going in the wrong direction towards Puntarenas and then going through the centre of town rather than following what looked like a bypass. It took us about an hour to get to Cartago and from their the road climbed straight up into the mountains.

Ironically we were later told that this was the slow route and going via Puntarenas would have saved us an hour. However had we done that we would have missed some of the best scenery of the trip and would have retraced our steps on the way back. Instead we had stunning views which more than compensated from being stuck behind the occasional slow truck. From San Isidoro the scenery road levelled out and amazement was replaced with panic that we would not make it to Sierpe in time.

In the end we arrived in Sierpe around 1115 but it was not an issue as the other people being picked up, two German Gynaecologists, arrived a bit after us. At Sierpe we had to leave our jeep at the hotel's dock and transferred to boat to take the short cut to the hotel along the Sierpe river. Doing this we got an impromptu tour of the mangrove swamps which line the river. After about an hour we arrived at the estuary of the river where a bit of skilful piloting got us through the breakers and out into the open sea. From here it was about half an hour to Drake Bay and our hotel the Aguila de Osa.

The hotel was spectacular. Occupying a steep slope where the jungle meets the ocean the restaurant had an excellent view of the jungle and the rooms the same. Our room was particularly nice having a huge verandah around the outside with a 270 degree view of the jungle and ocean. We spent the afternoon relaxing with a short hike to the beach followed by a siesta. In the evening there were three large tables in the restaurant and guests were seated at one of the tables. Each night we would be sitting with a different set of people so slowly we got to know everyone.

We had originally planned to spend a day walking in Corcovado park, one of Costa Rica's most pristine jungle parks. However the cancellation of our flight had left us with a day less at the Aguila which meant that we were going to be doing nothing but diving. In some ways it was a shame as we were in such a remote spot but on the other hand the diving was meant to be as equally spectacular. We had to get up early and at 0800 we jumped in a boat and headed off to Cano Island which was about an hour away.

The first and second day we followed the same programme. Anna and I were the only people diving, but we would have five or six people from the hotel coming along to snorkel. Thus the first dive would be a fairly easy shallow dive a bit further out from the shore than the snorkelling group. We would then be dropped off at the pristine beach of the island for half an hours sunbathing. Getting on and off the boat involved a lot of jumping through the surf. We would then have a second dive and head back to the mainland to San Pedrillo beach in Corcovado Park. This was again pretty challenging to access with the surf even with a smaller boat from the hotel ferrying us to shore. After lunch at the beach we would get back into the boat and head off to the hotel.

Being Christmas Day that night the hotel managed to rustle up some turkey and most of the usual trimmings. Combined with the Christmas tree we got some of the effect of Christmas back home, with the welcome addition of the sound of waves lapping at the shore and 25 degree heat.

We followed the same diving regime that day and returned to relax on our verandah in the afternoon. Afternoons in Osa were one of the most relaxing parts of our trip. Anna would lie in the hammock and we would both read. From time to time there would be some excitement, monkeys raiding the kitchen or one of the guests spotting an iguana or toucan.

We had to run away before dessert at that evening's diner as we had arranged a special treat. We had organised a night tour with Tracie the Bug Lady, an American biologist who runs tours with her husband Gianfranco of the local insects and reptiles. We were ferried across the creek, collected some people from the neighbouring hotel, were equipped with head torches and then set off into night. The first thing we were shown were a couple of snakes that Gianfranco had found earlier.

Then we were shown how to spot spiders and other insects. This turns out to be fairly easy, if you have a head torch all spiders eyes reflect green and all moths orange. Shortly afterwards they located a Whip Spider, a pretty horrific looking insect which hunts using incredibly long antennae.

Not too far away we found a bank inhabited by Trapdoor Spiders. These creatures create a circular burrow with a flap camouflaged to be almost undetectable, then wait until an insect walks across the lid and then pop out to grab it. We were also shown a sleeping hummingbird, these are very hard to spot and whilst its fairly obvious that birds have to sleep somewhere it was surprising that they could be found at human eye level.

