We decided to go to Costa Rica for our main holiday this year - celebrating 20 years married, my retirement and my 65th birthday - all good reasons. Tomas at Audley Travel put a fantastic itinerary together for us and off we went.

Our first stop was Amsterdam (2nd March). We flew on KLM and stayed at the CitizenM hotel overnight rather than have to get up before dawn on the Monday and risk having to run across the airport to get the connecting flight.

We got to the hotel in time for me to have a quick walk round the local area and admire the sunset.

Monday morning was very frosty when I went for my early morning walk from CitizenM and much busier than the night before with all the people going to work.

Most of the day was spent either in airports or in a plane. The security guard who had to check Jonathon's camera bag was also into photography so he took great care and discussed lenses etc. which made the experience more pleasant.

KLM had put out a display of all their houses in the airport so J could have a look and choose which one(s) he'd like to add to his growing collection. In the end, two of the other passengers said he could have theirs so he now has an extra 5 (no idea how he managed to wangle yet another one!)

The journey was smooth and the aircrew really friendly. The views of the clouds were spectacular and, although long, the flight was quite enjoyable.

We were met at the airport and guided through there then driven (in the dark) round some bendy roads to El Silencio Lodge and Spa where we were given a lovely welcome. We were offered dinner but we just wanted to sleep!

There was a hike up to three waterfalls within the grounds of the hotel so I thought I'd tackle that and report back to Jonathon as to whether it would be suitable for him to try. I used the "melody" route up and the "mystery" route down. The latter was a lot easier so we agreed to decide tomorrow.

I took a selfie at the final waterfall, just to prove that I had got there (1,680 metres / 5,512 ft above sea level).

This lovely Grandis Eyemark was also enjoying the waterfalls.

They grow a lot of their own produce (and farm trout) at El Silencio so I had a quick look on my way back.

While I was on my hike, Jonathon was taking photos of the birds from our balcony.

Common Chlorospingus

We called in at the Hummingbird Garden on the way back to the lodge. There were plenty of pretty flowers and we did catch a glimpse of a hummingbird but he / she soon disappeared.

We were supposed to go on a night walk but the rain started so the guide suggested we postpone it until the following day. We did that and had a leisurely and delicious dinner.

With a trout farm on the premises, it seemed like a good choice - it was yummy.

I'd already lost track of days by this time but was told it was Wednesday. That meant we had an early morning birdwatching walk so off we went.

Although we hadn't booked a private guide, nobody else came to join us so we had Jeancarlo all to ourselves.

Jonathon had plenty of opportunities to test out his new lens that he bought specifically for bird photography and our guide and Jonathon got on really well, both being into birds and photos. As a result, our two hour walk turned into 3 hours - very interesting and well-worth getting up early for.

I took photos of the surroundings instead of birds (neither fast enough nor a good enough photographer for birds).

El Silencio has nine horses on site. They seem to live the life of Riley, but probably deserve it as they have to tolerate all sorts of different people riding them. That morning they were enjoying a well earned rest in one of the shady fields.

The plant on the right is Wild Banana - edible for humans but only if cooked.

... and here we have Fang Flower and Monkey Tail Fern. They have some great names for plants.

Today's bird selection includes the following:

Rufous-coloured Sparrow

Green-crowned Brilliant

Green-fronted Lancebill

Green-fronted Lancebill

Thursday morning and our last day at El Silencio before we moved on.

Early morning wander for me and a guided bird watching walk for Jonathon.

Had to have one last walk across a bouncy bridge!

There was a lot of moss everywhere due to the damp and warm weather and I loved the way plants grow out of the tree trunks.

There was another couple on the tour this morning so Jonathon was left to his own devices (other than help spotting the birds) because the others needed a bit more guidance. They saw more bird species than the day before so not a bad morning.

Purple-throated Mountain-gem

Slate-throated Redstart

Purple-throated Mountain-gem

Blue and White Swallow

Blue and White Swallow

Scintillant Hummngbird

We said a sad goodbye to El Silencio and headed off to Rio Celeste Hideaway, another lovely, lodge-style hotel. No private jacuzzi this time but a lovely, screened and private balcony, a very fancy front door and loads of space. Jonathon's favourite was the outdoor shower.

Tapir

Tapir

Spectacled Owl

Snake (don't know what kind)

The Tlalocohyla Celeste is a recently discovered species of frog in the Tapir Valley - only found in that area (it was tiny)

Our last day at Rio Celeste Hideaway arrived. I went for one last walk around. Some of the trees are enormous (and, I guess, ancient) whereas some of the flowers are simply bright and pretty.

The water lillies came out while we were at Hideaway - they were only buds when we arrived.

We went to breakfast early but there were hardly any birds - very different to the day before.

The Coatis were out in force, including a baby one, and there was an occasional appearance from an Agouti.

