Jeannine & Peter's Holiday Blog: Alajuela, Costa Rica: Sunday 14 February

After a good nights sleep after being up for nearly 24 hours we got up at 5:45am today. The plan for the next two days is to pretty much relax as well as enjoy the property’s 12 acre forest reserve, which has miles of wooded trails that wind through the forest and past a small river with several waterfalls.

We had a delicious breakfast of fresh tropical fruit, freshly squeezed juices and homemade banana cake and muffins and then, after relaxing on our patio for a while, we went for a walk along one of the trails down to the river. It was a lovely walk, we saw lots of unusual plants and loads of butterflies (some where huge but too quick for us to take a photo!) but I did freak myself out a few times when there was a rustling in the bushes or if I saw something move (usually a leaf) and was convinced we were going to come across a snake.

At the start of the trail

On our way down to the river

Going there was fine as it was all down hill but coming back was a different story and we stopped a number of times to 'look at the view' (code word for having a rest and getting our breath back) but at least it was a good workout - who needs the gym!

Finally at the river!

In the afternoon I went swimming and I was the only person around so I had the pool all to myself. I also went in to the Jacuzzi where a giant squirrel came along, jumped on to the lounger where my sundress and towel was and then bounded up a tree, using the lounger as a springboard - for one horrible moment I thought it was going to run off with my sundress!

Later in the day I had a 90 minute full body massage which was lovely, although the lady had a very firm technique so I am glad that I didn't go for a deep tissue massage! She asked my name but ended up calling me 'girl' throughout the massage!

The weather has been lovely today - about 80 degrees with blue sky, but with a breeze so it hasn't felt too hot.

This evening we went out for dinner and I had one of the local dishes called arroz con pollo which is chicken, fried rice and vegetables, which is one of Costa Rica's most popular dishes, served with patacones which is fried plantain. For dessert I had Costa Rican Cheesecake and Peter had Tres Leche which is a local dessert of sponge soaked in rum and 3 different types of milk - we had half of each and both were very nice!