After this they located yet another spider, a net-casting spider an amazing creature which rather than spinning a stationary web, spins one between its legs, waits until an insect is near and then throws its net over the creature. In between finding these creatures Tracie would tell us various stories about insects for example the story of spider-goats, goats bred with the genes of spiders to create silk for use in bullet proof vests.

All of these insects were found in a relatively small area. We then circled back towards the hotel via another path trying to find frogs. It was at this point that the heavens opened and put an abrupt end to what had been a very informative evening.

On our last day's diving we had a couple of special treats. Firstly on the way out to Cano Island a pod of False Killer Whales swam along side the boat. Sadly I did not have my camera on me, having only bought it out on the boat for the one day we did not see any dolphins or whales!

Then on our second dive we were taken to El Bajo del Diablo. The best dive spot on Cano Island this is a set of pinnacles and canyons out in the ocean which you swim between. As on other days we saw many sharks but the shoals of fish were much larger.We were lucky in that the visibility was perfect and the current, which is generally a problem on this site, was virtually nonexistent. It was a great dive and we were left wanting more, but sadly it was our last day.

Yet another early morning, so far on this trip we had not gotten out of bed later than 0700. This time it was our boat transfer back up the Rio Sierpe to our jeep. Our boat also picked up a sick woman from the local village underlining just how remote our hotel was. We got to Sierpe around 10am and then set off North. The road was in excellent condition and we made it to Manuel Antonio  around 12.

Formerly an area of nothing but banana plantations the national park was founded in 1972. It is Costa Rica's smallest park but also one of its most bio-diverse. The road to the park winds along the coast from Quepos and strung out along it are most of the restaurants and hotels. We were quite fortunate in that we choose to stay at Arenas del Mar, a luxury hotel set in tropical forest with almost exclusive use of one of the most amazing beaches I have ever seen. We had to wait a while until our room was ready so had lunch down by the beach.

By the time we got into our room we were beginning to like the life of relaxation so decided to jump into our Jacuzzi, conveniently located on our balcony with the waves crashing barely twenty metres away. When we finally ventured out to sunbathe on the beach it was around 1530, barely enough time to have a cocktail and catch a few rays before we had to get ready for dinner. One thing worth explaining about the Arenas del Mar is that it is pretty spread out and although we walked between the different buildings there are staff driving golf carts around ready to pick up the weary!

We made it up to the reception area just in time for an amazing sunset and then popped into town to go for sundowners at El Avion, possibly Manuel Antonio's most famous bar where you can drink inside the shell of an old B52 whilst watching the sunset. We had dinner in our hotel which was pretty decent, but resolved to venture out on subsequent nights.

Not a lot to say about this day. Manuel Antonio for us was all about relaxing at the beach so we had a very long lie in followed by a day's sunbathing. That evening we went for dinner at a restaurant called Salt which again was okay, although they could have pared down the steak I had considerably. We found that a lot of the restaurants in Costa Rica naturally catered to Americans which meant big portions and an abundance of Tex Mex. In this light Salt was by no means the worst exponent.

Resolved to not spend every day by the beach we had booked to go on a zip line tour in the morning. For those that have not been on one this involves going down a mountainside by means of interconnected death slides. Costa Rica is famous for them and has hundreds, the one we went to has the longest superman line in the country, which basically involves zooming 1km face forwards.

We steered clear of this and just went on the standard zip line tour which petrified Anna enough. It had nine or ten lines each of which terminated at a small platform which left little to do but hang around until everyone was ready for the next slide. At one we did some abseiling and had a short walk on which we managed to find some leaf cutter ants. If you are an adrenaline junkie its a good use of money, I however was a little disappointed as you did not get to interact with the environment as much as you would if canyoning for example.

The afternoon was again spent sunbathing, followed by dinner at the hotel again. We had spent far too long looking at TripAdvisor and whilst we had booked something up for New Years we were fairly content that we did not have a lot to gain driving around in the night.