Agouti

Denis collected us for our long journey (about 6 hours) to Uvita.

We had lunch at a restaurant that translates as The Howler Monkeys and had a brief stop to admire a few crocodiles from a bridge. As there had been a road accident further up there was no real hurry to get moving until that had been sorted out.

We arrived at Rancho Pacifico and were shown to our tree house (Tucan Treehouse). It faced west so we could admire the amazing sunset over the Pacific.

We only wanted a snack for tea so had the dessert. We agreed that we were going to be well fed over the next few days - delicious!

We have a few co-residents. This Cicada took a fancy to Jonathon's braces.

This Gecko lives in our treehouse with his friend and they scurry around

Stinging Worm - best avoided!

There wasn't a huge variety of bird life. The Frigate Birds are also locally known as Pirate Birds because the steal food from other birds.

The Brown Boobys often assist in spotting dolphins because they are looking to steal their fish.

Frigate Bird

Brown Booby

There's a user-friendly garden trail (very short) on site and a much harder, steeper and decidedly non-user-friendly trail to the waterfall. I had a look at it but the pebbles were slippery and the gradient steep so I thought I should leave it.

Fiery-billed Aracari

The Howler Monkeys acted as our alarm again this morning - they are soooo loud! I guess it means we see the sunrise so it's not all bad.

Jonathon had a few photos to catch up with so he stayed home and did those while I, rather stupidly, decided I would put my boots on, take my walking poles and tackle the hike to the waterfall. It was even harder than I imagined and I spent some of my time shuffling down on my bum and other times on my hands and knees. I made it to the waterfall but couldn't manage the final few feet (sheer drop and slippy, mossy rocks) but at least I saw it. I followed the trail to the hotel next door rather than try and scramble back to ours but the walk was no easier and it was only a rope that saved me from tumbling down the hillside at one point. When I got to Vista Celestial, the manager (who was also the manager at our hotel) took pity on me and gave me a lift back.

Not an experience I'd like to repeat, ever!

After a strenuous morning, the afternoon was a lot more relaxed.

We decided to share lunch - the food was scrumptious but there was just too much of it, especially as there were four courses at dinner. One lunch between two was easily enough but we suspected that the chef had given us a bit extra to make sure we weren't hungry!

Jonathon had a local beer - you drink it through salt and apparently it's pretty good.

Black Vulture

Scarlet-rumped Tanager

We came home to find a visitor (Velvet Anoly).

It was time to leave Rancho Pacifico so one last lingering look at the lovely view, one last yummy breakfast and we were on our way. The first 4x4 took us down the mountain into Uvita, the second vehicle took us to Puerto Jiminez airport and the driver from El Remanso took us to our new "home for a few days".

Rosa checked us in, showed us our room and helped with sorting out various tours for the next few days. She was very flexible, trying to help Jonathon get on as many guided bird tours as possible.

We admired the display of Boruca Masks while we were waiting for the paperwork to be completed.

I headed off to explore and found the suspension bridges and the path to the beach. As it was close to getting dark I didn't go as far as the beach this time.

Jonathon went out with his camera to try and photograph some different birds.

Stripe-throated Hermit

Stripe-throated Hermit

Dinner was more "normal" - we'd got used to haute cuisine over the last few days. It was still very tasty.

I did a few more steps in the dark but there were a few too many bugs and rustlings in the undergrowth for my liking so I soon scooted back to our hut.

My birthday arrived. I'd left my cards at home but Jonathon gave me one from him and Oli so that had pride of place in our room.

We couldn't see the Pacific from our room this time but we could see it at breakfast time.

Our first activity for today was a guided forest walk with Tony. We wouldn't have seen half the things we did without him.

This very colourful creature is known as an Assassin Bug. It's sting is very painful and it can carry Chagas disease so definitely best avoided!

The root system on the tree on the right is nicknamed Mosquito Legs. Tony explained about the walking palms and how the new roots grow spikes if they are attacked by the peccaries (wild pigs) that live in the forest.

I decided to walk down (and down and down) to the beach after lunch. I came across a few Capuchin monkeys on the way there - noisy creatures!

The walk took me through forest and the hotel had put steps in all the way down to make the walking easier - it would have been very steep without them.

While I was doing that, Jonathon was on a garden bird walk (not only looking for birds!)

Red-capped Manakin

Short-billed Pigeon

Gray-headed Tanager

Yellow-throated Toucan

Lesson's Motmot

Green Honeycreeper

Red-capped Manakin

Charming Hummingbird

Stripe-throated Hermit

Various birds

I had a prowl around to try and finish my steps before dinner. I've discovered that the best place to see the sunset, whilst still being at the lodge, is from the restaurant.

The hotel made me a yummy birthday cake. It was far too big for us two so we shared it with the American family that had been on the forest walk with us earlier in the day.