San Jose was a highly anticipated stop for us as Hayley’s auntie is Costa Rican and we had been promised accommodation with her parents on the outskirts of the city. Eager for some luxury and home comforts we were rudely awakened to life in San Jose. Our bus dropped us in the middle of a very busy main road instead of the airport we had originally been promised and left us stranded there for 15 minutes trying to cross, no exaggeration. Finally across to the safety of a holiday inn we recruited the receptionist to call Aurora for us and let her know of our arrival and our new location of pick up. Twenty minutes later she pulled up, ecstatic to see us, having never met me and not having seen Hayley for a number of years. Quick greetings done and an angry local honking at us from behind the car as we loaded our bags into the boot we were whisked away to the Belen area of the city and to our home stay for the next few days. Horns sounded all around and brakes screeched the whole way back to the house as the roads of San Jose put our nerves on serious edge but we arrived safely. Driving down a busy street Aurora stopped the car in what seemed to be a row of small shops and grinned at us as a hidden garage door raised and she cruised into the courtyard of her home. The house was set between two main roads with entrances on either side, very strange for us but relatively normal in Costa Rica we were assured. Greeted by her adorable dog (who remarkably resembles Hayley’s own perro (dog in Spanish)) and her husband Alfonso, who had stayed up only to greet us, we felt instantly welcome. Even more so, when thrust under our noses was a huge steak, rice, beans and beer, much to both of our delights. The house, our room and the free food/drink was amazing and complete luxury for us, we didn’t ever want to leave.

After the best nights sleep in a while we rose to the sound of Spanish music bursting our ear drums. Assuming this was a wake up call we got changed and headed to the kitchen. Aurora was full of apologises and managed to explain that Alfonso had a habit of playing music at ridiculous levels in the mornings. We sat down to eat and were somewhat pressurised into eating a ton of fruit, more rice and beans than you can shake a stick at and numerous eggs, tomatoes and bread. All in good spirits we must add, we figured that it was the norm to eat a huge breakfast in this part of the world rather than a quick fill which is often the case in the UK.

Breakfast done and attempted Spanish small talk (aided significantly by google translate) we were whisked away with another relative, Gloriana, to the nearby Volcan Poas. The journey there was truly stunning and the views over San Jose as we climbed the side of the mountain were some of the best yet. Stopping a long the way at one of the many street-side stalls we picked up a huge carton of Strawberries and some blackberries. These were the best she had ever eaten Hayley was soon to proclaim. Upon reaching the entrance to the national park we jumped out of the car and took the short walk up to the crater.

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Volcan Poas is famous as it boasts the largest volcanic crater in central america. As we reached the crater rim and peered down it was clear why so many people visit this spectacular spot. The crater was gigantic! Containing a small, extremely blue lake, turned that colour by the sulphur as the volcano is still active, and surrounded by mist for the same reason makes for one great view and some even better pictures.

Warning signs litter the area, advising only 5 minutes maximum at the viewpoints due to the fumes but we held out a little longer to make sure we took full advantage of our time here. Afterwards we took a short stroll up another path to view a bigger lake situated at the top of the volcano but due to the mist and fumes it was covered much to our disappointment.

We headed back down to the main entrance point which holds a small museum, mostly in Spanish, and met up with Aurora and Alfonso again. He had apparently taken a shot of cognac and forgot we had walked on further thinking we had forgotten them and headed back to San Jose. We did wonder where the shot had come from but that would become apparent later on in the day. We travelled a short distance to the family restaurant and were treated to another great free meal. After we had eaten our host reached down into her bag and produced one shot glass and a nearly empty bottle of cognac. Laughing and grinning she poured herself a shot which she proceeded to sip slowly. Somewhat amused we looked at each other and laughed, in response to which Aurora retrieved another shot glass from her bag of tricks and offered us one. Not to be rude Jonny accepted the offer and reeled at the strong tasting liquor she was drinking for fun.

After these drinks the bottle was drained apart from a drop or two. Aurora tipped the bottle upside down over her empty glass and shook, slapped and squeezed every last drop out (our kind of women).

Like an amused child she then lit a match and dropped it into the empty bottle which produced a quick burst of flame, causing a satisfied and mischievous grin and laughter around the table.

After lunch we were shown around the family dairy farm and the cabañas they also owned before heading back to the house for more beer and some English tv – finally!

The next morning after another huge breakfast we headed into central San Jose for a stroll around. We caught the bus in and hopped off by the hospital, the wrong one at first so we had to catch another bus further into the city. We strolled around for an hour or so, not really impressed whatsoever by what we were seeing. A few pictures of the central cathedral were all that seemed worthwhile in this hot, over crowded metropolis. The heavens soon opened which sparked a quick decision to head back to Belen and to the comfort of our luxurious homestay. Surprised to see us back so early Aurora rustled up some more wonderful food which tired Hayley out so much she went for a nap. When we say nap, we mean she then proceeded to sleep until the next day, apart from an hour of consciousness for a drink and more food.

A struggle all travellers must face, as you visit more and more places is what to do with all your pictures. Deciding how to store them and have room for more is a tedious and often frustrating process. We both use google drive and Dropbox which offer a certain amount of free storage but without good wifi or internet these become useless. Facebook is also a great tool but suffers the same downfall as the previous mentioned options. We do our best to use all available options to be as safe as possible as we advise anyone to do, there is nothing more frustrating or upsetting than loosing the pictures or videos of your memories and being useless to do anything about it. Taking advantage of our free time and high speed internet Jonny spent a few hours uploading and downloading pictures to and from phones/go pros to be taken back to the UK by Hayley’s auntie when she visited for Christmas as another means to be sure we wouldn’t suffer at the hands of a technological malfunction.

A few more beers in front of the TV with Aurora was how Jonny passed the rest of the evening, much to her delight, even with the language barrier she seemed to enjoy the company.

We had decided to visit the Caribbean spot of Tortuguero for a few nights so in the morning bid farewell to our host for now. As we would be returning we left our backpacks behind, which as anyone who travels will know is a godsend, and headed off with only our smaller day packs for our next Costa Rican destination

Read about Tortuguero – the land of Turtles – and San Jose part two in our next post..

Jonny & Hayley 🙂