Our planning, normally impeccable, let us down on the last day of 2012. We had wanted to go to Manuel Antonio park for a walk. However we realised too late that it is closed on Mondays. Instead we decided that we still needed a walk so set off for Biesanz beach. Although not very far by the crow flies there were no direct paths so this involved walking about half an hour which in 30 degrees at least felt like a mild work out. When we got there we again realised that we were very spoilt at our hotel, the beach was packed out and nowhere as nice a spot as just in front of our room. We stayed for a while then trudged back and spent the afternoon it the safety of exclusivity.

New Years Eve we kicked off with sundowners at El Avion again. I cannot write enough about the sunsets in Manuel Antonio and being able to watch one play out whilst sipping a frozen Margarita was definitely the way to spend the last few hours of daylight in 2012. We texted our friends in the UK at the same time as it was midnight back home.

We were booked to go to a restaurant which I will not name but does incredibly well on TripAdvisor. The food was nice enough but the American owner was somewhat overbearing. He had made it his mission that everyone should enjoy themselves and as a result did not get that we did not want to spend the night whooping for joy like some of the other tables. In addition whilst I accept that places have the right to overcharge on New Years we ended up paying $300 for a good, but not stunning, Italian meal. I reflected afterwards that TripAdvisor is a bit of a two edged sword, if you dish out hospitality you can up your rating but inevitably not everyone is going to be in the mood.

We left early and saw the New Year in sitting in our Jacuzzi, sipping red wine, listening to the crashing waves and watching fireworks launched from the headland above our hotel.

We had our last breakfast at the Arenas by the upper pool overlooking the sea. Sadly we said goodbye and climbed in the jeep again to head for the mountains. Our drive involved heading North along the coast towards Puntarenas, at which point we swung inland through a succession of small villages and farms near Rancho Grande towards Monteverde.

One thing worth explaining about the Monteverde area is that it was settled by Quakers who as well as deciding to preserve the cloud forest on the mountains above their farms also decided to try and keep development to a minimum by refusing to have the roads paved. Sure enough about 20km off the main road the tarmac stops and you are left with 15km of bumpy track. This was the only part of our trip which really required the jeep and although we never engaged the 4WD we were really glad of its high clearance.

We got to our hotel, the wonderful Hidden Canopy Tree Houses around lunchtime which was again too early so we had to hang around for our room to be made up. This was again far too relaxing an experience as the hotel has a huge open air breakfast room which has a stunning view over the hills down to the bay and Nicoya Peninsula. When we got to our room the hotel lived up to the name, we had a luxury octagonal hut perched up in the trees.

After getting changed we went for a walk round the grounds of the hotel. Its difficult to explain the terrain but it was more of a damp temperate forest. The hotel had a trail which was a good hour walk through the woods allowing us to explore at a very leisurely pace. The track was in fact closed at one point, but we were saved from getting lost by one of the hotels dogs who popped out of the woods to guide us back to the hotel.

The Hidden Canopy does not cook an evening meal but has a wonderful tradition of laying on free wine at six so the guests can gather together and watch the sunset. This evening it was spectacular and good preparation as we were not quite finished for the night. We had booked ourselves in for yet another night tour and set off shortly after dark. This turned out to be at a local private reserve (of which there are many in Monte Verde) about thirty minutes drive away.

This time was very different to Osa. Rather than looking at insects we spent the evening looking for bigger things. The star of the night was undoubtedly a side striped palm pit viper whose venom can be fatal. In addition we saw a moving three toed sloth, many sleeping birds and an owl butterfly. The only annoyance was that the night park was absolutely full of people and as a result it was not a patch on Osa,

After the night tour we stopped off in Santa Elena to have pizza. We had been told about a very local place which turned out to have very good pizza, making up for the previous night when we had failed to get any on any account of a fixed New Years Eve menu.

