The drive from Arenal to Volcan Poas was very pretty, with jungle covering the hills. At one point we were stopped for 30 minutes for roadworks. However there were fantastic views of waterfalls at the side of the road. The roads were generally in good condition although the bridges across the rivers were usually one lane only. There is nowhere to camp in the park at Volcan Poas but it is possible to pull off the road and camp on the way up. It was much cooler here as we were camped at 2400m. We arrived at he entrance to the park just before opening time only to meet the French family who we keep bumping into at the gates. We walked straight up to the crater but it was covered in mist so we took the side walk to another crater that had been filled in as a lake. Here the mist had cleared. Hoping the mist had also cleared at the main crater we walked back and were rewarded with this view. We then headed down to San Jose. We were picking up my (Steve's ) parents from the airport so were booked into a nice hotel, El Rodeo near the airport. Unfortunately the flight was 2 hours late and to cap it all my dad's suitcase did not arrive. Mum and Dad were both shattered when they arrived so were straight off to bed. As the hotel had a great steak restaurant attached we went there for some dinner. The next morning we decided to spend another day at the hotel as dad's case would be arriving on the flight that afternoon. Alisha and Lucy had very excitedly baked shortbread and chocolate cake for their grandparents and were keen to play cafes with them where they could serve their baking. It all went down very well. The next day we drove to the Southern pacific coast of Costa Rica to Villas Gaia near Ojochal where we were spending 3 nights. The hotel was set in very lush gardens a short way back from the coast. It had a lovely pool with a great view of the coastline. There was lots of wildlife in the grounds of the hotel. We say Capuchin and Howler Monkeys as well as Iguanas and Toucans. Alisha and Lucy could not get enough of swimming in the pool and seemed to spend most of their time under the water. While there we went for a walk to the nearby beach. The beach was pretty wild and was part of an estuary where a river flowed in. South of here it was all mangroves. The following day we drove up the coast a few kms to visit another beach. Alisha and Lucy rushed into the water to play in the surf. They have really changed since Mexico when we could hardly get them to swim in the sea. Now they can not get enough. We had a very pleasant, relaxing 3 days here with good food in the restaurant each evening.