This morning we had a relaxing morning in the pool enjoying the swim-up bar and the views across to the volcano whose peak kept peeping out from behind the clouds. We got wood-fired pizzas for lunch by the pool overlooking the volcano and watching wildlife by the lake.

We were picked up after lunch by Canoa Aventura for our volcano hike, which took us along the course of the 1968 lava flows to a view point where we had great views of the volcano and across to the Arenal Lake. The lake is man-made and covers the area to the west of the volcano which was destroyed by soot and gases from the eruption and is used to generate hydro-electric power.

Along the hike we saw lots of epiphytes, in particular bromeliads and orchids such as the One-day orchid (Sobralia sp.), the Spanish flag orchid (Epidendrum radicans) and the endemic Arenal Bromeliad (Pitcaimia Funkiae).

We finished the hike in time to watch the sunset over the lake bathing the volcano in a reddish glow before heading to Eco Termales to bathe in volcanic heated springs under the stars.

on to Zip-lining

Originally our plan had been to fly from Tortuguero to La Fortuna but, due to maintenance issues with the plane, the flight was cancelled and there were no others available. Instead, we travelled by land - initially leaving Laguna Lodge on the boat and travelling by coach to Guapilles and then being picked up by Juan Carlos to take us the rest of the way. This meant that we were able to stop off at Tirimbina on the way where we had a guide, Luis, to take us around the reserve.

The tour took us across a hanging bridge into the primary forest and around a circular path through the forest, along which we saw interesting plants and animals.

Some of the highlights were the views into the trees from the hanging bridge, the walking palm with nibbed roots and the closer view of a sloth.

on to Arenal - Volcano Hike

We started the day with an early wake up (not too hard as we weren't adapted to the timezone yet) at 5am for coffee before an early morning boat tour leaving at 5:30 and taking us around the riverbanks and into the park spotting wildlife. The tour started with the local banks just up from the hotel where we started off with an Iguana lounging on a branch of a tree, just a little way up from a Tiger Heron (Tigrisoma fasciatum). José pointed out the different stages of coconuts growing along the side of the river as they go from green with mostly milk to brown with mostly flesh, we then saw a solitary howler monkey or 'mono congo' (Alouatta palliata).

We then headed down into the national park, stopping briefly for José to provide our ticket reference numbers at the ranger's office to confirm we could all enter the park. As we passed through the parks more vibrant canals, we saw a number of birds including herons, cormorants and then noticed all the tour boats gathered in a circle around something in the water. We joined the circle and then realised what they were watching - dolphins! We continued to watch them for a while - could see a group of them with young, but I didn't manage to time it right to capture a photo of them - was amazing seeing them making their way along the river breaching the surface in their group.

After following the dolphins for a while, we then headed back down the river and heard the sounds of a group of Howler Monkeys and then saw them including a mother with a baby on its back swinging through the trees.

After this we went back to the hotel for breakfast and to decide if we went on the next boat tour as well or not - I decided to go whilst the others stayed and enjoyed the hotel pool. It poured with rain whilst on the tour - thankfully I was wearing the provided poncho, but the rain still seemed to get everywhere! I also managed to see some more wildlife and get some better photos.

It was particularly amazing to see a sloth asleep in the tree just across the river from the hotel, and to see a Basilisk in a different colour (as they change colour)

On this tour we went a slightly different route through the park, into some of the smaller waterways and so saw different wildlife - such as the Caiman and the bats

After lunch we had a walking tour around the gardens of the hotel where we saw a surprising number of things just around the hotel grounds. Some of the highlights were the banana flowers, the hanging nests of Montezuma Oropendola birds, the Green Macaws and the Iguana that was relaxing in the bushes metres away from our rooms!

The last adventure of the day was an evening tree-frog hunt in the trees around the swimming pool by torch light. We managed to see two different tree frogs high in the leaves.

on to Tirimbina

After an overnight stay in San José, the next part of our travels began with a coach to the docks at La Pavona, followed by a boat from there to Laguna Lodge, as Tortuguero can only be accessed by boat or plane.

We set off from Hotel Presidente at 6:10 after a quick bite for breakfast. José, our guide, had met us at the hotel and took us to meet the bus with the others who were travelling to Tortuguero. After a couple more pickups we headed out of San José along the route 32 heading higher up as we left the city, passing alongside coffee plantations.

We then headed through the cloud forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park and passed over the continental divide between the Pacific and Caribbean sides of Costa Rica. Along the way, José provided a commentary for us about everything we were passing in both English and Spanish, which was really interesting and a great way to get tuned into the language. Some of the highlights were the indicative species of a cloud forest - known locally as the poor man’s umbrella (Gunnera insignis), the dark colour of the Rio Sucio as it picks up the oxides on it's route from the Irazu volcano.

We stopped a breakfast of Palmitos and rice at Rio Blanco restaurant in Guapilles where we also got to explore along by the river. As we returned to the coach, José asked us if we'd seen the frog and as we hadn't, he took us back to see it and scooped up the poison-dart frog from the undergrowth to place on a leaf for us to see clearly. After lunch, we passed through banana plantations complete with their own banana train to transport bananas which we had to stop for while the bananas crossed the road.

When we got to La Pavona, it was interesting to see all the boats waiting at the docks and the supply boat being loaded up with lots of bags of rice!

From there we boarded the boat to head along the windy river to the lodge. Along the way we had our first insight to what was in store for us in the park - passing through jungle landscapes and seeing monkeys, lizards and birds. Our lodges were side by side just around the corner from the botanical garden walk and the path through to the beach on the Caribbean side, which is where the sea turtles' nest and bury their eggs.