We only had three days in Monte Verde so in an attempt to fit as much as we could in we had booked to go on two tours. After a relaxing breakfast looking out over the mountains we started off on our first which was to visit the park. Since Monte Verde park itself was meant to be fairly hectic our guide had decided to take us to another private reserve. Here, despite being in a large group with some Belgians, we were able to see a lot of fairly tame wildlife. Mainly agoutis and coatis which follow bands of capuchin monkeys around picking up any food they drop.

We were also able to see a couple of species of bird and the treat of the morning, a red kneed tarantula which our guide poked out of a hole. After this we went into the centre of Monte Verde and left to our own devices had lunch in the local bakery and visited the local cheese factory.

The afternoon consisted of probably one tour too many. We had booked to go on a tour of a coffee plantation. The guide, who clearly loved the subject, gave us an amazing amount of detail. We were told how we drink poor quality burnt coffee in the west and that's why we have to have milk with it. We then picked some Costa Rican coffee, saw how it dried, was sorted and then went about roasting and grinding our own. However to me, as a non-coffee drinker, it was all a bit dull as I was not going to get the benefit at the end.

After sunset drinks we visited the frog pond to see some frogs. Whilst this is technically cheating, it was totally the wrong season for frogs, they are such an icon of Costa Rica that we felt we had to see some. The tour was horribly rushed and it was difficult to take pictures but it was certainly worth it to see the red eyed tree frog. After the frogs we had some dinner before returning to our tree house.

Our last full day in Costa Rica we had decided that we wanted to spend it on our own. After breakfast we set off for the Santa Elena national park, just up the mountain from our hotel. We were keen to get a forest walk in and wanted to catch a glimpse of the Arenal Volcano. The park was very atmospheric, whilst we saw a few people we went on a three hour loop track on which we only encountered one other group. The trees and vegetation were completely different to the pacific coast as we were not on the Atlantic side of the mountains. They gave the impression of incredible age, everywhere layers of vines grew on layers of vines, all vying to get to the sunlight.

Halfway round we stopped having heard a noise and were rewarded when a troupe of quite rare spider monkeys climbed through the trees above us. Of all our encounters with wildlife in Costs Rica this was the most treasured as we had located them under our own steam. About two thirds of the way round we found a hole on the trees and managed to at least see the base of Arenal. After about four hours in the cloud forest we returned to Santa Elena and have lunch.

Whilst slightly boring sounding we spent most of the afternoon relaxing at the hotel. For our last night we had to swap from our tree house to a room in the main building of the hotel. Our new room had one advantage in that it was next to the hummingbird feeders. Sitting outside in the sun reading they literally swarmed around us and I was able to grab a few photographs.

That night we again had no night tours or evening plans so after sunset drinks went to Trio which we concluded was the nicest restaurant in Santa Elena.

We had a fairly leisurely mission to get to San Jose airport by 1500 and we were fairly tired of sight seeing so decided to again spend the early morning relaxing at the hotel and set off at around 1100. The drive back down through the hills was stunning and back on the motorway it took us hardly any time to get back to the airport. We dropped our hire car off then had a short wait at the airport. American Airlines had also disrupted our flight back so rather than spend the night in San Jose as originally planned we were going to spend it in Miami - which probably was no bad thing.

We got to Miami around 2200 with Friday night in full swing. We were staying at the South Beach Shore Club which was undoubtedly one of South Beaches more happening hotels with a party in full swing in their Moroccan style outside bar. We had struggled a bit trying to figure out where to go, we had wanted some live music but for some reason the only thing I could find was Van Dycks, a street restaurant in what could best be described as the Bond street of Miami. They had some sort of open microphone but the standard was pretty poor so we decided to just have some dinner outside. Back at our hotel we went to the bar until around 0200 when they finally turned the music off.

We had the morning to spend in South Beach so got up relatively early and wandered South along the beach towards the art deco area. Scarily it seemed that exactly the same people that we had seen partying to the wee small hours were up a few hours later jogging along the boardwalk. We took a look at the beach then went to Starbucks of all places for a coffee. The art deco buildings were pretty much as we had seen in the movies so after a bit of gawping we jumped on the plane and (via New York) went back to the UK!