In-flight entertainment...

When the Nicaraguan Contras were fighting the Sandinista regime in the 1980's, they purchased a load of military equipment from the US, under the Reagan administration. Among their purchases were two fairchild C-123 cargo planes; one of which was shot down over Nicaragua. The other was left abandoned at San Jose airport until 1990 when it was taken to pieces, hauled up a mountain, reassembled, and turned into a bar. It's one of the most surreal experiences to be sitting atop a mountain, drinking one or two Costa Rican Imperials with our new friends, inside a cargo plane looking out to sea as the rain lashes down at sunset. Rachel left her socks in the cockpit.

Once again we've moved down the Pacific coast to the small town of Quepos, which is the jumping-off point for visits to Parque Nacional de Manuel Antonio - home to some of the most exotic wildlife Costa rica has to offer. We saw crocodiles, capuchin monkeys, agoutis, raccoons, little red crabs, and even a wee friendly deer who met us on our arrival!

In sports... The previous night we'd suffered heartbreak to the extreme. After holding a 2-0 lead until the very last minute, Costa Rica could only manage a draw with the USA, meaning that the nation's hopes of World Cup football lie in a crucial playoff with Uruguay. The football was great though - so good that the kitchen of the bar we were in caught fire.
To me this kind of sums up the difference in attitudes between Costa Rica and the UK. Imagine a pub filling with smoke in Britain - it'd be everyone out onto the street, call the fire brigade and generally ruin everybody's football party. So it was brilliant to see the barmaid come from the kitchen, fire extinguisher in hand, laughing and waving "It's OK - this happens every night!" Pura Vida!

At the time of writing we're in the sleepy surfer's town of Dominical. It's about a million degrees outside...