We had lunch at Laguna lodge and in the afternoon visited the town of Tortuguero by boat. Tortuguero is a very small town with a number of shops and cafes and we were able to stock up on insect repellent and buy some post cards and souvenirs, however as there is no postal service there we couldn't get any stamps. When we got back me and Jessica explored the botanical garden and saw a hummingbird, a blue morpho butterfly, a snake and lots of interesting plants.

on to Exploring Tortuguero

Costa Rica 2022

• Tortuguero (13-14 Apr)
  • Travel to Laguna Lodge
  • Exploring Tortuguero
• Tirimbina (15 Apr)
• Arenal (15-17 Apr)
  • Volcano Hike
  • Zip-lining
• Monteverde (18-20 Apr)
  • Arrival at Hotel Belmar
  • Cloud Forest Reserve
  • Finca Madre Tierra
  • Hanging bridges
  • Garden to glass

This weekend, to mark our 40th birthdays we planted Giant Sequoias with One Life One Tree at their planting site near Abergavenny. Sequoias are the world's largest growing tree species and capture up to 10x more carbon per hectare than a traditional woodland, so should capture the equivalent of a person's lifetime carbon footprint.

The site in Abergavenny was previously a commercial woodland grown as a mono-culture so the projects involvement there will increase biodiversity on the site with the planting of Sequoias along with the additional native species they will be planting alongside them.

Laura got me my Sequoia for my birthday in May and we'd been looking forward to the planting opportunity since then. On Saturday morning I surprised her with the news that I'd arranged for her to plant a tree too so we would both have Sequoias planted side by side.

We walked up to the planting site from the town of Llanellen where they had reserved parking spaces at the town hall. The walk was a continual incline across fields and over the Monmouth and Brecon canal. Whilst the hill-side itself is very steep, fortunately we didn't need to go to far up to our spot for planting.

The site had been prepared with undergrowth clearance, paths and planting spots, so once we'd reached out planting spots we just needed to clear the clear the grass for the area our trees would be planted and dig the hole for the tree.

We then placed the trees in the ground, surrounded them with soil and patted them in firmly.

Covered the surrounding area with a mulch mat which prevents other growth too close to the tree and keeps the moisture in. After a couple of years these and their fastenings will bio-degrade.

It's amazing to think how different this hillside will look in the future as the Sequoias and the native trees being planted alongside mature, a total of over 8 thousand trees, bringing quite a transformation from how it looks today.

We had a really great time planting the trees and enjoying the surroundings in Wales - the planting experience was really well organised and it all seems thoroughly thought through to ensure the trees make a positive impact. A great way to mark a milestone birthday!

We had a fantastic weeks holiday up in the Peak District staying in Hathersage. We fitted in lots of exploring of the surrounding area, but still a lot more to see and do.

On the way up to the Peak District, we visited my parents for a couple of days before heading on further. From there we stopped at Hardwick Hall on the way where we started with lunch before looking around the hall. We learnt about the formidable Bess of Hardwick who had built both this and Chatsworth. We then explored the grounds - particular highlights being the swifts swooping across the lawn in front of the house and the impressive stumpery.

Then as we neared Hathersage, we made one more stop at Owler Tor for our first taste of some tor scrambling for the holiday.

Sunday was our only really wet day so we waited until the evening to set out exploring and headed across through Winnats Pass to the National Trust Mam Tor car park and walked from there up to the trig point at the top. After the blustery walk at the top of Mam Tor, we headed back down for a walk through the pass.

We then finished the day off returning to the car park by Owler Tor, but this time headed off the other direction to Surprise View to watch the sunset.

The next day we set off early to visit Ladybower and Derwent reservoirs where we rented bikes and cycled around the side of the Derwent reservoir. The Derwent Dam is where the dambusters practised their low flying techniques using converging spotlights from the nose and tail of the plane to gauge their height. The dam was chosen because of it's resemblence to the German dams.

On Tuesday we walked from the cottage to the River Derwent and then followed the path along the side of the river to the Hathersage Stepping Stones where we had our picnic lunch. The girls had a great time going back and forth across the river on the stepping stones, before we headed back across the fields and railway into Hathersage to finish off with a drink. This was a lovely riverside walk with fantastic views across to the peaks along the way.

We set off early on Wednesday morning up to Stanage Edge to get there before it got busy and had the edge to ourselves. After that we headed into Bakewell to look round and (of course) get a Bakewell tart! On the way back we visited the David Mellor design museum in Hathersage - where is was interesting to see the wide range of design that he had been involved in from cutlery to traffic lights and bus shelters.

On Thursday, we spent the day at Chatsworth House. Starting off with the first slot to visit the house and then the rest of the day in the grounds.

After the day at Chatsworth, I still managed to make it up to Stanage Edge again to the High Neb Trigpoint for Sunset.

Friday morning we booked an early bird ticket for the Treak Cliff Cavern - they had a brilliant mobile app based system for a self-guided tour which would play the commentry as you made your way through the cave system. We were the first group in so it was nice having the caves mostly to ourselves and not have anyone in front of us. After this and a look around Castleton we headed up to Bamford Edge where we had fantastic views of the reservoirs we'd visited earlier in the week and the vivid heather.

Saturday marked the end of our time in the peak district, so after we'd packed up we made one more stop on our way back at the Longshaw Estate where we had a short walk with great views back over the edges we'd been exploring followed by a snack before heading on our way home.